AFH Sketchbook Newsletter - Fall 2014

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ENERGY POSITIVE As you’ll read in this edition of Sketchbook, we’ve had an exciting and busy few months here at the EpiCenter! Now, more than ever, the powerful connections between creative youth development and sustainability are inspiring the next generation of Boston’s leaders. From a vibrant sculpture that brings the creativity of young people into a reclaimed public park, to a video that encour- ages youth to explore the natural world around them, to graphic design for a public health campaign that leverages the power of youth to create a fair and green food system, AFH teens are applying their skills with a special focus on the environment. They are demonstrating their leadership through their artwork and design. We will amplify these connections to sustainability by ex- panding and transforming the EpiCenter into New England’s first Energy Positive (E+) building – providing new and life- changing opportunities for under-resourced teens to learn, work and collaborate. It is an investment in the future that will pay dividends for decades to come. We’re already seeing these dividends! AFH alumni fea- tured in this newsletter – Jason, Alberta, and Massiel – are making a difference through their tremendous accomplish- ments. They embody what it means to be part of the AFH family. The future for Boston’s teens continues to be most promis- ing and exciting! In friendship, Susan Rodgerson Just 10 years after establishing Boston’s first LEED Platinum building, AFH finds itself positioned, once again, at the vanguard of youth development and sustainability. We are delighted to partner with proven environmental leaders Behnisch Architekten to design and build a pioneering, sustainable 63,000 sq. ft. expansion of the EpiCenter. The building will become New England’s first Energy Positive (E+) commercial structure (producing more power than the building uses), and will serve as a new template for planning, construction and energy use for Boston and its next generation of young people! a letter from our artistic/executive director Jason Talbot Named to Boston’s “40-under-40” 100 West 2nd Street Boston, MA 02127 SKETCHBOOK #3 FALL/WINTER NEWSLETTER The Boston Business Journal recently recognized Jason’s many accomplishments and commitment to Boston teens by honoring him as one of their “40-Under-40;” a list compiled of influential leaders who are making a decisive impact prior to reaching the age of 40. Congratulations Jason! –frederick “fred” plowright AFH has taught me countless skills. I have learned what it is like to have responsibilities and how to be professional within a large group of people. APRIL 25, 2015 10TH ANNUAL GREATEST PARTY ON EARTH SAVE THE DATE!! Inspired AFH Alumna Gives Back AFH alumna Alberta Wright has brought AFH into her New Orleans community by founding the Young Creative Agency (YCA), a non-profit that shares our mission and uses our model. She worked at AFH during the summers of 2005 and 2006 and interned here during the summer of her freshman year at Barnard College. In its first year of operation, YCA has two mentors and a dedi- cated cohort of teens working six hours a week on graphic de- sign jobs for a growing client list. When asked why she chose the AFH model, Alberta responded, “We pay students for their work so they can afford to be here, then we open them up to the world of design and its possibilities.” Well done Alberta! ARTISTS FOR HUMANITY 100 WEST 2ND STREET, BOSTON MA 02127 617.268.7620 AFHBOSTON.ORG

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Transcript of AFH Sketchbook Newsletter - Fall 2014

Page 1: AFH Sketchbook Newsletter - Fall 2014

ENERGY POSITIVE As you’ll read in this edition of Sketchbook, we’ve had an exciting and busy few months here at the EpiCenter! Now, more than ever, the powerful connections between creative youth development and sustainability are inspiring the next generation of Boston’s leaders.

From a vibrant sculpture that brings the creativity of young people into a reclaimed public park, to a video that encour-ages youth to explore the natural world around them, to graphic design for a public health campaign that leverages the power of youth to create a fair and green food system, AFH teens are applying their skills with a special focus on the environment. They are demonstrating their leadership through their artwork and design.

We will amplify these connections to sustainability by ex-panding and transforming the EpiCenter into New England’s fi rst Energy Positive (E+) building – providing new and life-changing opportunities for under-resourced teens to learn, work and collaborate. It is an investment in the future that will pay dividends for decades to come.

