The Art Effect is now accepting applications for the 2023 Spring Break Intensive sessions of its workforce development programs, Spark Studios and MADLab. Students ages 14-19 who live in Dutchess County are welcome to apply. These sessions will address important themes that are relevant to young people’s lives and teach valuable transferrable skills. Students who successfully complete all 25 hours of a workforce intensive will earn a $100 stipend.
MADLab Intensive: Becoming a Professional Artist April 3rd- 7th, 12pm-5pm each day 45 Pershing Avenue, Poughkeepsie Learn how to become a working, exhibiting artist! You will learn how to write an artist statement, prepare your work for sale, navigate making websites and social media brands for your art, and how to starting making money as an artist.
Spark Studios Intensive: Public Art Projection April 3rd-7th, 12pm-5pm each day 489 Main Street, Poughkeepsie (Trolley Barn Gallery) Talk back to media messages! In this intensive, you will work alongside Reel Exposure featured artist William Koenig-Vinicombe to understand media literacy and representation. Decode the ways films have shaped you, then learn to remix and re-edit video and media pieces! Finished videos will be featured in a public projection at Reel Exposure this May!
Dutchess and Ulster Arts Camps allow children to imagine, discover, create, and have fun each summer. Young artists explore fine art, digital media art, and performing arts while strengthening their self-confidence, creative thinking, and art making techniques both individually and in a collaborative setting. Professional artists and experienced teachers support hands-on art experimentation with a wide variety of artistic mediums including painting, sculpture, collage, and animation. The pieces created at camp will portray original narratives connecting to each camper’s interests and lives. Finished artwork and performances will be displayed in a final showcase each Friday in an open exhibition setting for campers to share with family and friends. Creativity thrives as campers explore and play!
The Art Effect’s Summer Art Institute (including Junior Art Institute) takes young artists on a deep dive into their chosen medium while building foundational knowledge of techniques, elements and principles of fine or digital art. Intermediate and advanced students will develop and elevate their technical skills to create a dynamic portfolio. High school students interested in pursuing a degree in the arts will meet with college representatives and receive portfolio critiques through each two-week session.
Monday – Friday, 9:30 – 4:30pm Dutchess Community College – Allyn Washington Center for Art & Science, 37 Gallery Circle, Poughkeepsie
Select a major based on the choices below. Each major includes different classes with developmentally-appropriate arts instruction. For more information, click on a two-week session below:
Foundational-level majors are recommended for youth ages 11-15 with little or no previous experience in fine or digital art.
Fine Art Foundations – Learn basic techniques, elements and principles of fine art through drawing, painting, mixed media, and collage. One digital art class is also included.
Digital Art Foundations –Learn essential elements and principles of digital art. Projects include digital painting, drawn animations, and graphic design. One fine art class is also included.
The Portfolio Foundations major is recommended for youth ages 12-16 in high school with introductory experience in fine or digital art, or advanced middle school students.
Portfolio Foundations –Begin to develop a dynamic portfolio in drawing, painting, and digital art while expanding on fundamental drawing and painting skills in both visual and digital arts. Primarily working from observation and reference photos, students will learn composition, color theory, mark-making and narrative illustration. Projects will include still life, landscapes, self-portraits, and more!
Portfolio majors are recommended for intermediate-to-advanced level high school students ages 14-19 with experience in digital or fine art.
Portfolio in Digital Art –Develop a dynamic portfolio while expanding on fundamental digital art skills in mark-making, working with layers, digital character design, animated expressive and narrative shorts, posters and web graphics, and digital composition.
Portfolio in Drawing & Painting – Use drawing, painting, and mixed media to experiment with conceptual works and create work that focuses on a personal vision and voice. Recommended for seniors with college applications on their mind.
Early drop-off available for an additional $25/day Late pick-up available for an additional $25/day Please email cory@thearteffect.org or call 845-471-7477 to schedulean early drop off/late pick up.
Additional Discounts
Multiclass/Sibling Discount: Save 5% when registering 2 or more children OR when you sign 1 child up for two or more weeks of camp.
Summer Camp registration for ages 5-10 is NOW OPEN!
