School’s almost out for the summer! Give your child an enriching experience this summer with The Art Effect’s summer camps and programs. We are happy to share that scholarships are still available for students with a Poughkeepsie or Hyde Park zip code!
Summer camps and programs are filling quickly, so apply today to make this a summer they’ll remember!
Posted April 30th, 2025 — Filed under Uncategorized
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Join us THIS SATURDAY, May 3, for the 4th annual, youth-led PKX Festival!
Due to weather, all events will now take place indoors at the Family Partnership Center 29 North Hamilton St Poughkeepsie, NY
PKX Festival Schedule Saturday, May 3, 1-8PM PKX is Free, Open to the Public, & Happening Rain or Shine! FAMILY PARTNERSHIP CENTER 29 North Hamilton St In the Gymnasium 1–5PM: COMMUNITY CELEBRATION A family-friendly outdoor community celebration with hands-on art-making activities, local food vendors, live music and more!
In the Duffy Community Room YOUTH ART EXHIBITION AND FILM FESTIVAL 1-5PM: Teen Art Exhibition 5-6PM: Art Exhibition Reception Discover a dynamic collection of local youth-created multimedia artworks.
In the Auditorium 6–8PM: Film Festival & Awards Ceremony* *For teens and older: PG-13 content* Features short films by talented young filmmakers from around the world. A jury of peers, including apprentices from Forge Media’s production house, will evaluate their selections and present awards.
THANK YOU TO OUR PKX FESTIVAL SPONSORS & FRIENDS OF THE FESTIVAL Adams Fairacre Farms Boys & Girls Club of Poughkeepsie Celebrating the African Spirit Central Hudson Charlia Frank Chronogram City of Poughkeepsie Community Matters 2 Country Kids Popcorn Crazy Over ART on tour Dutchess County Pride Center Empire Arts Training Center Esperanza Dutchess County Hispanic Organization Fall Kill Creative Works Family Services Financial Development Center Hip-Hop Healing Hudson Valley Justice Center LaVoz Loeb Art Center at Vassar College Mackey Butts & Whalen LLP Mama La’s Food for the Soul Mr. Cool Ice Cream Truck New York State Council on the Arts Nubian Directions II Oakwood Friends School PK Organics Poughkeepsie Children’s Cabinet Poughkeepsie City School District Prime Print Shop Rhinebeck Bank Spettro The Art Effect The Brain and Body Coalition Vassar College Visit Vortex Walkway Over the Hudson State Historic Park
Posted January 15th, 2025 — Filed under Uncategorized
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Warm weather is just around the corner, and it’s the perfect time to nurture your child’s artistic talents! At The Art Effect, we believe that every child should have access to the arts. We’re excited to offer scholarships for our upcoming Spring classes and Summer Arts Camps and programs, which include everything from painting to digital animation. Scholarships are available for students ages 5-19, and we encourage families to apply. Explore our courses, discover the possibilities, and give your child the gift of creativity this season!
Contact Art Institute Coordinator, Abby Lessick, to submit your application at abby@thearteffect.org or call 845-471-7477 to learn more about The Art Effect’s scholarship process and application.
The Art Effect is pleased to present the 24th annual Hudson Valley Regional PortfolioDay at the MJN (Majad J. Nesheiwat) Convention Center on Friday, October 4th, 2024, from 4:00–8:00 pm. Over 30 admissions representatives from top art colleges across the nation will talk to students and review their portfolios for scholarship eligibility to major art schools and universities.
This event is FREE to students, teachers, guidance counselors, parents, and interested members of the general public. Students should bring 10-20 examples of original, recent artwork. During the four-hour event, students have the opportunity to meet and speak with representatives from over 30 art schools and colleges. Students obtain catalogs, admission policies, and information on scholarship opportunities directly from their preferred schools. Students also bring their art portfolios for review and evaluation, giving them a true advantage in developing a strong college application. Many Hudson Valley youth and students at The Art Effect have discovered their future college at PortfolioDay and gained an advantage in the college application process.
“Portfolio Day gave me valuable critiques, including tips on how to photograph my work better and what I could tweak in my artwork. I am currently attending Columbus College of Art & Design (CCAD), which I first discovered during virtual college visits. At last year’s Portfolio Day I spoke with a college rep who really helped me get the application process started,” says Amya West, alumna of The Art Effect & a Portfolio Day attendee in 2021.
For more information on PortfolioDay click here or call 845-471-7477.
Experience art through the eyes of talented teens who created an impressive collection of artworks, including drawing, painting, photography, digital animation, film, mixed media, and more!
Teen Visions is a culmination of the hard work and dedication of selected young artists from The Art Effect’s 2024 summer programs including Summer Art Institute, Junior Art Institute, MADLab, Spark Studios, and D-LIT. It is an incredible accomplishment to be chosen for the Teen Visions Exhibition. Teaching artists and staff choose more than 65 artworks of exceptional technique to be included in the exhibition taking place at the beautiful Trolley Barn Gallery.
Visual works in the show – which always proves both richly varied and exciting, as well as a demonstration as to why nearly all of The Art Effect’s Art Institute students get into the nation’s top visual arts programs – include paintings, drawings, mixed media, photography and sculpture by students from many Mid-Hudson school districts, counties, towns, villages and cities. The exhibition will be on display through September 6, 2024. Gallery hours are listed above.
Family, friends, and the community are invited to join us for an opening reception on Saturday, August 24 from 6–8 PM.
We invite students back on Friday, September 6 from 6–8 PM for a closing reception and pre-portfolio day. Students will have the opportunity to have photographs taken of their work as well as receive pre-portfolio reviews in preparation for Portfolio Day on October 4. Teen Visions’ artists will be able to take their artwork home with them at the end of the evening!
