Outreach Education News

Art in Public Spaces, An After School Program for Teens - Spring 2007

In Spring of 2006 the South Bend Regional Museum of Art created a teen after school outreach program using public art as the foundation for the program.  Now in 2007, the next project for “Art In Public Spaces” is up for viewing in the Sculpture Corridor at the SBRMA through April 29, 2007.

For the current project, selected teens from St. Joseph’s and Washington High School were nominated by their art teachers to work with lead artist Kathryn Armstrong, and charged with creating a collaborative public art piece for the Youth Service Bureau as they celebrate 30 years of service.  This project aims to connect artists and youth in our community while creating an enriching atmosphere for students to discover and grow.

The students started off learning about public art and its history from the monument to the interactive installation.   Youth Service Bureau also came in to discuss their programming and how they provide service to the community.  The group’s aim was to produce a work of art that celebrates youth.  The questions used to begin the project were: “What is public art?”,  and “What do you think of when you hear ‘youth’, ‘safe place’, and ‘community’?”  These questions led to conversations about the teens themselves and their interests.  

Together the students and the lead artist identified thirty words that represent the Youth Service Bureau and their 30-year celebration.   Each word is visually depicted on a box donated by the Northern Box Company.   The final sculpture is complete with all 30 words represented.  Individually, each color or image on the boxes are beautiful, but the strength in this art work comes from looking at it in its entirety.   This sculpture is installed in SBRMA's sculpture corridor with a reception on April 13, 2007.  An image will be taken of the project and transferred to a banner for the Youth Service Bureau’s 30th anniversary celebration and it will also receive the sculpture after the exhibition. 

Thank you to our artists who committed to this project and worked for its success and completion:  Kathryn Armstrong (lead artist), and students: Kevin Kingery, Brittany Grubbs, Kelly Homes, Kaitlyn Hurt, Jessica Hay, Tess Godfrey, Maggie Kendizicky, Ted Murphy, Kevin Healy, and Kristin Kuhar. 

 Outreach Photo Album

Art in Public Spaces, An After School Program for Teens - Spring/Summer 2006

This spring the SBRMA embarked into new territory working with area teens and public art. It was a six-week long project invlolving three high schools and one artist leading the project. The subject these teen artists addressed: space and place. Students learned from and worked alongside artist Sandra Ginter, a professor of art at Saint Mary's College. Exploring the themes of public work, students created the concept of a final project and executed the design. The final project was installed in the front of the SBRMA shortly after completion in early Summer 2006.

Western Avenue Viaduct Mural Project - August 2005

Select area teens were busy this past summer in the museum's studios designing a public mural for the Western Avenue Viaduct. The youth for this year's SBRMA Mural Project were selected from Washington High School, the Boys & Girls Club of St. Joseph County, and St. Joe High School for their accomplishments in the classroom as artists. These budding artists are being tutored in the finer points of color and design by Nyame Brown, assistant professor of painting at the University of Notre Dame and a M.F.A. graduate from Yale. Once the design was completed, the teens and Nyame unveiled their design and started painting the Western Avenue Viaduct on August 1st through the 12th. Please drive-by and see the project. The Viaduct is located at Western and Walnut, just west of Chapin St.

The South Bend Regional Museum of Art has been creating murals in our community for the past six summers. We have collaborated with La Casa de Amistad, Broadway Christian Parish, El Campito, the Boys & Girls Club of St. Joseph County, the Juvenile Justice Center, Coveleski Stadium and the South Bend Silver Hawks on mural projects. These wall paintings and the educational and community activities they produce are central to the mission of the museum. Murals provide for a need of communicating the collective vision of a community of people. They are public art for public places. In addition, murals are positive cultural markers that provide inexpensive urban revitalization and constructive youth activities.

Sponsors for this project included the Western Avenue Steering Committee/City of South Bend, and the Muessel-Ellison Memorial Trust Foundation. Documentation, sketches, and photos of this project weree on exhibit at "Meet Me On the Island" on August 26.

An Extreme Makeover at Al Watson Park - June 2004
Avanti Summer Outreach Camp

The South Bend Regional Museum of Art connects the past with the present in the Avanti Summer Outreach Camp. Using the local history of Studebaker and the Avanti model as the theme for the project, the SBRMA will be leading the clean-up and re-landscaping of Al Watson Park, and create a mural with area youth.
The idea was to investigate the idea of visual sound. What is visual sound? Conceptually, it can be defined as rhythm in art. Seeing movement in visual creations. Using the Avanti as a stepping stone for movement and the motion of travel, youth involved in the Outreach Camp created a mural with a rhythm of color and image. Using a circular motif of the park and tires, the images revolve within a round composition. The students worked with professional artists and museum staff on developing the concept. Local artists included Bill Tourtillotte, Jessi Lentych, Salvador Moya, Michael Quintero, Diana Palamo and Matthew Searle. The artists led the groups through a variety of connections between Avanti, past and present.

WHERE: Al Watson Park, located at Chapin Street and Western Avenue in South Bend, IN.

WHEN: The project took place in June 2004.

WHO: A collaboration between the South Bend Regional Museum of Art, the Northern Indiana Center for History, City of South Bend, The Studebaker Museum, and The University of Notre Dame.

Participating youth includes teens from the Boys & Girls Club of St. Joseph County and youth living in nearby housing units managed by the South Bend Housing Department.

CONTRIBUTORS:

Foegley Landscaping

Arbor Care, Inc.

The Roland W. Goheen Memorial Trust Fund of the Community Foundation of the St. Joseph County

The Harvey R. and Doris Klockow Foundation

City of South Bend, Art in Public Places

City of South Bend, Parks and Recreation Dept.

Teachers Credit Union