we asked them about who they were.  what they liked.  what sort of art they made.  how we could serve them.  what’s cool.  what’s not cool.  what its like to be a student at norwood high school.  and so on.  then we split into focused groups to talk more along the lines of specific interest: creative writing, music, drama, and visual arts.

the students were bright and responsive and interesting to talk to.  they shared valuable information and we left with a much richer understanding of not just art and the role it plays at norwood high school, but also what the current vibe is for high school students who go to school in norwood.

we need to think about what we’ve learned… to rest on it a bit before we determine how it applies to our own efforts in the neighborhood.

but it was a fun event… very worthwhile.  thanks to the norwood high school staff and administration for being so hospitable.  thanks especially to melissa burns and trish duebber for helping make it happen AND for joining us.  thanks to laura, justin, and thurman for your various roles in making this happen.  and thanks most of all to the students who offered their time and thoughts.

do you have any?

we have a list a zillion pages long of programs and projects that we could do in norwood.
but we want to do things that are valuable and Good and cool and relevant…
not just in our heads…
but in our community.

visit this website to fill out our survey:

http://tinyurl.com/4pwtu8

many thanks in advance!

Click here for more info.

Thanks to everyone who has helped spread the word.

It’s going to be a great week!

Stay tuned for our summer programs, to be announced soon.

Join our mailing list to keep informed!

Kenneth Hall is a local artist and experienced educator who completed his MFA at Miami University, and has been active in recent months both showing his work and jurying for various competitions and gallery shows stretching from Illinois to Maryland. He will also be hosting the painting track of our Spring Break Art Intensive in March. We hope you enjoy these samples of his work as much as we did.

More about Kenneth Hall and his work will be added soon…

Jesse Mooney-Bullock is a local puppet-maker and puppeteer whose rare talents in this specialized field are in demand nationwide.  He’ll be hosting the puppet-making track of our Spring Break Art Intensive in March.  We are excited to make his talents available to youth.  Although this particular opportunity is for high school students, if you don’t fit that profile but would be interested in learning more about training opportunities with Jesse, use the contact form to let us know as we plan events for the coming year!

More info about Jesse and his work coming soon…

thanks again to all the volunteers who helped with this… particularly desiree for the photojournalism, tracy & renee for the cookies, david and megan for minding the door.

thanks also to juli and elizabeth for being geniuses.

am i forgetting anyone?  leave an angry message as a comment…

anyway… it was a great event… check it out here!

are you interested in being a part of the more internal conversations as we develop our programs, plan events, brainstorm lecture series, etc.?

would you like to be a part of choosing our next steps?

we are about to begin some serious curriculum development in anticipation of coming spring and summer programs, along with some selecting of topics for a series of arts-focused conversations that we’d like to have. some conversations might be private… just between a few of us. some might be hosted at st.elizabeth’s. some might just happen on the web. if you’d like to join in any of them then put yourself on our mailing list. if you’d like to help plan them, then let us know and we’ll give you access to an artist-only web space where the members of our artist community can meet, collaborate, and brainstorm.

if you think you might be interested in serving as an art educator at some point, then this would be a great way to “test the vibe” and to influence the development of the programs we’ll be using. if you don’t want to work as a tutor, but are interested in contributing, then this would be a great [introvert-friendly] place to start.

Thanks to the bizarre huge-smallness of the internet - non-locals are very welcome to join our community in this way.

our scholarship application is public, and if we can get it into as many hands as possible before the end of the month, then our applicants will have a month to prepare their applications before the deadline.

high school art departments are at the top of our list of ways to find young artists who would be excited about this opportunity. we’ll be sitting down with our phone books and trying to meet a few.

do you know any teachers?

take it upon yourself to get our materials into their hands by printing the application form or forwarding them a link to our website.

OR - do you have suggestions for good places to turn for help in our recruitment and promotion? do you have a friend who works with youth who you think we should contact? use our contact form to give us the tip…

a few sparks of your brainpower and a few moments of your time could be an enormous help.

be the bridge between these young artists and this incredible opportunity.