The Academy and Seton Castle

Seton Castle undergoing restoration.

When the Academy’s purchased the historic Seton property, it instituted an alliance with the legacy of a man who was not only one of this country’s leading conservationists and artists, but also the inspired creator of groundbreaking educational programs for, and in service of, young people.

Seton devoted his life to raising awareness of the impact that human beings have on the environment, and awakening young people to the natural world as an enduring source of learning and inspiration, to be respected and well-tended, not consumed and destroyed.

Almost 60 years after Seton’s death, the planet faces ever more dire threats and it is clear that in order to effect large-scale environmental change we must evolve our inner capacities and consciousness. If we value the potential in human life, and the well-being of the whole complex system of our planet, then we can no longer afford to squander ourselves and exploit our extraordinary gifts of intelligence and self-expression in the ways we have been doing.

Seton Castle prior to restoration.

The Academy’s work is to bring people’s innate resources for learning, transformation, and personal leadership to full awareness and into action. Our programs and services focus on conserving and cultivating the human capacities and resources that are innate to us all, giving us the ability to change and evolve.

The Academy is developing the Seton property as a center for learning and personal leadership. The new center will offer a curriculum of workshops and seminars focusing on renewal and cultivation of wholeness for teachers, administrators and others working with children, as well as leaders in social benefit organizations. The Center will also host local and national conferences in relation to cultural and environmental renewal.

In addition to the programs, the Academy will provide the public, for the first time, with the opportunity to view and study the portion of Seton’s collection that remains on the property. The Center will offer an important adjunct to the Seton Collection maintained at the Philmont Boy Scout Ranch in northern New Mexico, and other parts of his collection, presently at New York’s Museum of Natural History, the Smithsonian, and the Library of Congress.