Posted December 31st, 2021 — Filed under Residencies
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How can words and pictures come together to help us tell our stories? As part of the Poughkeepsie Public Library District’s Big Read, fourth grade students in Ms. Shereen Cader’s class at Warring Elementary School tackled this question head-on through a residency project called PhotoStory Portraiture conducted in partnership with The Art Effect.
In this residency, which was based on Rachel Neumann’s edited collection I Am Home (one of this year’s Big Read mentor texts), students learned about the genre of memoir, and then wrote mini-memoirs expressing their thoughts and feelings about what “home” means to them. Students then learned about how image composition can help tell a story, and chose specific shots, angles, and framing for their portraits, to finally use professional photography and lighting equipment to stage and capture photographic portraits to accompany their writing. Through the tools of memoir and photo portraiture, these students took control of telling their stories.
Their work is on display at the Boardman Road Branch Library (141 Boardman Rd POK NY 12603) through the end of 2021.
Donna Mikkelsen, a professional art teacher and long-time teaching artist at The Art Effect. Donna has been teaching arts-based curriculum both in-school and community-based settings for over 25 years. In 2001, she founded the arts-integrated Garden Road School in Westchester County and served as its Director for 11 years. Following that, she became Education Director for the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art in Peekskill where she organized In-School Artist Residencies with the local school district including a Docent Training program for high school students. As a teaching artist she has developed AmbiArts workshops for people of all ages. These workshops incorporate the principles of her ambidextrous drawing technique “Spontaneous Symmetry”. This fun process engages both hemispheres of the brain, utilizes kinesthetic learning, calms nerves, and builds teamwork. Donna works with schools, non-profit and community-based organizations throughout the Hudson Valley.
Warring & Clinton 4th and 5th Grades Students at Clinton and Warring were visited by Vassar College students for Black History Month. Each student was given the book “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave written by Himself.” The class learned about Frederick Douglass’ life and the role he played in history and discussed “what does it mean to be Black?”. Each student then designed at least two large watercolor feathers for a collaborative “Wings of Justice” artwork where they illustrated or wrote responses to the following: “Who am I?” “What makes me unique?” “Who will I be as I get older?”
Posted December 31st, 2021 — Filed under Residencies
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The Art Effect conducted a series of library workshops, teacher trainings, and in-school residencies as part of the Poughkeepsie Public Library District’s 2021 Big Read program. Each workshop revolves around generating, gathering, and celebrating community stories.
A Different Pond, by Bao Phi
Poughkeepsie Public Library District
Create Your own Comic Book/Graphic Novel In this workshop, library patrons learned how to capture an autobiographical moment in the visual/sequential medium by creating their own graphic novel/comic book from start to finish. This workshop covered sequential storytelling as well as how to sketch, ink, and color their comics.
Staatsburg Library
Podcast and Radio Production For tween-teens | VIRTUAL. In this workshop, teens learned the art of audio production and sound design to produce their own mini-podcast telling their family’s story. Finished pieces air on Radio Uprising, the Art Effect’s youth-produced radio show, which airs every Thursday from 4pm – 5pm on 91.3fm WVKR Independent Radio.
Watercolors for Adults Inspired by Thi Bui’s watercolor illustrations in the graphic novel The Best We Could Do, adults in this virtual workshop generated short memoirs and then learned the art of watercolor to create three-panel watercolor illustrations to accompany their anecdotes.
Poughkeepsie High School
“My America Is” Video Poems After completing the in-school unit on immigration and the Big Read featured book The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui, students work in groups to compile each written “I Am America” poem and write/produce a film script to create video poems about what being an American means.
Warring Elementary School
Photography and Memoir Writing In this residency based on I Am Home, elementary students wrote mini-memoirs expressing their thoughts and feelings about what “home” means to them, then learned professional photography and lighting techniques to stage and capture photographic portraits to illustrate and accompany their writing.
Posted December 31st, 2021 — Filed under Residencies
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Media Arts Residency Offerings
Animated Learning Students use stop-motion animation to collaborate on an animated narrative or expository short. Students learn different techniques using various materials to create the story, backgrounds, characters, and movements. Students also learn editing in Adobe Premiere to incorporate voice recordings, music, and sound effects.
Art of Music Videos Students will get a chance to pick a song to create their own music video. Students will also critique their favorite music videos to help them identify criteria for what makes an interesting and visually appealing music video. They will learn multi-media production to be able to incorporate animations, special effects, and narrative storylines to make their music videos unique to them.