Dutchess and Ulster Arts Camps allow children to imagine, discover, create, and have fun each summer. Young artists explore fine art, digital media art, and performing arts while strengthening their self-confidence, creative thinking, and art making techniques both individually and in a collaborative setting. Professional artists and experienced teachers support hands-on art experimentation with a wide variety of artistic mediums including painting, sculpture, collage, and animation. The pieces created at camp will portray original narratives connecting to each camper’s interests and lives. Finished artwork and performances will be displayed in a final showcase each Friday in an open exhibition setting for campers to share with family and friends. Creativity thrives as campers explore and play!
Early drop-off available for an additional $25/day (no earlier than 8:15 am) Late pick-up available for an additional $25/day (no later than 4:45pm) Please email cory@thearteffect.org or call 845-471-7477 to schedulean early drop off/late pick up.
Additional Discounts
Multiclass/Sibling Discount: Save 5% when registering 2 or more children OR when you sign 1 child up for two or more weeks of camp.
The Art Effect’s Summer Art Institute (including Junior Art Institute) takes young artists on a deep dive into their chosen medium while building foundational knowledge of techniques, elements and principles of fine or digital art. Intermediate and advanced students will develop and elevate their technical skills to create a dynamic portfolio. High school students interested in pursuing a degree in the arts will meet with college representatives and receive portfolio critiques through each two-week session.
Monday – Friday, 9:30 – 4:30pm Dutchess Community College – Allyn Washington Center for Art & Science, 37 Gallery Circle, Poughkeepsie
Select a major based on the choices below. Each major includes different classes with developmentally-appropriate arts instruction. For more information, click on a two-week session below:
Foundational-level majors are recommended for youth ages 11-15 with little or no previous experience in fine or digital art.
Fine Art Foundations – Learn basic techniques, elements and principles of fine art through drawing, painting, mixed media, and collage. One digital art class is also included.
Digital Art Foundations –Learn essential elements and principles of digital art. Projects include digital painting, drawn animations, and graphic design. One fine art class is also included.
The Portfolio Foundations major is recommended for youth ages 12-16 in high school with introductory experience in fine or digital art, or advanced middle school students.
Portfolio Foundations –Begin to develop a dynamic portfolio in drawing, painting, and digital art while expanding on fundamental drawing and painting skills in both visual and digital arts. Primarily working from observation and reference photos, students will learn composition, color theory, mark-making and narrative illustration. Projects will include still life, landscapes, self-portraits, and more!
Portfolio majors are recommended for intermediate-to-advanced level high school students ages 14-19 with experience in digital or fine art.
Portfolio in Digital Art –Develop a dynamic portfolio while expanding on fundamental digital art skills in mark-making, working with layers, digital character design, animated expressive and narrative shorts, posters and web graphics, and digital composition.
Portfolio in Drawing & Painting – Use drawing, painting, and mixed media to experiment with conceptual works and create work that focuses on a personal vision and voice. Recommended for seniors with college applications on their mind.
Each morning begins with an all-student body circle up and an inspiration session where teaching artists share stories, personal works, and motivational wisdom. Next, each group works on in-depth projects within their own major, so that there is a cumulative total of 10 hours per week of deep focus work on their own projects. This is followed by an all-group lunch period where students can socialize. Students must provide their own lunch, snacks, and water. Sunscreen recommended. After lunch, there is an all-ages elective block, in which students can select which discipline they would like to explore outside of their major. Possible elective options may include figure drawing, portraiture, and 3D sculpture. More information on electives and selection will take place two weeks prior to the start of the program. Finally, during the last period of the day, the Foundations-level majors select a second elective class for further exploration of a new discipline, while the Portfolio majors dive back into their majors subject.
Early drop-off available for an additional $25/day (no earlier than 8:30am) Late pick-up available for an additional $25/day (no later than 5:15pm) Please email cory@thearteffect.org or call 845-471-7477 to schedulean early drop off/late pick up.
Additional Discounts
Multiclass/Sibling Discount: Save 5% when registering 2 or more children OR when you sign 1 child up for two or more weeks of camp.
Open house success! More than 35 families stopped by The Art Effect on MLK Jr. Day to enjoy pizza and participate in workshop demos led by The Art Effect instructors Morgan Suter, Zach Reid, and Nia Scott.
