Schomburg Education is excited to launch a brand new innovative youth education program: The Schomburg Teen Curators Program!
Teen Curators is an after-school arts and history enrichment program admitting 50 high school students each year. As Teen Curators, participants will learn the behind-the-scenes work of collecting, preserving, archiving, and interpreting art. This tuition-free program aims to use arts education to increase the historical and cultural literacy of teenagers and promote their artistic, intellectual, and professional engagement. It will also provide after-school arts education for high school students, meeting an educational need for NYC students in the arts-rich Harlem community.
The Schomburg Teen Curators Program is generously funded for five years by The Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation.
Eligibility
Applicants must be New York City high school students in good standing and must commit to the program schedule of 10 hours per week (see schedule information below).
Applications
Coming soon…Due date: October 5, 2015.
Schomburg education staff contacts
Deirdre Hollman, Director of Education and Exhibitions | deirdrehollman@nypl.orgAisha Becker-Burrowes, Administrative Assistant |aishabeckerburrowes@nypl.org
Program design
From October 2015 through June 2016, the Schomburg Teen Curators will be immersed in aesthetic and academic experiences with the Schomburg’s collections through intensive art object study, art historical research and writing, archival presentations, living artist interviews, community programs, docent tour-giving, and hands-on curatorial and exhibition work. The Schomburg’s program is distinctive because it will integrate scholarly research into artistic endeavors—e.g., by incorporating manuscripts, sheet music, letters, and other paper and audiovisual media into teens’ artistic and curatorial projects; and by encouraging Teen Curators to produce and present multimedia exhibitions at the Schomburg Center, in the community, and in their schools. >
Given the benefit of the Schomburg’s wide-ranging collections, program participants will have unparalleled opportunities to tell stories in interesting and unexpected ways—with the “freshness of vision” that Henri Matisse sought in his own work. By interviewing creative professionals, moreover, they will create new primary sources (i.e., their recorded interviews) to be added to the Schomburg’s holdings for use by future artists, researchers, and curators. The Schomburg Center’s unique position as the leading repository for art and artifacts related to the African-American, Afro-Latino, and African-Diasporan history provides a rare opportunity for urban youth to gain culturally-relevant knowledge about art as a tool for documenting diverse narratives and histories.
Schedule
Teen Curators will meet for 10 hours each week — two afternoons each week and occasional Saturdays. At the conclusion of the program year in June, there will be a Teen Curators talk and presentation in which participants will unveil their exhibitions and engage the public in discussions about their professional development progress and aspirations.
Discovery Days – Wednesdays, 3:30–7:00 p.m. (3.5 hours)
Discovery Days are designed for whole-group instruction and activities. Discovery days will primarily take place at the Schomburg Center, but field trips to museums and galleries may also be organized on Wednesdays.
Curator’s Studio – Tuesdays OR Thursdays, 3:30–7:00 p.m. (3.5 hours)
Curator’s Studio time is envisioned as a required supervised study period for Teen Curators, who will make a commitment to attend either Tuesday or Thursday Studios each week to advance their study, planning, and group work.
Public Service Saturdays – Saturdays, 10:00–1:00 p.m. or 1:00–4:00 (3 hours)
Public Service Saturdays are designed as opportunities for Teen Curators to engage with the public as docents. Early in the year, Teen Curators will greet groups and shadow Schomburg docents who are leading group tours. Once Teen Curators have shadowed and assisted docents with tours, they will script their own tours and begin to lead Teen Curator tours.
Summer internships
To advance their studies and fulfill the need for summer employment, Teen Curators can apply for four-week paid-internship positions at the Schomburg Center.. Summer interns will utilize their growing expertise in positions that advance their professional development. To obtain one (of the ten) summer internship positions, candidates must have successfully completed the year-long program, and they must commit to finishing the full summer term; in addition, they will be asked to write essays outlining their program and professional goals, and they will be invited to interview for their internship positions.
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
515 Malcolm X Boulevard
New York, NY 10037
(917) 275-6975
