Photos by Kate Snyder 

The Community Arts Center welcomed Chris Carpenter with Inter-County Energy’s Conservation Clubhouse program to Rainforest Adventure Camp Wednesday for a hands-on encounter with reptiles and amphibians. 

At top, Canyon Storz gently handles a milk snake. At left, Isabella Tucker is not at all convinced that she wants to meet the toad that Carpenter is holding. Below left, Margaux Tucker poses with a salamander while Gwyn Johnson and Lara Kate Sears look on. Below, Banks Porter gets up close and personal with a corn snake.

Rainforest Adventure Camp combines hands-on scientific learning with creative art-making. Campers learned about the plants and animals of the rainforest —even getting up close and personal with visiting reptiles and amphibians thanks to Inter-County ’s program. They painted tree frog canvases, designed camouflage bugs and assembled found object reptiles. Throughout the week, campers worked together to transform one section of an upstairs gallery into a three-dimensional jungle, complete with trees, vines, flowers, and a waterfall.