ABOUT ART READY

"It was interesting to learn about different artists, their work, and the processes behind it. It gave me new ideas and clear direction of where I wanted to go in the future. The mentorships were rich experiences too; I learned skills from the artists which I could later apply to my own artworks."

- Former Art Ready Participant 

Art Ready is a Mentorship Program designed to give high school students the opportunity to experience first hand what it is like to be a professional working in a visual arts discipline. Participating students meet and work with a wide range of artists from emerging to well-known. Students who complete Smack Mellon’s Art Ready program are well informed, educated and prepared to make a decision about pursuing a future career in the arts.

 Art Ready meetings take place usually on Wednesday afternoons from October through May. From October-January, students visit artists' studios, and complete hands-on art-making and portfolio development workshops taught by professional artists. Art Ready visits artists in the fields of public art, film, painting, interior design, sculpture, landscape design, decorative painting, architecture, installation art, video and photography.

After the group has visited all the artists, each student chooses from among them an Artist Mentor to work with from February to June. Students work on average 3 hours/week, and attend their mentorships in pairs. During the mentorship period, students continue to meet as a group for gallery and museum trips.

Art Ready culminates in an exhibition of work created during the program, in Smack Mellon's 6,000 square foot gallery space.

STAFF

Art Ready is led by Kathleen Gilrain, Smack Mellon’s Executive Director, and Katherine Gressel, Smack Mellon's Programs Manager. Ms. Gilrain is an artist and is certified in New York State to teach art K-12. She has teaching experience at the elementary school and high school level as well as several years teaching at Brooklyn College. Also a visual artist, Ms. Gressel has taught, and supervised teaching artists, in a wide variety of museum, in-school, after-school and community settings. Both Ms. Gilrain and Ms. Gressel received their Mentor Supervisor certificates from the Big Brothers, Big Sisters of NYC Center for Training and Professional Development.

Art Ready mentors are selected  with three criteria in mind: a varied group of professionals that represent the ethnic diversity of NYC, as well as diversity in visual arts disciplines and in keeping with Smack Mellon’s mission, a majority of the Mentors are women; an interest in sharing their knowledge, experience and skills with students; and success in their field. The majority of our mentors are past exhibiting or resident artists at Smack Mellon, and have substantial past mentoring and teaching experience.

Please visit our blog for a list of current mentors and schedules.

ELIGIBILITY

The program is open to high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors living in all areas of NYC who are interested in pursuing a career in the visual arts.

SELECTION PROCESS

Applicants are required to complete an application form (signed by a parent/guardian), answer essay questions about why they are interested in the program and submit two samples of past work. 

 Finalists will be interviewed and twenty students will be selected with these criteria in mind: their interest in pursuing a career in the arts, their ability to attend the Artist Mentor visits and to complete a 4-month mentorship, and the quality of their application.

The deadline for 2011-2012 applications is October 5, 2011. Applications are now being accepted for Fall 2011.

QUESTIONS?

Please contact Katherine Gressel, Programs Manager, at 718-834-8761 or kgressel@smackmellon.org.