When Professor of Music Greg Wing (Class of 1976) attended the Daniel Boone Forest Music Camp at Morehead State, he had no idea how much impact the program would have on him, or he on it.
“Attending the Daniel Boone Forest Music Camp in the late 60s had a tremendous impact on me,” Wing said. “Attending the program for two summers made MSU feel like home and is the main reason I attended MSU in 1971.”
When Wing came to MSU as a faculty member in 2002, he said he was saddened to learn the camp, which was a nationally recognized summer program in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, was no longer held. He wanted to change that, so he started working to revive the program in its current form as the Summer Arts Academy. In 2005, the academy expanded to include more areas of the creative arts to attract a broader range of students. Hundreds of students have attended the academy and Wing said the goal is to have 100 participants each year.
The academy allows students interested in visual and performing arts to receive group and one-on-one instruction from faculty members in their field of interest. Classes are available in music, theatre, art and design, and creative writing. The academy is open to high school students and incoming MSU freshmen planning to major in an arts discipline.
“The Morehead State University Summer Arts Academy (SAA) exists to nurture students’ development in the arts in a setting that allows for interaction with expert faculty and the opportunity to work with other students who share specific interests in music, theatre, art and design, and creative writing,” Wing said.
Not only does the program benefit students who attend, but it also benefits the University as a powerful recruiting tool. In addition to his personal experience, Wing said one in three students who attend the Summer Arts Academy end up attending MSU.
Typically, the camp is held on-campus for a week each June. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the academy was held virtually over two days this year, June 14-15, from 9 a.m. to noon.
For more information about the Summer Arts Academy, visit www.moreheadstate.edu/saa.
