STUDENT ART STUDIO SATURDAYS (SASS)
Saturday | Feb 12, March 12, April 9, May 14 | 10 AM-2 PM
The Albany Museum of Art has a new art program to encourage teens to express themselves through art in a safe, welcoming space while they interact with peers who have similar life experiences.
Student Art Studio Saturdays (SASS) was created by AMA Teen Art Board President Anna Plowden in response to ideas that members of the Teen Art Board explored. On the second Saturday of each month, teens can come to the AMA and create art with other teens. There is no cost for teens to participate in SASS, which is funded with a generous sponsorship by the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta. The sessions are 10 am-2 pm and start on Feb 12.
“In 2020, during the pandemic quarantine, the TAB members were challenged to identify an issue in the community that they could have an impact upon and directly improve,” Annie Vanoteghem, director of education and public programming, said. “They had a number of ideas, but they kept coming back to the mental health of teenagers.”
Adults may underestimate the effects that quarantine and missing social interaction with fellow students because schools are closed have on teens, Vanoteghem said. The TAB members were especially concerned because they had witnessed a marked increase in unnoticed or unaddressed anxiety, stress and pressure in teens, especially those from marginalized groups such as teens of color, LGBTQ+ teens, and teens from lower-income households.
The idea the group settled upon was encouraging teens to express their feelings through art.
“We want to keep them away from negative reactions and toward a positive way to deal with what they are experiencing in these unprecedented times,” Vanoteghem said. “The idea is for teen to express what they’re feeling through their art. It involves creating a free, well-stocked studio for students to come to where they can hang out with like-minded teens and develop their own support group.”
SASS sessions also will include snacks and background music, she said.
TAB members have created works representing their feelings toward the rising pressures they see. Those artworks are currently on display in AMAzing Space.
Student Art Studio Saturdays (SASS) was created by AMA Teen Art Board President Anna Plowden in response to ideas that members of the Teen Art Board explored. On the second Saturday of each month, teens can come to the AMA and create art with other teens. There is no cost for teens to participate in SASS, which is funded with a generous sponsorship by the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta. The sessions are 10 am-2 pm and start on Feb 12.
“In 2020, during the pandemic quarantine, the TAB members were challenged to identify an issue in the community that they could have an impact upon and directly improve,” Annie Vanoteghem, director of education and public programming, said. “They had a number of ideas, but they kept coming back to the mental health of teenagers.”
Adults may underestimate the effects that quarantine and missing social interaction with fellow students because schools are closed have on teens, Vanoteghem said. The TAB members were especially concerned because they had witnessed a marked increase in unnoticed or unaddressed anxiety, stress and pressure in teens, especially those from marginalized groups such as teens of color, LGBTQ+ teens, and teens from lower-income households.
The idea the group settled upon was encouraging teens to express their feelings through art.
“We want to keep them away from negative reactions and toward a positive way to deal with what they are experiencing in these unprecedented times,” Vanoteghem said. “The idea is for teen to express what they’re feeling through their art. It involves creating a free, well-stocked studio for students to come to where they can hang out with like-minded teens and develop their own support group.”
SASS sessions also will include snacks and background music, she said.
TAB members have created works representing their feelings toward the rising pressures they see. Those artworks are currently on display in AMAzing Space.
