This past fall, we debuted two new camp formats: Women.Design.Build.Adventure and Camp Design Build Adventure Presents Writing & Welding. Both proved to be winning formulas that we’ll repeat in the coming year, so keep an eye on our Facebook page and be sure to join our mailing list to hear about future dates. A huge thanks to Stevan Alcala Photography for beautifully documenting both camps. Scroll below the photo gallery to read more about these awesome adventures.

Women.Design.Build.Adventure

Held in October, this adventure was born out of a partnership with Austin nonprofit Women.Design.Build. Over the course of two weekends, 16 women worked together to design and build an outdoor reflection area for the residents at Mobile Loaves & Fishes’ Community First Village. What made this adventure particularly meaningful was that one of our participants was a Village community member. Thanks to generous donations from WDB and DBA friends, this woman was able to attend the workshop at no charge and receive a working wage for her time on the project.

Adventurer and Austin artist Nancy Mims says of the experience: “I work alone most of the time, and part of why I signed up for this project was to break out of my cozy, creative comfort zone. I had a feeling it would be fun to collaborate on a cool project, but I had no idea just how rewarding it was going to be throughout the entire process. Being with D. was an unexpected gift in so many ways. She became the project’s muse. Her ideas, work ethic and cheerful spirit infused everything we did.”

We asked our adventurers to sum up in one word what they wanted Village residents to feel as they sat in our reflection area. I think it’s safe to say these amazing women achieved their dream.

Camp Design Build Adventure Presents Writing & Welding

Inspired by the success of Camp Design Build Adventure Presents Yoga & Welding earlier this year, we decided to add another creative combo to our workshop repertoire. In November, Jack teamed up with our adventure coordinator, Katie Ford, to host a day of writing and welding.

Katie, who volunteer teaches expressive writing to incarcerated women, demonstrated how creative writing can be a “power tool” for unlocking creativity and self-discovery. Whether it was a piece of writing or a piece of metal sculpture, our 10 workshop participants were challenged to build upon each other’s strengths, ideas and creativity to collaboratively produce things they couldn’t have imagined on their own. The workshop’s emphasis was on getting comfortable with taking creative risks and embracing the practice itself.

Claire Warren, a veteran DBA adventurer who has participated in Camp Heavy Metal, Camp Design Build Adventure in Marfa, and now Camp DBA Presents Writing & Welding, says: “Each time I take a DBA workshop, it’s a new experience for me — new adventures, new friendships, new personal lessons. But what gets reaffirmed for me every time is that it’s OK not to have it all figured out. That’s part of the adventure. Trust yourself, don’t panic and have fun with the process.”