6-8th Grade Arts Afterschool 2023-2024

Where It All Begins…

Over the past few years our team has been reimagining what our middle school aged program could become. Fall of 2023 will be the second wave of our rebooted vision, focusing on community and public art — and what those practices mean to our middle school aged artists. 

In the spring of 2023 our cohort of teens collaborated with instructor Juliet Wyse to create a ‘site specific’ piece of artwork. The group created a mushroom themed mural on the MMA’s ‘black top,’ which is the focal point of the driveway when everyone walks through the MMA gates. This project is included in our collection of works created specifically for the studio. Our community had a ribbon cutting ceremony during our Maud’s Handmade May Market earlier this spring.

Our students were tying a bit of themselves to the site that they’ve grown up as artists on. Back in 2010 when the MMA studio was in the design phases, nine Cambridge artists collaborated with the architects Prellwitz Chilinski to create site-specific public artwork that inspires creative exploration in a playful learning environment. We’re so excited to have our middle students included in this group.

In the 2023-2024 school year, students will be under the guidance and leadership of artist Juliet Wyse and seasoned ceramicist Gustavo Barceloni. Our artists will be exposed to a variety of medias; ceramics, printmaking, 3D and 2D projects. With the goal of connecting these projects to the larger MMA/FKA ABC community. Students will work on an external community art based project in the fall and an internal community art based work in the Spring of 2024. With this structure, we hope it challenges and empowers our students to connect to their communities through their artwork; all the while working in a creative group setting.

The timeline of school year-long program is broken down into sessions. Students will be able to enroll in a session throughout the year to accommodate their other after school activities. The first classes will include an orientation with our teachers to share what the school year will hold. As well as brainstorm of project interests for students. Take a peek at our previous orientation materials here. 

Daily Timeline of programming | Our program begins once all students are onsite (roughly 3:30pm).  Students will have snack and recess/free time with all age groups enrolled in the after school arts program. Our team encourages students during this time to work on homework, or use their sketchbook before class begins.

At 3:30pm we transition into our designated art classes. The middle school aged students will have class in our Print studio (located on the second floor). Our print studio will act as their ‘home base’ and house all their sketchbooks and majority of their materials. Classes end at 5:30pm, where students are picked up, or dismiss themselves. (We will need students who are dismissing themselves to have this form filled out by their guardian).