AFTER HOURS STUDIO: AFTER-SCHOOL ARTS AT UAMA

Overview

The After Hours Studio (AHS) enrichment program at UAMA provides students with additional academic and arts/enrichment opportunities after school (AHstudios). It also provides a space for special teacher, student and UAMA partner-led programs that do not fall within the regular academic school day.

Current AHstudios: Fall 2009

Digital Media Club with Tiffany DeJaynes as Faculty Advisor

Digital Media Club is a space for students to experiment with new technologies. The club meets twice a week to create short films about topics of interest or concern to students. Students write, shoot, edit, and produce films that they share with the school and community. Films created are artistic, musical, and activist in nature, often taking the club off school grounds to document parts of the city in video form. Digital Media Club hopes to soon be representing UAMA in youth media film festivals in NYC.

Anime and Art Club with Symba Wong, President, Ye Yan, Artistic Advisor, Juno Lee, Faculty Advisor

In this student-run AHstudio, students learn about anime and drawing, and learn what it takes to make great pieces of work. They receive instruction in both basic art skills and manga-related topics, such as storyboarding and character development, with the goal of creating original Manga art. Students also engage with the history and culture of Manga through film screenings, field trips, and/or guest speakers.

Past AHstudios: Spring 2008

Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls with Sara Landau, LaFrae Sci, and guest teachers

This intensive 10-week program consists of instrument instruction (drums, bass, guitar, keyboards, vocals, performance), band practice, and workshops on a variety of topics, from sound engineering and songwriting to the history of music and self promotion. Games and crafting are interspersed throughout the weeks. Classes and workshops are taught by professional women musicians who also serve as informal mentors. Students form bands in the second week, and during band practice they write music and lyrics collectively, assisted by band coaches and teachers. At the end of the 10 weeks, the bands perform their original songs at a large-scale recital concert.

www.williemaerockcamp.org

Music and Songwriting with Bennett Miller

UAMA music students receive intensive individualized instruction from UAMA's Xstudio band teacher. Through instrumental lessons (Tuesdays), and songwriting/composing lessons (Thursdays), they gain advanced knowledge and skills in music theory, performance, and composition.

Anime and Art Club with Symba Wong, President, Ye Yan, Artistic Advisor, Katherine Gressel, Faculty Advisor

Starting Artists, Inc. Intro to Publishing with Marisa Catalina Casey

Intro to Publishing trains students in the creation, publication, and distribution of a magazine, newspaper, or newsletter for the UAMA community. Students learn hard skills in graphic design, digital photography, copy writing, and copy editing while meeting deadlines and working collaboratively in a small group setting. Participants create original artworks and stories and will become published writers and artists. Intro to Publishing is the pilot program of Starting Artists, Inc. (SA), a new Brooklyn-based nonprofit organization which benefits under-served teenagers through hands-on training in the arts and entrepreneurship. SA's free after-school classes in media arts and business prepare youth to create arts-based enterprises.

www.startingartists.org

Family Cook Productions' Teen Iron Chef with Barrett Heaton and Ernesto Montalvo

UAMA teens work in teams to "battle" their peers, preparing delicious meals with sophisticated culinary techniques. Over 6 weeks, they work up to a final battle with such judges as School Food Chef Jorge, Family Cook founder and author Lynn Fredericks, Gateway Institute's Dr. Morton Slater, and Urban Assembly President and founder Richard Kahan.

www.familycookproductions.com

Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum's "Design Your 'Hood" Program with Madeline Diaz

Part of Cooper-Hewitt's "Design Directions" free after-school youth programming and held for the first time at UAMA in 2008, this six-part series challenges students to work with architects, urban designers, community leaders, and historians to investigate Brooklyn's Fulton Street Mall. Teams of students and designers create and propose solutions to revitalize this thriving, culturally diverse community.