Residency- Children’s Residential Treatment Center with Carmen Elate- 3.5 Hours
I had my first day at the Residential Treatment Center this Monday. I walked in a few minutes late due to a lot of snow and a bit of a walk. When I arrived all of the students seemed already know that I was coming and they all were excited about it! The room has a good vibe, it’s warm toned and has lots of art materials, seating options, and motivational quotes .
The students are currently working on a photography and portrait assignment so my pictures for this week are a bit limited because in this facility I cannot have pictures of the students. Students are using a program called Pixlr to edit their photos and then Carmen has plans to print them out and place them in the classroom. Carmen has kind of arranged for the days that I am there to be more of an open studio so that I can just help the students on whatever they are working on. On Monday, I just got to know the students a bit and helped them take some photographs out in the hallway with string lights and other props.
On Thursday, I brought in my work to show the students and I think that was really important because it really showed the students what I was there for. After all, I make work for this age group and it felt really rewarding for them to look at my work and really resonate. The kids really took to my sketchbooks and so I think that for my teaching assignment I am going to do some book making and how to use a sketchbook for documentary and expressive purposes.
A few kids were really happy to get to show me the photos they took and how they edited them. Although I am not really proficient in Pixlr by any means, it has similar qualities to photoshop so I have had an easy time integrating myself into their project.
So far this placement has been simultaneously been the most rewarding thing I have done and one of the hardest. I relate to these kids a lot from my teenage years so I feel like I really understand what they are going through. It’s great to see these kids thrive in an art environment like this and see them flourish through just small opportunities to work on things that are really important to them. At the same time, it hurts me a little to know that they are going through it. I am already growing really fond of the students and the environment and it’s only week one!
My little surprise for next week is I am gonna make the kids intaglio print valentines since I will be there on Valentines Day! Carmen thinks its a great idea so I am very excited to do that on Thursday.
This is the photography assignment that the students are working on right now.
This is one of the students starting to edit her photo that she took of her shoes.