As artists and educators, Joshua and Cinthya Silverstein are not afraid to put themselves out there.
In 2020, the Los Angeles-based couple and parents of three started a podcast, Silversteins’ Show, to document their lives during the pandemic. The following year, they swapped homes with a Mormon family for the NBC reality show “Home Sweet Home.”
Their latest project involves trying to revitalize the weeklong Cazadero Performing Arts Family Camp, a Sonoma County institution that, like other summer camps in the United States, struggled to make it through the pandemic. The camp was canceled in 2020, went online in 2021, returned in person in 2022 then had to be cut short last summer due to a Covid-19 outbreak.
This summer, the Silversteins will lead the camp together, with Joshua serving as director and Cinthya as operations manager. They are taking over from John DeSerio, who had served as director since 2014.
Meanwhile, they are spearheading a fundraising campaign to put the camp, known as Caz, in a stronger financial position. They hope to raise $150,000 by the end of 2024.
“Caz is a revelatory space where you get to be in community and use art as a tool to bond with people you don’t even know, and to connect with a deeper part of yourself,” Joshua said in a joint interview with his wife. “We want it to grow.”
Cinthya added, “This is a place to feel valued as an artist and to experience things that are difficult to do in your day-to-day life.”
Set among the redwood trees of Cazadero, an unincorporated community about two hours north of San Francisco, Cazadero Performing Arts Family Camp is a spinoff of Cazadero Music Camp. The family camp launched in the 1970s and became its own nonprofit in 2010.
This summer’s session will take place Aug. 4-10, with space for 250 people. Campers of all ages and skill levels can choose from more than 60 classes in a variety of disciplines, including painting, calligraphy, poetry, band ensemble, DJing, breakdancing, circus arts, improv and musical theater. There is also programming for children 5 and under. Visit cazfamilycamp.org to see the full class list and register.
The Silversteins have been associated with Caz for more than a decade. Joshua, 42, started teaching creative writing and beatboxing in 2013. (He is also an actor who last performed in the Bay Area in 2019’s “True Colors.”) Cinthya, 39, has taught photography since 2017. Their children have accompanied them to Caz a number of times.
Although not a specifically Jewish family camp, many Bay Area Jewish families attend each year. One camp tradition is to light Shabbat candles together on Friday night and eat fresh challah from a local bakery. As Jews of color — Joshua is Black and Cinthya is Mexican American — the Silversteins said one of their goals is to make Caz a more welcoming place for both Jewish and non-Jewish campers of different backgrounds.
“We want to make it a space where everyone feels welcome and seen and heard,” Joshua added. “I love how Cinthya and I, as Jews of color, can walk around and not have that questioned.”
As part of their vision, the Silversteins have recruited several new “teaching artists” who identify as people of color and/or LGBTQ. The new instructors include Cal Bennett, who will teach freestyle sax improvisation and band ensemble; Alyesha Wise and Matthew “Cuban” Hernandez, who will teach poetry; Maya Jupiter, who will teach hip-hop songwriting; and Brooke Aston Harper, who will teach acting and youth show choir.
The Silversteins have also modified the daily camp schedule and added time for mindfulness activities.
Ethan Grossman, a longtime Caz camper who grew up in Oakland, said he is confident in the Silversteins’ ability to lead the camp into the future.
“They are doing everything in their power to not only maintain the magic that is there and has been there for years, but also transform it into something that is more sustainable and more accessible to a larger group of people,” Grossman said.
A 23-year-old filmmaker who currently lives in New York City, Grossman has been going to Caz every summer since he was 5. This summer he will serve on the staff, hosting an open mic event and organizing a new performance showcase for campers aged 16 to 25.
“There’s something about the nature that’s around you and the nature of the camp itself that just makes everything seem more significant, whether it’s the song you’re singing or the person you’re talking to,” he said. “It has a way of impacting me every single time I go back.”
Cinthya Silverstein said one of the things she appreciates about Caz is that campers can try something new in a completely supportive environment.
“I never thought I would take up the ukulele. But because of Caz, now I know that’s a thing I can do,” she said. “Caz is this really great opportunity for people to expand interpersonally and individually.”