We are thrilled to share with you the artwork of the students who participated in Smack Mellon’s Art Ready mentorship program this year. The highly creative work they made is presented in a book that is viewable online below:
ARTREADYBOOK-FULL-4Smack Mellon’s Art Ready program brings high school-aged artists in 10th to 12th grades into the studios of New York City’s most innovative and inspiring art makers. The program is free and open to students attending New York City public high schools. Art Ready engages young people in a way no other arts education program does. It pairs students directly with working artists; the students learn firsthand over the course of a school year what it is to be an artist in the studio. Working as mentors, the artists provide professional and creative guidance as the students make decisions about their futures in the arts. Mentor/teaching artists tutor the students in their creative process, introduce them to new ways of working, and engage them in continuous critical reflection.
Due to COVID-19, the students were not able to meet with their mentors in their studios, and their culminating exhibition in Smack Mellon’s gallery had to be cancelled. It was important to us that the students had an outlet to express themselves, and a platform to talk about the multitude of experiences and issues they are facing during this time. In lieu of an exhibition, the mentors met with their students over zoom to create artworks that we assembled into a book and had printed through a self-publishing company. Each student and mentor will receive a copy to commemorate and reflect on the challenges they overcame in the last few months.
We would like to thank our Mentor Artists for their dedication to their mentees. We are also grateful to the students for their commitment, persevering and completing the program during this challenging time.
“I was very happy to hear that you weren’t calling off the program completely. It was sad but also touching how upset the kids were about class when I told them. At the time school hadn’t been canceled yet and they were all trying to suggest work arounds to keep meeting (that I had to shut down of course.) I had noticed in the last couple weeks they had not only gotten comfortable with me but had begun starting to really connect to each other. It’s really such a shame but also it speaks to what a unique and effective structure this program has.”
–Meryl Bennett, Art Ready Mentor
Smack Mellon’s Education Programs are supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, New York City Council Member Stephen Levin, and with support from Select Equity Group Foundation, Exploring The Arts and Smack Mellon’s Members.
Smack Mellon’s programs are also made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor M. Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, the National Endowment for the Arts, and with generous support from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, The Edward and Sally Van Lier Fund of The New York Community Trust, The Roy and Niuta Titus Foundation, Jerome Foundation, Robert Lehman Foundation, Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation Inc., Iorio Charitable Foundation, and Smack Mellon’s Members.
Space for Smack Mellon’s programs is generously provided by the Walentas Family and Two Trees Management.
In-kind donations are provided by Artist & Craftsman Supply, Costco, Fairway, Trader Joe’s, and by Materials for the Arts, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs/NYC Department of Sanitation/NYC Department of Education.