We’re already seeing these dividends! AFH alumni fea-tured in this newsletter – Jason, Alberta, and Massiel – are making a difference through their tremendous accomplish-ments. They embody what it means to be part of the AFH family.

The future for Boston’s teens continues to be most promis-ing and exciting!

In friendship,

Susan Rodgerson

Just 10 years after establishing Boston’s fi rst LEED Platinum building, AFH fi nds itself positioned, once again, at the vanguard of youth development and sustainability. We are delighted to partner with proven environmental leaders Behnisch Architekten to design and build a pioneering, sustainable 63,000 sq. ft. expansion of the EpiCenter. The building will become New England’s fi rst Energy Positive (E+) commercial structure (producing more power than the building uses), and will serve as a new template for planning, construction and energy use for Boston and its next generation of young people!

a letter from our artistic/executive director

Jason Talbot Namedto Boston’s “40-under-40”

100 West 2nd Street Boston, MA 02127

SKETCHBOOK #3 FALL/WINTER NEWSLETTER

The Boston Business Journal recently recognized Jason’s many accomplishments and commitment to Boston teens by honoring him as one of their “40-Under-40;” a list compiled of infl uential leaders who are making a decisive impact prior to reaching the age of 40. Congratulations Jason!

–frederick “fred” plowright

AFH has taught me countless skills. I have learned what it is like to have responsibilities and how to be professional within a large group of people.

APRIL 25, 201510TH ANNUAL

GREATEST PARTY ON EARTH

SAVE THE DATE!! Inspired AFHAlumna Gives Back

AFH alumna Alberta Wright has brought AFH into her New Orleans community by founding the Young Creative Agency (YCA), a non-profi t that shares our mission and

uses our model. She worked at AFH during the summers of 2005 and 2006 and interned here during the summer of her freshman year at Barnard College.

In its fi rst year of operation, YCA has two mentors and a dedi-cated cohort of teens working six hours a week on graphic de-sign jobs for a growing client list. When asked why she chose the AFH model, Alberta responded, “We pay students for their work so they can afford to be here, then we open them up to the world of design and its possibilities.” Well done Alberta!

ARTISTS FOR HUMANITY 100 WEST 2ND STREET, BOSTON MA 02127 617.268.7620 AFHBOSTON.ORG

Page 2: AFH Sketchbook Newsletter - Fall 2014

ARTISTIC & ENTREPRENEURIAL HIGHLIGHTSAt AFH, teens learn and fi nd their pathways to adulthood by creating “real world” fi ne art, industrial design, and digital media services. Here are some examples of recent projects and commissions:

AFH has designed a 12 foot sculpture to be installed in the new Baxter Park, a 6-acre Department of Conservation and Recreation park alongside the Mystic River in Somerville, which lies adjacent to the new Assembly Row. The metal sculpture’s design is inspired by a Mobius band, representing and celebrating the site’s return to nature and public enjoyment, reclaimed after decades of industrial use. The circular shape conveys the sense of a river’s journey and fl ight of a bird - and alludes to the site’s journey. AFH youth collaborated with Somerville peers on the sculpture’s design and development.

AMAZING VIBE AT SUMMER ART EXPO

MENTOR SPOTLIGHT:MASSIEL GRULLON

YOUNG ARTISTS SPOTLIGHT“Working at AFH, it feels like I am an adult. It is the bridge where you become an adult from your teenage years. The true thing I can say about working at AFH is that it has helped me realize how to become more mature to be part of this society.”

“Working at AFH, I defi nitely feel that my priorities are more set. I know what I want to do with my life because I came here and worked.”

“Painting has opened a world of expression that words cannot begin to explain. AFH has given me a confi dence I barely knew I had.”

