Where Science Meets Art: Flying Cloud Institute Celebrates 40 Years In The Berkshires

Growing up, I drove past the Flying Cloud sign on Route 183 in New Marlborough, Massachusetts too many times to count. Handmade and freshly painted from time to time, it all but shouted an artist resided there; alas, my adolescent senses missed the cues. While my sister and I spent summer afternoons swimming at York Lake, we were blissfully unaware of what was happening just a scant mile down the road, where the mysterious driveway disappeared into a canopy of hardwoods. It was upon becoming a parent myself that the magic of Flying Cloud was revealed to me in earnest — as evidenced by the child-sized ceramic mugs in my kitchen cupboard that harken back to my now-grown daughters’ camper days.

Flying Cloud Institute (FCI) took root in 1984 when founder Jane Burke arrived in the Berkshires with a graduate degree in science education from Harvard and dreams of becoming a professional potter. The marriage of her two passions quite literally collided as the public educator experimented with making glazes on the 200-acre farm (and former inn) she and her husband, Larry, inherited from her father. What began with six “neighborhood” kids, who split three half days each week between Burke’s pottery and dance studios, has swelled over the past four decades to deliver hands-on art and science experiences to young people throughout Berkshire County. Fueled by a belief that today’s students are tomorrow’s innovators, the nonprofit (which relocated in 2017 upon Burke’s retirement) has expanded to offer year-’round programming. Under the leadership of Executive Director Maria Rundle, the mission remains to inspire young people and educators through dynamic science and art experiences that ignite creativity.

Former camper, longtime board member, and current audiobook narrator Julie Webster with Executive Director Maria Rundle, who took over at the helm of Flying Cloud Institute in 2017 upon the retirement of founder Jane Burke. Photo credit: Hannah Van Sickle

“My path was directly related to Flying Cloud,” says Julie Webster, who was among the very first cohort of campers in the mid 1980s. “What it felt like, on the ground [at Jane and Larry’s property], is that we had so much freedom in everything that we did, and we were always held by these adults who were so inspiring,” says Webster of what she considers a formative life experience.

“I was surrounded by artists and scientists who were actually working in their field, and they were my idols,” recalls the former board member who decided, while at Flying Cloud, that she wanted to be an actor. “I was ten years old,” says Webster, who went on to get her degree in theater and acted professionally before becoming an audiobook narrator. Similar anecdotes were abundant on Saturday, March 2 in Great Barrington as the nonprofit commenced the first in a series of events slated to coincide with its 40th anniversary. Alumni, former teaching artists, and friends converged upon Bon Dimanche on Railroad Street for wine tasting, live music, and silk screening — a favorite Flying Cloud tradition — hosted by FCI parents and working artists Molly and Aurél de St. André at their new shop.

“Flying Cloud is an incredible learning environment for people who don't necessarily do well sitting in a classroom,” says Scotty Salame, former camper and current teaching artist. “It really was the highlight of every summer for me,” he says during breaks helping artists of all ages print limited-edition t-shirts using vintage silk screens made over the past four decades. Tom Truss, who taught Salame and several others in attendance, concurred.

“At Flying Cloud, they get it,” he says, underscoring that — as a mover himself — it made sense to work with the nonprofit to address the needs of the kinesthetic learner. “They get people out of their chairs and actually doing things,” says Truss, who was a teaching artist in the 1990s and 2000s. Since its founding, Flying Cloud has expanded to meet the needs of thousands of students and families in five school districts across Berkshire County and Region One in Connecticut.

Rocket Camp, a tuition-free week where Pittsfield youth worked alongside real scientists and learned about physics as they built and launched rockets. Photo credit: Shaw Israel Izikson

Flying Cloud Institute reaches between 2,000-2,5000 students each year across all of its programs. By the numbers, this equates to classroom residencies at four schools reaching 187 youth over 56 sessions; after-school programs in a dozen schools, impacting 161 youth in 184 sessions; and 17 community events that engaged 275 young people and their families. The summer programs continue at April Hill Education and Conservation Center in South Egremont. 

“I learned a lot about myself [at Flying Cloud],” says Maddie Rundle, age 17, who was a camper for nine summers. “I never thought of myself as an artist, but I was introduced to all sorts of art, and science was incorporated in a way that was perfect for everyone.” She adds, “If you go to Flying Cloud, you're a scientist now.” Myriad Flying Cloud alumni, including many who have gone on to assume teaching posts there, sing the praises of the nonprofit’s enduring impact.

“At Flying Cloud, I learned that a microscope and a paintbrush can coexist really beautifully together,” says Elizabeth Orenstein, a former camper and current SMART Educator who, in her professional life, is a watercolor artist who creates botanical art (and, not coincidentally, has also taught science).

“What was created, and what has been maintained throughout the whole trajectory of Flying Cloud, remains the same,” says Webster, striking a resonant chord that’s lingered for four decades. “It’s about science, and it’s about art, but it’s not just science and art. It’s creative thinking that doesn't happen in other places.”