The Magic of Boyds Mills Summer Camp for Writers and Illustrators

A group of various authors and illustrators stand in a gravel area outdoors under trees in the Boyds Mills “word garden". Each person is holding a stone with a word on it.

This July, I was so ecstatic to return to the Boyds Mills campus (formerly known as The Highlights Foundation) in the Poconos of Pennsylvania to get back to work on kids’ books! The Summer Camp for Writers and Illustrators was calling my name. Both sessions had people I adore as faculty, but I ultimately decided on session 1 with Katie Mazeika, Daria Peoples, Valerie Bolling, Heidi E.Y. Stemple, Kat Yeh, Alex Villasante, and Emily Rosenthal, and facilitated by the lovely Molly Chao. I already personally knew 2/3 of the faculty and I was sure these were people I’d love to spend time with and learn from again.

Mentors and Critique Groups

Author/illustrators Victoria K. Chapman and Katie Mazeika stand together smiling in the Boyds Mills book shop in the Barn.
Victoria and Katie Mazeika

Each participant at summer camp was paired with a mentor and a critique group. I was so lucky to have the amazing Katie Mazeika as my mentor. Katie and I knew each other online, but had never met in-person. It was such a delight to spend time with Katie, receive her feedback and advice, and get to know each other better. Katie is the author and illustrator of books such as “Maybe Just Ask Me” and “Anette Feels Free”. Katie was a huge help in helping me find a solid direction for a manuscript and steps to improve my character design in illustrations. I am so grateful to her!

I also had the best little illustrator critique group, led by the awesome Emily Rosenthal (who also celebrated a recent book birthday with “Leroy Has Something to Say”). We shared manuscripts, art sketches, and story ideas with one another and were able to give each other meaningful and actionable feedback. I am so grateful to all of my critique group members, including Shadra Strickland, Chris Tebbetts, Salma Ali, Lesley Lim, and Chris Randall. We came from varying levels of experience and backgrounds, but that was one of the things that made this critique group so wonderful to work with. I loved seeing what everyone was working on and being part of their unique creative process.

Camaraderie and Support

A small group of people stand together smiling outside next to a grey/brown barn with trees in the background.
Our author/illustrator critique group

Beyond the critique group and one-on-one mentor time, there was camaraderie and bonding with everyone attending summer camp. Plus, amazing breakout sessions and keynotes from the faculty that I found insightful and inspiring. To end the camp, we all took turns sharing some of our work during an open mic night. It was so lovely to hear bits of everyone’s stories and be able to stand up and share my own with an audience. I was nervous and anxious, but the feedback and encouragement I received afterwards was worth it.

To top it all off, Executive Director of Boyds Mills, George Brown took some of us on a special hike up to a beaver dam in the woods nearby. It was a magical early morning experience to see this exquisite piece of natural engineering. Plus, other nature sightings such as sun-lit spider webs, frogs, salamanders, and the beauty of Calkins Creek in the early morning light.

If you’re a children’s book creator and you ever have the opportunity to attend a workshop or personal retreat at Boyds Mills, take it! This place carries a magic that lifts creators up and moves them forward in a supportive, caring, and collaborative environment. Plus, the hospitality staff do the BEST job keeping you fed, housed, and cared for through your stay. I can’t say enough good things about them.

A beaver damn with brown water, trees, and plants in the woods.
The beaver dam at Calkins Creek

Ways to Support or be Supported by Boyds Mills

Boyds Mills holds a scholarship application period during the winter. If you’d love to come to campus, but don’t know how to make it happen, applying for a scholarship could be a path to try. They also offer payment plans if a scholarship isn’t in the cards for you, like they did for me.

If you love what Boyds Mills does to support children’s book creators, be sure to donate to help improve the campus and support scholarship programs!

Be sure to check out Boyds Mills’ list of upcoming workshops both online and on-campus.

