Teen Artists on the Issues: Ceramics & Social Justice
Arlington Center for the Arts is offering a special opportunity for teens to expand their understanding of the impact arts can have on communities. Join us for a free, immersive, hands-on learning experience to transform the issues teens are passionate about into documentaries for the community to engage with.
Questions? Please email Education and Programs Director Cat Beaudoin (she/they) at cat@acarts.org
What students can expect during the program:
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Participants will develop their understanding of shooting techniques, composition, sound, story development, interviewing and editing through the production of their own documentary
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Upon completion of this course, students will advance their sense of production techniques, skills to explore and communicate their passions, and will have the rare opportunity to share their work with the community at large.
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This action-oriented program will provide you with new tools, inspiration, peer collaboration, mentorship, and space to create and share work with the community at large.
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Participants will split their time between ACA at 20 Academy St and Arlington Community Media Inc (ACMi) at 85 Park Ave.
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ACA will present a free public screening of short films created in the program and a Q&A with our participants at Regent Theatre on Wednesday, May 18, 2022, 7-9pm.
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Eligibility & Evaluation Criteria:
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Arlington Center for the Arts encourages all young creatives with a passion for bettering themselves, their art, and their community, ages 14-18 to apply.
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Applicants will be evaluated based on their potential to use the skills learned to amplify the concerns of their community and world. We are looking for passionate students who plan to use this program with an intent to learn, be present, and apply skills towards the issues that inspire them the most.
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Participants will be chosen based on their application responses and in consideration of an intentional effort to center access, equity, and inclusivity into their lives.
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ACA strongly encourages applicants from diverse backgrounds including people of color, LGBTQIA+ individuals, people of varying abilities and other marginalized communities to apply.
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Applicants must reside in Massachusetts. Priority will be given to applicants living in Arlington and surrounding communities. We are accepting up to 10 students in this program.
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ACA requires proof of full COVID-19 vaccination by all individuals who are eligible to receive the vaccine, to participate in all its indoor, in-person programs, events, and activities. To read the full policy and to submit your Vaccination Record, please visit our COVID-19 Updates page.
IMPORTANT DATES (please save for your records):
Film Screening and Q+A at Regent Theatre: Wednesday, May 18, 7-8pm
Workshop Schedule: Saturdays 10-3pm & Wednesdays 6:30-8:30pm
Week 1:
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Saturday, March 12, 10-3, at ACA
Wednesday, March 16, 6:30-8:30, at ACMi
Week 2:
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Saturday, March 19, 10-3, at ACA
Wednesday, March 23, 6:30-8:30, at ACMi
Week 3:
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Saturday, March 26, 10-3, at ACA
Wednesday, March 30, 6:30-8:30, at ACMi
Week 4:
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Saturday, April 2, 10-3, NO CLASS
Wednesday, April 6, 6:30-8:30, at ACMi
Week 5:
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Saturday, April 9, 10-3, at ACA
Wednesday, April 13, 6:30-8:30, at ACMi
Week 6:
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Saturday, April 16 10-3, NO CLASS - APRIL VACATION
Wednesday, April 20, 6:30-8:30, NO CLASS - APRIL VACATION
Week 7:
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Saturday, April 23, 10-3, NO CLASS - APRIL VACATION
Wednesday, April 27, 6:30-8:30, at ACMi
Week 8:
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Saturday, April 30, 10-3, at ACMi
Wednesday, May 4, 6:30-8:30, at ACMi
Week 9:
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Saturday, May 7, 10-5, at ACMi
About Our Teen Artists on the Issues Faculty
Instructor | Michael Sheridan
He/Him/His
Michael Sheridan is a filmmaker, educator and activist whose documentary films address issues of social and economic development and the tipping point between order and chaos. For nearly 20 years Michael has engaged the public in stories from Asia, Africa and the Americas about people in poor and developing communities challenging the status quo and struggling to improve their lives.
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In 1996 he co-founded Oxfam America’s documentary production and since then has worked to break new ground in the effective use of media to educate and change policy. He has taught documentary filmmaking for 15 years at the community and university level and from 2007-08 served as a Senior Fulbright Scholar in Indonesia.
Michael founded Community Supported Film in 2010, and also runs his filmmaking company SheridanWorks. Community Supported Film seeks to take the foreign out of foreign correspondence by providing intensive training in documentary filmmaking to storytellers and activists in conflicted and developing communities. Their stories are screened in public engagement campaigns to educate concerned citizens and policymakers about sustainable paths to a more equitable and peaceful world. He is currently working with 10 new immigrants and refugees in Boston on their production of films that will visualize their experiences and perspectives – New Immigrant and Refugee Visions.
This program is made possible in part through a grant from the Robert and Toni Bader Charitable Foundation. The Robert & Toni Bader Charitable Foundation (rtbcf) was created to help achieve the Jewish Ideals of improving the world through Science, Education and the Arts.
This program is supported in part by a grant from the Arlington Cultural Council (ACAC Grants Committee), a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.