Youth Curatorial Team
The Art Effect’s curatorial training program is composed of youth taking part in the Trolley Barn Gallery Curatorial Team who make high level exhibition curation decisions and are mentored by experts in the field. The Youth Curatorial Team takes place over two semester-long sessions in the Fall and the Spring. Youth earn a stipend as the leaders of international juried exhibitions at the Trolley Barn Gallery, and are responsible for every aspect of exhibition curation, including theme generation, artwork selection, art handling, exhibition installation, and interpretation. The Youth Curatorial Team works closely with curators from across the country in a series of after school sessions, weekend workshops, and a variety of gallery and community events. Youth learn about project management, develop public speaking skills through gallery presentations and artist talks, and establish professional connections with international artists, curators, and arts professionals to bring impressive exhibitions of high-caliber artwork to Poughkeepsie.
Sessions run in the Spring (January-May) and Fall (September – December). Applications for the Trolley Barn Gallery Squad are accepted in November (for the Spring) and August (for the Fall).
Skills
Trolley Barn Gallery Squad program trains youth as leaders who catalyze the community through the arts and re-energize downtown Poughkeepsie. Together alongside established art professionals, youth present impactful exhibitions that engage the wider community and acquaint youth with all aspects of the curatorial process including; Museum & Gallery Administration; Project Management; Art Exhibition Curation & Interpretation; Art Handling; Exhibition Design & Installation; Public Speaking; Virtual Exhibition Design; Workshops with curators, artists, and museum professionals.
Guest Curators and Partners
Trolley Barn Gallery Team youth work with professional curators from galleries across the county including;
- Allison Glenn, writer and curator, previously of Public Art Fund (Public Art Fund) and Speed Art Museum (https://www.speedmuseum.org/)
- Janice Bond, Director of ART IS BOND. Gallery (https://www.artisbond.gallery/)
- Emilie Houssart, professor and Artistic Director of Unison Arts (https://www.unisonarts.org/)
- Dr Kheli Willetts, Founder of Dira Professional Development and former Executive Director of Syracuse University’s Community Folk Arts Center (https://communityfolkartcenter.org/)
- Indira Abiskaroon, Assistant Curators of Contemporary Art at the Brooklyn Museum (https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/)
- Sheri Deneen Reid, environmental justice consultant and sustainability strategist (https://www.sherideneen.com/)
- Mary-Kay Lombino, Deputy Director and Curator at The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center at Vassar College
- Anna Conlan, Neil C. Trager Director of the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art at SUNY New Paltz
- Jova Lynne, Susanne Feld Hilberry Senior Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit
- Rachel Seligman is the Assistant Director for Curatorial Affairs and Malloy Curator at the Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College.
History
After laying vacant for many years, The Poughkeepsie Trolley Barn in 2015 found itself in the middle of a transformative wave rushing across the City, breathing a new life of art into the area. Re-activating the iconic Poughkeepsie Trolley Barn through an innovative approach to youth empowerment through the arts gave The Art Effect a unique opportunity to put youth in the driver seat of this incredible space.
In January of 2019, The Art Effect welcomed the community for it’s first ever Art After Dark exhibition at The Trolley Barn Gallery. The first true youth-led exhibition took place September 2020 with Teen Visions and finally in 2021, as a pilot youth museum studies program, The Trolley Barn Gallery launched its new international juried exhibition series inviting youth to take a leading role in the planning of Home Sick and future exhibition, empowering them to engage community members and visitors in transformative arts experiences that they curate.
In March of 2021, bringing together the largest arts organization with the oldest arts
organization in Dutchess County, Barrett Art Center affiliated with The Art Effect. The affiliation opened doors of new opportunities, a higher level of expertise, and maintained the knowledge, direction, and engagement that Barrett brings to the community through The Art Effect’s new curatorial initiative. Learn more about the affiliation HERE.
The first cohorts of youth in the curatorial program established connections with curators from the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center at Vassar College; the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art at SUNY New Paltz, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit.
Teachers and Program Staff
Jaime Ransome was born and raised in Rhinebeck NY and graduated from Syracuse University in May of 2022 after receiving her MFA in Museum Studies and her BFA in Film. She specializes in feminist and BIPOC art history and film theory. She attended Children’s Media Project (The Art Effect’s former Spark Studios program) and is now happy to be returning to Poughkeepsie to pass on her knowledge to The Art Effect Youth.
This program is partially funded by monies received from the New York State Council on the Arts.