Victoria’s 2024 Birthday Fundraiser & Art Raffle for The Highlights Foundation

Six flat stones sit on top of pebbles. Each stone contains a carved word. The stones read, "open your soul and learn happiness". Photo from the Word Garden at The Highlights Foundation, taken by Victoria K. Chapman.
Highlights Foundation Logo

In early March I’ll have taken another turn around the sun, which means it’s time for my annual birthday fundraiser! This year, I’m asking you to help me celebrate my birthday by donating to an organization close to my heart—The Highlights Foundation. The Highlights Foundation’s mission is to “to positively impact children by amplifying the voices of storytellers who inform, educate, and inspire children to become their best selves”. They help creators of stories and art for kids get to the next level and grow.

How the Fundraiser Works

I’ve set up three ways to donate—use whatever works best for you!

  1. Donate through the Facebook fundraiser page
  2. Donate through the Instagram fundraiser page (viewable in the Instagram app)
  3. Donate directly through the Highlights Foundation Website

For everyone who donates at least $10, you can be entered into a raffle to win one of my art prints and an art greeting card! I’ll pick 2 winners once the fundraiser ends. 

Here’s how to get entered:

  1. Make your donation of $10 or more
  2. Save or take a screenshot of your donation receipt
  3. Share this fundraiser with friends and family through email or social media for an extra entry!
  4. Fill out this Google form to let me know you donated, share your receipt, and let me know if you shared this fundraiser
  5. NOTE: The fundraiser ends after March 16, 2024!

Once the fundraiser has ended, I’ll pick two winners and reach out via email to let you know if you’re a winner! You can pick your choice of certain prints. I’ll ask for your address so I can mail you your print and card.

NOTE: You don’t have to enter the raffle. You can just donate too. But, if you’d like to enter the raffle, please follow the steps above so I can include you.

More About My Experience with Highlights and Why I Want to Support Them

You all know Highlights for Children magazine, right? Well, the Highlights Foundation is those same amazing people, but from the side of working with the people who actually make stories for kids. Highlights has been an inspiring and life-changing place for me. I first visited the Highlights Foundation retreat center in Pennsylvania in 2022 for their illustration summer camp. If I can, I plan to return every year. The experience was that great!

At Highlights, I was able to connect with other authors and illustrators and industry professionals, work on improving my craft through critiques and workshops, and find the encouragement and inspiration I needed to keep going. Creating books for children isn’t just sunshine and rainbows. It’s a long, grueling process, with a lot of rejection and work before your stories even make it out into the world. Having a supportive community at a place like Highlights has been so transformational for me.

I would love to raise money for Highlights to give other creators the opportunity to go there. Highlights has some amazing scholarship opportunities for those who can’t afford to go on their own, and for those from underrepresented groups. Helping storytellers from all sorts of backgrounds get their stories into the world is so important for our children and families. And being able to go to Highlights is an amazing way to help make that happen for these creators.

Whatever you can donate, I appreciate it! And if you can’t, sharing is amazing too!  Thanks for making my birthday awesome by donating and sharing this fundraiser!

Scenes from my first trip to The Highlights Foundation in 2023.

10 Things to Consider at a Highlights Foundation Workshop

Stones on the ground that read, "the happy twist in spirit may open small inspiration" in the Word Garden at The Highlights Foundation. Poem and photo by Victoria K. Chapman.
A short poem created in the “Word Garden” at The Highlights Foundation

Earlier in July, I went away for almost a week to stay at The Highlights Foundation at The Barn at Boyds Mills in Pennsylvania. I attended the Summer Camp in Illustration intensive in order to grow my craft, learn from others, and make new connections in the children’s illustration field. Being there physically gave me the chance to really be immersed in the work and connect in a way I couldn’t if it was online from home. After two and a half years of everything online thanks to the pandemic, this was a welcomed change.

After my six days at The Highlights Foundation, I found myself struggling to succinctly and clearly describe my experience there. It was such a mind-opening and spirit-lifting time, it’s hard to put into words. Knowing that everyone’s experience is different, I’m speaking from my own perspective. And since my head is still buzzing with so many things I could say about my trip, I narrowed down to this list that I hope you find helpful.

Ten Things to Consider When Attending an In-Person Highlights Foundation Workshop:

  1. Be open to experience. Don’t arrive with a specific expectation. Arrive with your mind and spirit open to receive whatever it is that happens. I couldn’t predict how my week would go. And it was so much better than I might have guessed.

