Owner/Camp Executive Director: Gorman John Ruggiero
The opening of Painted Pony Performing Arts Camp in Upstate NY was a labor of love for Gorman John Ruggiero. As Founder and Executive Director of World Theatre of Children in Newtown Pennsylvania, Mr. Ruggiero brings 35 years of experience with children and the arts to Painted Pony Ranch. Historic among dude ranches and summer camps in the Adirondacks, it was a project that was six years in the making.

Mr. Ruggiero attended Adirondack Community College in Glens Falls New York, and achieved a degree as an Associate of Arts. He went on to State University at Purchase, NY after he was chosen out of an audition pool of six- hundred applicants. Thirty actors were chosen to train in the program. At the end of a grueling four-year program, Mr. Ruggiero was one of the leading actors of the twelve who made it through to graduation.

Mr. Ruggiero went on to do some acting in NYC with a variety of companies, most notably The Kaffetearia Players. He then formed his own company and after several successful shows, moved his company to Saratoga Springs, NY.
While in Saratoga Springs, Mr., Ruggiero founded and ran The Lake Avenue Theatre of Children. This program was designed to train child actors who would perform on a professional level in original plays. Ruggiero received much acclaim and was asked to produce and write a children’s television show for a local channel.

In vignettes, stories, songs and science experiments, Mr. Ruggiero, as Cappy Go Lucky, entertained and educated tens of thousands of children in the Upstate New York area. In the meantime, he continued to produce full-length shows for adults as well as manage his child acting company.

After moving to Philadelphia in 1985, Mr. Ruggiero created a program for the Philadelphia Crime Prevention Association. This program was open to At-Risk Youth who needed a place to express themselves in a controlled and productive way. He produced two shows simultaneously on opposite sides of the city and they both opened on the same day and went beautifully. That program grew and they eventually built a theatre, which is still running.

Prior to opening his performing arts camp  in the Adirondacks, he was hired to teach at The Baldwin School for Girls, an exclusive Main Line school in the Philadelphia area. While there, he produced fourteen shows a year of various lengths. His own original plays and adaptations of folktales, history, myth, and religious stories as well as his original plays, earned him the nickname: “The Vivaldi of Baldwin”. He was promoted to Head of the Theatre Department. During that time, Mr. Ruggiero designed and managed a Performing Arts Camp for the Julian Krinsky Organization, one of the largest camp organizations in the Delaware Valley.

Mr. Ruggiero also worked for The Philadelphia Mental Health Clinic developing Stress Reduction Programs for Agoraphobics. At the same time, he was a consultant for Resources for Human Development, a non-profit agency that is vital to the education of At-Risk Youth in Philadelphia. While there, he helped the children write and produce their own film.

 Mr. Ruggiero has also developed The World Theatre of Children, a not-for-profit agency dedicated to educating children in the various cultures of the world through theatre. WToC has performed in professional venues. WToC also works with children with Apserger's. Mr. Ruggiero has developed strategies for utilizing his craft to help autistic children.

The Painted Pony Ranch Summer Arts Camp, will be a place for disadvantaged children to experience the values of the outdoors, the arts, work ethics, and success strategies.

ALL EDUCATORS AND DEPARTMENT HEADS ARE PROFESSIONALS IN THEIR FIELDS OF EXPERTISE. ALL COUNSELORS ARE 21 AND OLDER AND STUDYING IN THEIR FIELDS.

Call (518) 696-5353  or Contact Us for more information.