Learn more about & sign up for spring classes here!
Also on display at this event were posters created by The Art Effect’s Media/Arts/Design Lab for the NYS Pollution Prevention Institute. These posters showed visitors easy yet effective ways to be more eco-friendly in their daily lives.
It was incredible to welcome members of the community to 45 Pershing Avenue, and to see youth engage with different kinds of creative learning on their day off from school! From the paintings, sketches, songs and animations produced in workshop to the long-form collaborative posters from the youth workforce development team, many forms of artistic talent and hard work were celebrated.
In December, The Art Effect’s MADLab students helped facilitate an incredible Arts for Healing workshop with residents of the Vassar-Warner Home. The workshop involved two sessions: “Abstract Painting” and “Intergenerational Illustration”. In the first session, residents experimented with abstract painting techniques; in the second, The Art Effect’s Media, Art, Design Lab (MADLab) students listened to stories of residents’ favorite holiday memories, then went on to illustrates these memories into a picture book holiday gift for each resident to keep (check out the book below)!
Expressing themselves through the soothing power of painting, the residents translated powerful emotions into a visual medium. Unexpected choices were an integral parts of this process; mistakes were transformed into poignant works of art.
When the workshop finished, 100% of participants reported a“strengthened sense of self” and 75% of participants said their stress level decreased and sense of optimism increased.
MADLab students spoke one on one with residents during the “Intergenerational Illustration” workshop. Each resident shared a favorite holiday memory and the students used the skills they’d cultivated in the MADLab program to bring this memory to life with unique illustrations.
Classic winter experiences like building snowmen or gathereing with family for a special meal were included, as well as distinctive memories like the first snowfall on a farm or a special holiday trip on a train. Each story was rendered in a student’s unique style, then compiled in a book which was gifted to residents. The book can be viewed online.
Whether the Vassar-Warner Home residents created their own paintings or shared their stories with MADLab students to generate collaborative works of art, The Art Effect’s Art for Healing workshop is now yet another holiday memory to be cherished! Learn more about The Art Effect’s Arts for Healing program here.
The Trolley Barn Gallery is seeking new members for the Youth Curatorial Team – who make exhibition curation decisions and are mentored by expert curators and artists in the field of art and museums! The Youth Curatorial Team will be generating the theme and putting out the spring call for entry, as well as installing upcoming exhibitions. Please click here to apply.
Spring 2023 Session: February 8th – June 9th Wednesday – Friday, 3-5:30pm
Trolley Barn Curatorial Team is responsible for:
Theme generation
Art handling
Exhibition installation
Project management
And more!
Applicants will earn a $500 stipend upon completion of the program
February 21 – June 20 | Monday & Tuesday, 3-5:30pm
As a YAEZ Liaison, you will have the opportunity to empower and engage your local community through the arts. Learn how to curate activities for events, select guest artists for public art projects, create social media content and build relationships with local businesses and community members in Poughkeepsie.
Students who complete the program receive a $500 stipend!
Poughkeepsie Middle School is the new home of a collaborative mural designed by Hudson Valley artist Mary Haddad and fifteen Poughkeepsie City School District elementary students. Created during an arts and academics-themed camp at The Art Effect, the We Are Poughkeepsie mural celebrates many of Poughkeepsie’s luminaries who revolutionized medicine, fought discrimination, served in the military, broke barriers, and literally reached for the stars. The students who contributed to this mural hope that all who view it at its new home in the middle school will be inspired, just as they were by the historical heroes depicted. Learn more about The Art Effect’s summer camps.
The young artists that worked on the painting include: Rafael Andujar-McNeil, A’Nyah McNeil, NaLay Jennings, Malana Myers, Jaivon Williams, Emerson Birrittella, Vencott Smith Jr., Is’Real Whitted, Gabriella Flanagan, Cameron Smith, Prince Brown, Dasim Washington, Samaad Paulin, Siraj Paulin, and Sharif Paulin. The camp instructors were The Art Effect instructor Donna Mikkelson, with the academic portion taught by Poughkeepsie City School District educator Shireen Cader.
The program was made possible by the collaborative efforts of the Poughkeepsie City School District, The Art Effect, the Poughkeepsie Farm Project, the Poughkeepsie Public Library, and Hudson Valley’s artists and art educators.
