St. Pete Spotlight On: Creative Clay

By Margo Sim

Welcome to the first edition of the Media Garage Group “St. Pete Spotlight On” series! This is a series in which we will highlight local businesses that we love. This first edition is especially close to our heart — our very own Research Assistant, Margo Sim, gives us an insider’s look at her time as a Summer Camp Teacher at Creative Clay.

Creative Clay‘s mission is to “help people with disabilities achieve full and inclusive lives through access to the arts by providing expressive, educational and vocational experiences.”

Among other year-round programs, such as their core Community Arts Program which serves 50-60 adult artists with neuro-differences each week, Creative Clay held their 11th Art Around the World inclusionary summer camp this year.

Creative Clay’s vision is to make the arts accessible for all.

While the highlight of most teenagers’ summers isn’t working a full-time job, most teenagers don’t have the opportunity to work at a place as amazing as Creative Clay. Working at such a fun, inspiring, and rewarding place beats, well, any job.

Creative Clay has a certain type of magic to it; magic that turned a “summer job” into something that filled me with immense pride. One seemingly small highlight of each week was the simple task of putting names on lockers in preparation for the following week’s art students. I wondered which would be the class clown, which would be the teacher’s pet, the art prodigy, the mini-musician, the storyteller, the comedian — these children became like family to me, and I loved them with all my heart.

Watching how the students grew and changed, whether through the course of the summer or even just a week, was the most rewarding feeling I’ve had in my 17 years. Experiencing the students’ discovery of their artistic identity and leave on Friday — arms stacked high with Fan Kuan-inspired Chinese scrolls and wide smiles on their faces — gave me immeasurable joy. I’ll never forget when I hugged a little girl tightly in the hallway outside of the music room as she cried because she didn’t want camp to be over.

During camp, I learned incredibly valuable skills that I will undoubtedly hold near and dear to me as I enter my adult life. From straightforward things like microwave etiquette and filling out a timesheet, to balancing work friendships and productivity. I learned more life lessons in 3 months than I did in 12 years of schooling. Creative Clay will always be the best summer job, and I’m counting down the days until next June.