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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Senior Project is the most rigorous course currently offered at the Art Institute, the capstone of The Art Effect’s portfolio development programming.
Modeled after a senior thesis college course, students work on a personal theme for 12 weeks with an artist/mentor in their chosen art medium. Students present a new work each week along with touch-ups made to the work from the previous week, completing the program with a strong body of work around a chosen theme. Mainly focusing on developing a cohesive body of work, how to prepare for an exhibition, and how the gallery viewer will interact with the work. The Senior Project exhibition is a celebration of the accomplishments of these young artists.
All works are on display at the Poughkeepsie Trolley Barn from December 17, 2021 – January 7, 2022.
Rick Price has an MFA from Savannah College of Art & Design, is the chair of the fine art department at the Harvey School, and has extensive teaching experience at Buck’s Rock in CT, mural painting in San Francisco and Beacon, illustration commissions, and has exhibited his fine art work nationwide.
Posted December 13th, 2021 — Filed under News
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The Art Effect Releases 2020 Annual Report and End of Year Campaign:
Building Stronger Communities
POUGHKEEPSIE (November 18, 2021) – The Art Effect’s 2020 Annual Report gives the community a snapshot into The Art Effect’s diverse programming as well as the impact on the community over the last year. The report showcases how The Art Effect plays a crucial role supporting young people in developing art as a catalyst for change. Despite a global pandemic, The Art Effect continued to reach more than 8,500 individuals tackling a new landscape of virtual events and learning opportunities through a challenging but rewarding year. This year’s end of year campaign raises funds that go directly toward real-life opportunities for students to create art and media projects that serve an authentic purpose in our community. “In times of great crisis the population has relied on art to increase morale. History has shown us that artists have led the wave of resilience that leads us to a stronger country. Art saves lives, now more than ever.” says Lamar Wint, Youth Producer at The Art Effect. The report defines “The Art Effect” through the eyes of young artists and demonstrates its significance through programmatic and financial outcomes, their pandemic response, and alumni successes. The organization was honored with the Dutchess County Executive Arts Award in Arts Education from Arts Mid-Hudson, but perhaps the most impressive accomplishments are the awards won by The Art Effect’s students. In 2020, over 75 Scholastic Art Awards and nearly $1 million in scholarships were awarded to young people at The Art Effect. Additionally, two of The Art Effect’s senior students received competitive grand prizes from the Congressional Art Competition.In 2020, over 8,500 individuals were directly served by the organization through programming and events that teaches artistic expression, personal growth, and empowering children to master their passions and prepare for personal and professional success. 100% of students in the Art Institute program graduated high school and were accepted into college with scholarship offers. Additionally, 325 high school students participated in Virtual Portfolio Week, 610 artworks were submitted and curated by youth for the organization’s inaugural international juried art show at the Trolley Barn Gallery, and The Art Effect employed 110 youth through workforce development programming. The Art Effect has never stopped helping students explore their passions and prepare them for their future.The Art Effect continues to build a stronger community by partnering with many impactful organizations here in the Hudson Valley to offer students paid training opportunities through workforce development programs including Spark Studios, Media, Arts, Design Lab (MADLab), Forge Media, and new programs in curation and gallery management as a result of The Art Effect’s affiliation with Barrett Arts Center.The Art Effect launches it’s end of the year campaign with a goal of raising $30,000 towards creating the partnerships and resources young people need to build real-world skills in their path toward academic and career success. Watch the video to hear directly from young people and community partners. (https://thearteffect.org/donate)See the full power of The Art Effect in their 2020 Annual Report, available HERE. About The Art Effect: The Art Effect empowers youth to develop their creative voice to shape their futures and bring about positive social change. The organization facilitates educational programming for youth in the Hudson Valley to explore, experience and excel in the arts. Programs provide introductions to visual arts and media, giving participants the opportunity to develop real skills in these fields and guiding them towards achieving their academic and career goals. The Art Effect is anchored by the belief that the arts have the power to create a more vibrant, caring and sustainable world led by a generation of youth who value creative thinking, diverse voices and stronger connections between all people.###
