the
kids
clap your issue
hands A BELOVED ARTS PROGRAM CREATES MEMORABLE EXPERIENCES FOR ALL AGES BY ANNA-RHESA VERSOLA
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN MICHAEL SIMPSON
S
toryteller Louise Omoto Kessel didn’t just find a property in Pittsboro 25 years ago; she uncovered the canvas for what would become Clapping Hands Farm. After working
at various camps and helping to start another, Louise’s artistic instinct led her to establish her own program. “I didn’t go to camp as a kid,” Louise says. “My parents, I think, didn’t know about camp. I went to camp for the first time as a counselor when I was about 12, and I’ve loved camp ever since.”
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LEFT “Being outside,” Louise says, listing out a few benefits of programs at Clapping Hands. “Friends. Fun. [It’s] everything good about school without sitting still for hours, tests, grades, etc.” RIGHT Andrew DeWolf and Tobias Hanson use glue guns and popsicle sticks to assemble art projects.