Exhibition Events:
Opening Reception: Saturday, August 24, 6–8 PM Trolley Barn Gallery, 489 Main St, Poughkeepsie NY 12601
Closing Reception & Pre-Portfolio Day: Friday, September 6, 6–8 PM Trolley Barn Gallery, 489 Main St, Poughkeepsie NY 12601
The Youth Arts Empowerment Zone (YAEZ) liaisons have revitalized the pavement outside the Trolley Barn Gallery with a vibrant mural, revamping the previous artwork. This project is part of their annual community engagement efforts, where local students organize workshops, art activities, and an arts festival.
The YAEZ liaisons collaborated on a lively, pop-inspired design. Through interactive workshops, they created characters and themes celebrating nature and Poughkeepsie’s landscape. The community embraced the project, with over 50 people participating in the painting process. The mural now serves as a joyful centerpiece, engaging residents and visitors with community spirit!
Meet Tamara Gentle, a dynamic and talented artist who graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology in 2023. A proud alumna of Poughkeepsie High School, Tamara has impacted the art community over the past two years. She has dedicated her time as a teaching artist at The Art Effect, where she has played a role in assisting with residencies and co-teaching the MADLab youth workforce program. Her commitment to fostering creativity and skill development in young artists has made her an important figure among students.
One of Tamara’s standout achievements includes her involvement with the Color My Future Duchess County Career coloring book. Originally, she was part of the team that designed the original illustrations for this innovative project. More recently, she took the lead on updating the content, providing illustration support to ensure the book remains a valuable and engaging resource.
One of Tamara’s standout achievements includes her involvement with the Color My FutureDuchess County Career coloring book. Originally, she was part of the team that designed the original illustrations for this innovative project. More recently, she took the lead on updating the content, providing illustration support to ensure the book remains a valuable and engaging resource.
At the Trolley Barn Gallery, the power of art to inspire change, and foster community engagement is important. The international open call for the Earth’s Reflection exhibition invites artists to explore art, environment, and social justice through these various events:
Lauren Hollick – Studio Visit (March 8)
Lauren Hollick is a Hudson Valley artist and educator who works mostly with upcycled materials. Studios toured her studio at the Cunneen-Hackett Art Center and asked her questions about her artistic practice and personal motivation to create climate change sensitive art. Hollick explained her process of making paper and collecting found objects for her artwork.
Elinor Levy – Guest Speaker, Activity (March 15)
Elinor Levy is a Hudson Valley artist and Folk Arts Program Manager at Arts Mid-Hudson. Levy talked the students through concepts of cultural sustainability and local folklore. They discussed how legends and stories about a place can affect a city just as much as the truth and how a culture can be changed when the narrative about a place changes. Levy led a “Jane’s Walk” around Main Street in Poughkeepsie and the students observed their environment and investigated local meeting spots, abandoned locations and statements of local culture articulated through signage and folklore. The students learned how individual identity can be crafted in response to environment and history.
Serena Domingues – Workshop (March 16)
Serena Domingues is a Founder of Nature’s Impact – a Poughkeepsie based environmental education organization that curates experimental art installations and holds pop up workshops and activities focused on exploring the connection between humans and nature. Serena put together a workshop to teach the students how to create pinch-pots out of clay. While the students manipulated clay into their desired shapes, Serena explained her practice and professional journey – reminding our students that there is no single, right way to become an artist and start your own business. Serena also spoke about clay, it’s originals and asked the students to speak on how clay makes them feel and think – and how it feels to be connected to the Earth and to use earth as a medium for artmaking.
Harrison Brisbon-McKinnon – Guest Speaker, Activity (March 16)
Harrison Brisbon-McKinnon is a Vassar student and Art Effect alum who volunteered to give a two part presentation on ownership and identity and how it is informed by a person’s environment. Brisbon-McKinnon spent a large portion of last summer studying Earth Science and technology – holding a weekly workshop to help underrepresented communities gain access to advanced scientific technology. In part one of his presentation, Brisbon-McKinnon introduced the students to concepts of body ownership and consumption. He asked students to image that their bodies were not their own – that they are in fact part of the Earth and part of a bigger system of ecology that may be outside the realm of individual identity. In an exercise, he asked students to delete an app from their phone whose sole purpose was consumerism to empower them to contribute more to the culture, not just ingest what has already been created. In part two of his presentation, he employed an activity similar to the Jane’s Walk the students participated in with Elinor Levy. But for this activity the purpose was to dissect who the building truly belonged to – beyond legal ownership – and what was the purpose of these locations for the community members who patronized them. The students were encouraged to discuss the purpose of these locations and how they would change if their ownership of those locations reflected the community more than capitalistic endeavors.
Sheri Reid – Guest Speaker (March 29)
Sheri Reid is a environmental justice consultant and Poughkeepsie local. Reid gave a presentation to the students that illustrated the institutional policies that built Poughkeepsie and created the racial and economic divides within the city. Reid’s presentation included maps and demographic information of the city of Poughkeepsie which clearly demonstrated the access (or in access) to reliable FEMA resources considering that the majority of Poughkeepsie is in a flood plain. This presentation sparked lively discussion about institutional racism and different environmental factors that contribute to further disparity between marginalized and non-marginalized communities.
These events have deepened the understanding of art, environment, and social justice, inspiring a commitment to positive change.The Trolley Barn Gallery is excited to showcase diverse perspectives at Earth’s Reflection, with an opening reception on June 14 from 6 PM to 8 PM. The exhibition will be displayed from June 14 to August 9, 2024, highlighting art’s power to engage and inspire.
The PKX Festival was a great success this year! From music performances to inspiring showcases, the energy was vibrant throughout the event. We are happy to relive these moments of creativity and community with these stunning photos from the event!
Thank you to all who made the PKX Festival unforgettable!