AFH’s Sculpture/3D Design youth recently designed and installed an amazing sculptural mural (pictured right) at Boston’s Frieda Garcia Park. The mural is composed of over 100 powder-coated metal “blooms” that complement the park’s interior mosaics, murals and garden. The sculptural mural spans a 120-foot wall, visible from the Massachusetts Turnpike, and transforms what was once a gray cinderblock wall into a welcoming cultural resource. Frieda Garcia’s achievements as a community activist and lifelong advocate for children and families inspired AFH teens.

Frieda Garcia Park

kaleidoscopic prints

exploration inthe urban wild

The National Forestry Service commissioned AFH’s Video Studio to film “Exploration in the Urban Wild,” which profiles “e” inc.’s sum-mer field project for city kids to experience and explore the natural world around them. The film opens with Egypt, a little girl sitting on a park bench, who says, “That was the first time I ever saw a rab-bit.” And it follows Egypt as she and her peers walk down wooded pathways, analyze water samples, and encounter other flora and fauna. This project both highlights the importance of preserving ur-ban wilds as outdoor classrooms and provided AFH Video youth with important media skills in adjusting for outdoor audio, interviewing subjects, and capturing unexpected moments.

AFH’s Photography team created kaleidoscopic prints based on digital images of landmark sites in Greater Boston, includ-ing a series on the Canton viaduct, by special request from a client. These prints join a line of works developed from nature and urban scenes. Creating kaleidoscopes requires youth to crop an original digital image with Photoshop and then refl ect and rotate the region with six-fold rotational symmetry and six axes of refl ective symmetry. The result is a large, high-resolution print of complex forms built from their simple original image.

Over 500 guests fi lled the EpiCenter on August 21 to check out (and buy!) artwork and design completed by teens during our intensive 7-week summer session. Board of Advisor Neil Leonard, pictured at left with Photography ap-prentice Archibaldo “Archi” Soto, commented “Hearing the young artists describe their in-spiration and process brought the AFH mission alive for me.”

Attendance at the “Summer Bash” has doubled over the past two years as word of our young artists’ skills, creativity and ac-complishments continues to spread throughout the city. Bravo!

“AFH helps teens find the ‘trueness of who they are.’ AFH opens their (teens’) minds to possibilities, to be creative, and to have confidence in themselves and their work,” according to Massiel, an AFH alumna and recent graduate of Montserrat College of Art. She credits AFH for help-ing her get into college and secure a scholarship. Massiel returned to AFH as a painting mentor and is pictured with mentee Samantha Mckenzie.

baxter park sculptureReal Food Challenge – which lever-ages the power of youth to create a healthy, fair and green food sys-tem – commissioned AFH’s Graphic Design studio to develop a series of graphic posters as part of a peer-to-peer health campaign. Mentors initiated the project by making youth aware of the genesis of the food they eat, of the hidden preserva-tives in many foods labeled “healthy,” and of the misuse of terms like organic and sustainable. Youth watched the fi lm “Fed Up” and researched articles on agriculture, food processing, and farm-to-table movements. They also studied impacts of preservatives on the body and brain functioning. Mentors asked teens to visually communicate their environmental science and biology learning into graphic posters to galvanize peers to take the Real Food Challenge.

THORNTON “SPARTICUS” NGUYEN, 18LIVES IN DORCHESTER

STUDIO: GRAPHIC DESIGN

Jonathan “Pineapple” Tejada, 17Lives in Dorchester

Studio: Graphic Design

Alejandra “Al” Spruill, 16Lives in Roxbury Studio: Painting

HEALTHY EATING CLASSROOM

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FARMWORKERS • FOOD CHAIN WORKERS • FARMERS • RANCHERS • FISHERFOLK

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CELEBRATION • HEALTH •

ACCESS • Awareness • Saftey • affordablity

1 fresh food2 clean energy3 exvercise4 sleep

5 leadership6 choices7 justice8

tips for healthy conciousliving

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CULTURE • EDUCATION •

CONTROL • ECONOMICS •

JUSTICE • TRADITIONS