...this is where I'll be all summer.

Welcome to Chautauqua, a place that is, well, indescribable. But I'll give it a shot anyway. Over the past few months when people would ask me what I'd be doing/where I'd be over the summer, the first part was easy to answer: I'm a designer for a daily newspaper in western New York. Though I never fancied myself a newspaper gal (magazines are my forte), this one's different. The Chautauquan Daily covers the Chautauqua Institution, which comes off as a sort of utopian community set in a scenic lake setting. Sometimes it was simplest for me to humor acquaintances at school with the response, "It's like college for old people." Certainly, that reply doesn't do Chautauqua justice. Looking at some of the resources, it appears to be a resort: tennis courts, golf courses, boat houses, well-manicured lawns and gardens. But it's so much more than a vacation spot. Many families have houses on the grounds that have been passed down from generation to generation--it definitely has an old money feel--but it is viewed as a place of learning and renewal, rather than indulgence and indolence. A place that has something to offer to every age, it is an "experience rather than a vacation," as its website states. 

The four pillars of the Institution are arts, education, religion and recreation. Throughout the summer it hosts plays, operas, musical concerts, dance recitals, sermons, lectures and a range of classes and courses. The newspaper I work for covers these events and happenings, making it more like an arts and culture newsletter than a hard-hitting paper. In that respect, it's right up my alley. But in general, I'm looking forward to experiencing all that I can while I'm here. First on the list is attending my first opera. After all, as a staff member of the Daily I get to go to dress rehearsals for free!

The Athenaeum Hotel, built in 1881, is the only hotel on the grounds that is run by the Institution. Guests have ranged from Bill Clinton to Thomas Edison (who married Chautauqua co-founder Lewis Miller's daughter). 

 

The Chautauqua Amphitheater. Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his iconic "I hate war" speech here in 1936. Allegedly, it hosts the world's largest outdoor organ. 

The Lewis Miller Memorial Bell Tower looms behind the Pier Building on Chautauqua Lake. 

Another view of the lake.