Cinematic Adaptation Students learn to translate textual literacy into visual literacy to use the tools of cinematography to script, film, and edit a cinematic adaptation of a source text, with the challenge of retaining the theme/tone/central conflict of the original source but updating the time period and circumstances to reflect students’ lives and interests, as well as altering the conclusion to become more hopeful than the original.
Counter-Advertisements Students use basic media literacy principles to decode advertisements. They then create counter-advertisements, or parodies of advertisements, that deliver more truthful or constructive messages using the same persuasion techniques as real ads. This workshop can be offered either in print media, radio, or video formats.
Visual Arts Residency Offerings
Sketching and Drawing 101 Sharpen your drawing skills! Learn how to create a sketch that captures a fleeting moment, focusing on the lines and movement of what you are looking to draw, then learn how to add light and shadow to bring depth to your drawing.
Watercolor Painting Explore various watercoloring techniques as you blend colors and let your imagination run free, creating colorful flowers and fantastic landscapes.
Acrylic/Tempera Painting With Red, Yellow, and Blue you can make any color you want to! Learn about primary and complementary colors through color mixing as you create fun abstract paintings. Sponges, tape, utensils and more will be available to create unique patterns and designs.
Oil Pastels Explore different pastel techniques to create a world of summertime fun. Learn the art of composition as you create an image that captures your idea what makes summer such a special time of year.
New York based artist, Destiny Arianna displayed her artwork at The Art Effect’s Indigenous Peoples’ Day event on October 11, 2021.
“Taking the skills, she acquired through self-teaching Destiny continues to focus on depictions of Blackness in art. Over the past year, Arianna has used painting, photography, and collage to explore her Black and Indigenous identity, with a focus on land, lineage, and language. Her works address the hyper-visibility, visibility, and invisibility of her racial and cultural identities. Arianna addresses the deeply rooted connection between the rich culture she was immersed in growing up and its relation to the violent history of her ancestry to reconstruct a narrative of beauty, resilience, and survival in her work.”
Trolley Barn Fellow
Destiny is also The Art Effect’s Poughkeepsie Lead Fellow at the Trolley Barn Gallery, leading The Art Effect’s new PKX Squad and planning the annual PKX Festivals in downtown Poughkeepsie. She is a New York-based artist who graduated from Bowdoin College, with a Bachelor of Arts in Africana Studies, Art History, and Visual Arts. After entering her first technical art classes during her sophomore year of college, she encountered a teaching style that excluded Black people. The gap in her artistic training led her to pursue the study of race in arts education. During Kearney’s time within Bowdoin’s Visual Arts program, she continued to learn from and rebel against that pedagogy. Taking the skills she acquired through self-teaching she continues to focus on depictions of Blackness in art. Bowdoin College Awarded her with The Richard P. Martel Jr. Memorial Prize in Visual Arts which is awarded to the students who, in the judgment of the Visual Arts Faculty at Bowdoin are deemed to have produced the most creative, perceptive, proficient, and visually appealing art works exhibited at the college during this academic year.
Embarking on her post-grad journey, Kearney joins the Art Effect team as the Trolley Barn Fellow. She will be with us for the next two years as a member of the first cohort of Lead for Poughkeepsie Fellows, a branch of the Lead for America program.
Posted December 31st, 2021 — Filed under Arts for Justice
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In response to movements such as Black Lives Matter and social justice reform, and events such as Indigenous People’s Day, the community has come together to process emotions, express opinions, and more through drawing, painting, photography, and film. Check out some photos from past events!
Click Here to learn more about Arts for Justice Events.
Posted December 31st, 2021 — Filed under Arts For Healing
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The Art Effect offers immersive, creative experiences in visual arts to support, maintain and improve overall health, quality of life, emotional and cognitive abilities, interpersonal skills, and personal development for individuals in our community. Click through below to explore a gallery of recent projects. Click Here to learn more about Arts for Healing/ Expressive Arts workshops. Contact Us to schedule a workshop.
Posted December 31st, 2021 — Filed under Arts For Healing
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These programs aim to serve the needs of individuals living with trauma, disease, or disabilities, who benefit greatly from the therapeutic power of art. Each program is designed to meet the specific needs of the population being served. Programs can be geared towards individual or collaborative works. To learn more, please contact Mary Ellen at maryellen@thearteffect.org or fill out the form below.