Significant figures featured include (from left to right):
Sadie Peterson Delaney (1889-1958): A poet and internationally recognized librarian, Sadie attended Poughkeepsie High School and was a member of the Zion Church of Poughkeepsie. Sadie’s activism began at age 15, when she read an original poem advocating for equal voting rights in front of Poughkeepsie’s Equal Suffrage League. She studied to be a librarian in Harlem at the height of the Harlem Renaissance. She later pursued her career at Tuskegee Veterans Adminsitration Hospital, where she revolutionized the use of books as therapy in the treatment of mental and physical disorders.
Gaius Bolin (1965-1946): The first Black student to attend and graduate from Williams College, Gaius began his life and education in Poughkeepsie. In 1892, he passed the bar exam and became the only Black lawyer in the city. He was a founding member of the Dutchess County NAACP, was named the first Black president of the Dutchess County Bar Association, and in 1901, he was appointed by then-New York Governor Theodore Roosevelt to the NY State Board of Managers. Throughout his life, Gaius fought against racism: challenging discrimination by the president of Vassar College, protesting the discriminator practices of the local YMCA, and pursuing his profession unafraid of the then-active KKK.
Jane Bolin (1908-2007): Daughter of Gaius Bolin, Jane attended Poughkeepsie public schools and graduated from Wellesley College. She was the first Black woman to accomplish many things in the legal profession, including to graduate from Yale Law School, to pass the NY State bar exam, to hold the position of assistant corporate counsel, and to serve as a judge in the United State. Throughout her career, she challenged segregationist policies, and she served on the board of the NAACP and the NY Urban League.
Annie Marie Lawrence Bolin (1836-1910): Mother of Gaius Bolin and grandmother of Jane Bolin, Annie Marie lived her whole life in Poughkeepsie. She and her husband Abram raised their family at 35 North Clinton Street. Annie Mraie was a prominent member of the local community. Throughout her lifetime, she witnessed monumental changes in American society, and she inspired future generations of her family to break barriers.
Walter Patrice (1919-2018): A lifelong resident of Poughkeepsie, Walter served in World War II as First Lieutenant 389th in the Engineer General Service Regiment in Europe. He returned home to have an enormous impact on his local community; he served on the City of Poughkeepsie Recreation Commission, the Poughkeepsie Planning Board, the Executive Men’s Club of Poughkeepsie, The Colored Troops Museum of Hartwick College, and the American Society of Manufacturing Engeineers. He had a keen interest in history and founded the Black History Project Committee in the Dutchess County Historical Society. For his accomplishments, he was honored by the Catharine Street Community Center, the Sports Hall of Fame for Johnson C. Smith College, the Dutchess County Baseball Hall of Fame, and the Dutchess County Sports Museum Hall of Fame.
Maria Mitchell (1818-1889): Maria was a librarian, educator, and the first-recognzied female astronomer in the United States; though she reached astronomical heights, she always called Poughkeepsie her home. Maria attended and taught at Vassar College. Her best-known accomplishment took place here in Poughkeepsie when she discovered a telescopic comet using a two-inch telescope. This comet was later named after her, and earned Maria a gold medal from King Frederic VI of Denmark. She founded the Association for the Advancement of Woman, and was the first woman elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 1905, she was one of three women elected to the Hall of Fame of Great Americans and was an inductee into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. A lunar crater on the moon is also named in her honor.
The Art Effect is now accepting applications for the Spring 2023 session of its two workforce development programs, Spark Studios and MADLab (Media, Arts, Design Lab). These workforce programs are arts-based career and skills training experiences.
MADLab runs January 23 – March 29, Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday, 3:00-5:30pm and is an “earn while you learn” arts-based career and skills training program that trains youth in:
Visual art, graphic design, and portfolio development skills
Managing public art, sculptural installation, and placekeeping projects
Spark Studios runs January 24 – March 30, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursdays, 3:00-5:30pm and is a filmmaking and videography program for youth interested in developing their film production and professional skills including:
Working with clients on commercial videos
Bringing a creative vision to life across stages of production
Students who complete either program earn a $150 stipend. Applicants must be Dutchess County residents ages 14-19