Since 2015, the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers and Golden Artist Colors have partnered to offer art residencies to Scholastic Awards educators. After a year-long hiatus of the program due to the pandemic, the 2021 residents traveled to upstate New York in July for a two-week painting residency.
We asked the residents (Wendell Jeffrey from Ridge High School in Lebanon, NJ; Lucas Thomas from Stargate Charter School in Aurora, CO; and Janice Yang from Wilsonville High School in Oregon City, OR) how the experience impacted them and how they will apply what they learned to their teaching and artistic practices, now that they are back in the classroom.
“This experience has helped me achieve a lot of goals. It really helped me be more experimental and think outside of the box since I would usually stick with the medium and techniques that I am already used to. But during our residency, I have learned so much about other tools and materials that I could keep experimenting and exploring without setting limits. It made me keep taking risks and push the boundaries, which is the most essential element in being an artist and teaching students how to become an artist.”
“The residency exceeded my expectations: the beauty of the space, the MATERIALS amazing, and the hosts so full of grace, kindness, and generosity. I set out to experiment with as much product as possible but have yet to exhaust all the mediums. I’ve been doing a lot of lithographies and the residency has rekindled my drive for painting thru the use of the Golden materials. I run my classroom like a lab, experimenting with traditional and non-traditional materials.”
“Perhaps one of the most surprising things about the residency was discovering a new direction for my work. I went into the residency with a few immediate goals but quickly realized that those goals will have to wait. I instead focused more on experimentation. Working out of my comfort zone revealed things about where I want my art practice to go that I would have never discovered if I would have just stuck to my original goals. Also, the Golden staff have made it more than clear that they are here to support our future endeavors as artists. They have made themselves available for any questions or issues we might be experiencing with their projects. Of course, it is worth mentioning the very generous gift certificate for the Golden products. That act of generosity alone is a major and important contribution to my future goals as an artist and maker.”
The Alliance for Young Artists & Writers is proud to partner with organizations like Golden Artist Colors and the Sam & Adele Golden Foundation to offer exciting opportunities to our educators. Educators deserve all the support we can give them, inside and outside of the classroom. Learn more about our art & writing residencies for educators.
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The 2021 GOLDEN Educator residents participate in a technical session with Golden Artist Colors’ staff. Photo courtesy Golden Artist Colors.