  2. Arrive hungry. Because they feed you three meals a day and snacks in between. And it’s not just any old food. It’s amazing, local, fresh, and different every day. If you have a special diet, don’t worry—they’ve got you covered. I’m a vegetarian and I had one of the best culinary experiences I’ve had in a while.

  3. Be social. I know not everyone has an easy time with being social among strangers. But, believe me—people at Highlights who attend a workshop with you will not be strangers for long. Connecting with other kidlit illustrators and author/illustrators was one of the best parts of my trip. It made the experience so much more worthwhile. I had the pleasure of getting to know not only my fellow participants, but also the teaching faculty, and the staff. They were all amazing people and I’m so glad I got to spend time with them.

  4. Give yourself time. Time to rest. Time to process. Time to be alone if you need it. I had the privilege of being able to add a personal retreat day to the beginning and end of my trip in order to let myself settle in and decompress. It was a great decision and if you have the ability to do so, I really recommend it. It allowed for some more quiet time, but also some more intimate time with the handful of others who stayed extra time. And if you can’t do that, make sure to give yourself time during the day or evening to take a break alone somewhere, especially if you’re an introvert like me. There are plenty of great places to do that.

  5. Take advantage of the outdoor spaces. The Barn at Boyds Mills is full of outdoor trails and places to sit. Be sure to visit the brook and sit down to enjoy the sound of the babbling water. Take a hike up one of the trails if you’re able to (but be sure to put on bug spray to avoid the ticks and flies). Or just enjoy time at one of the outdoor tables to quietly sketch or write. And if there’s a fire in the evening outside at the Barn, enjoy the time to sit by it and chat with others. Fireside times with fellow illustrators were some of my favorite moments.

  6. Document your time there. You’ll want to take notes, you’ll want to draw, you’ll want to write. There’s a lot of information to take in. Make sure you have your favorite ways to take down and process information with you. I brought both a writing notebook and several sketchbooks and I ended up with notes and sketches in both. I’m glad I have them to refer back to. I also took photos to remember some of the spaces and people I spent time with. Looking back at them makes me smile.

  7. Be present and in the moment. While you’re documenting your time there, also remember to be present and in-the-moment. It’s easy to jump ahead in your mind to what you’ll do when you get home. But, it’s also an experience you’ll really want to savor. It goes by quickly! Enjoy each moment while it’s happening.

  8. Unplug and disconnect. From your regular life that is. It’s okay to check in with the family, especially when you have kids. But, be mindful of how often you’re checking your phone, email, or social media. Fortunately, the cellular service at Boyds Mills is pretty spotty and the wifi can be touch and go depending on where you’re standing. That can be frustrating if you’re doing research online. But, for the most part, it wasn’t a huge issue for me, and it allowed me to remember to unplug for a while and focus on the workshop and the people.

  9. Be open to feedback. For many of these workshops, there is a critique or mentor component to it. One of the most helpful things you can do for yourself is to be open to the feedback you receive. It doesn’t mean you have to use all of the feedback if you don’t agree with it. But, at least listen. And thank the people who took the time to look at your work with you. They are there for the love of children’s books just like you are.

  10. Exchange information with colleagues. You’re going to meet people there and you’re probably going to want to stay in touch. Be sure to ask others for their information, such as social media handles and email addresses. To make it easy to share your information, you could bring business cards or postcards with the info you want to share. I was so glad I brought my business cards with me so people could find me later.

And the biggest piece of advice I can give for a Highlights Foundation workshop trip is that the experience will be what you make it. People I know who have gone before have told me there’s a magic to the space that they haven’t found in other places. I found that to be true myself. But, being open to experience and present in the moment made the trip even more pleasant and remarkable. I hope you’ll find the same is true for you.

One of the amazing breakfasts I had at Highlights.
A quiet place to sit by the brook.
Appetizers by the brook with friends. Selfie by Mallory Grigg.
Isabel Roxas presenting at the Illustration Intensive
The front of The Barn where much of the action takes place.
I enjoyed sketching in the morning with a cup of tea outdoors.

You can learn more about The Highlights Foundation and their work at https://www.highlightsfoundation.org