Joy Machine and The Jaunt have transformed a midwinter artist retreat into a Chicago exhibition with The Department of Objects, arriving after the third iteration of Winter Camp at Camp Wandawega. Four artists—Wyatt Hersey, Melissa Lakey, Esther Pearl Watson, and Anna Valdez—converged for five days in the lodges, kitchens, and bunk houses of the historic Elkhorn, Wisconsin camp, just north of Chicago. You can RSVP to the opening reception from 6 to 8 p.m. on October 23, and all four artists will be present, with a collector preview available.
From Camp Wandawega to the gallery
For the last decade, Jeroen Smeets of The Jaunt has facilitated week-long residencies that send artists to destinations of their choosing. Building on that model and seeking to grow The Jaunt community, Smeets first hosted a Winter Camp in 2024 that brought four artists together in close quarters to spark the cross pollination of ideas, art, food, stories, and adventures. This year, Joy Machine and The Jaunt teamed up again, bringing four artists from balmy California to the frigid Midwest—where frozen lakes, sledding, snowballs, and temperatures dipping to 4 degrees Fahrenheit set the scene.
Camp Wandawega’s grounds date back more than 100 years. They first served as a speakeasy and brothel during Prohibition before being converted to a summer camp by the Latvian Catholic church. Today, the site operates as a retreat with all the hallmarks of a traditional sleepaway camp, a place steeped in Americana. Encased in February ice, the artists explored frosted meadows and outbuildings on daily hikes.
The attic that named the show
At the heart of the residency was a cozy attic storage room called the Department of Objects—quickly nicknamed The Green Room—an extraordinary lending library packed with old magazines, vintage fishing lures, plaid everything, dusty books, patches, and camp ephemera from generations past. Some of these materials join the exhibition, which grew out of countless hours of painting and drawing inspired by the trove.
- Esther Pearl Watson, Girl Scout Graffiti.
- Wyatt Hersey, View from Wandawega Lodge (2026), gouache on birch panel, 20 x 20 inches.
- Anna Valdez, Assorted Vintage Lures (2026), 12 x 10 inches.
- Melissa Lakey, Vintage Radios (2026), acrylic on wood panel, 11 x 14 inches.
Drawing on a camp attic’s tactile archive and the bracing cold of the Midwest, The Department of Objects brings the charm of sleepaway camp to Chicago—along with the artists who lived it.
