Teen Apprenticeship Program Summer Launch: It Takes a Team
The summer Teen Apprenticeship Program (TAP) is off to a great start! Program Manager Sejin Park and Program Associate Michele Sossou, assisted by a stellar TAP support team, have been working since spring to train and guide the 51 New York City high school students who will begin their paid internships on July 10.
Meet the TAP Summer 2023 Support Team: (Top row, left to right:) Program Coordinator Ada Jiang, Assistant Artist Instructors Kale Crowell and Gilbert Lopez; and Studio Arts Mentors (bottom row, left to right:) Huntah, Madeline, Athena, and Qinyi.
From Spring Apprenticeship to Summer Internship
During the spring, three cohorts of New York City high school students trained as apprentices under the guidance of Studio Institute (Studio) artist instructors and their assistants during weekly meetings held after school or on Saturdays. Teens learned the fundamentals of art making and prepared to lead classes for young learners. Instruction focused on building art-making skills, writing lesson plans, facilitating group conversations, and practicing teaching.
Students who successfully completed the apprenticeship qualified for paid internships teaching visual art to elementary school children in New York City summer camps at locations across the boroughs. TAP will run this summer from July 10 – August 18.
We’re pleased to welcome and introduce the Summer 2023 TAP support team: Artist Instructors Juan Pablo Baene, Delia Cadman, and Maya Shae; Assistant Artist Instructors Gilbert Lopez and Kale Crowell, TAP Program Coordinator Ada Jiang and our new cohort of Studio Arts Mentors: Huntah, Athena, Qinyi, and Madeline. Together, these talented individuals bring a wide range of experience and varied interests to roles that can play an important part in helping teens to explore careers in the arts and education. We look forward to sharing profiles of our artist instructors and highlights from our mentors as the summer progresses.
The Studio Arts Mentors program, a paid internship for undergraduate studio art majors, provides an opportunity for skilled college students to gain experience teaching art while guiding and supporting high school students participating in TAP. Studio Arts Mentors work with instructors and their assistants to help TAP interns produce, document, and deliver art instruction. Mentors help manage the program, give feedback, and co-teach live art classes to children enrolled in New York City summer camps.
Meet the summer 2023 TAP Team
Ada Jiang, TAP Program Coordinator
Ada Jiang currently attends Brooklyn College, where she is pursuing a master’s in art education. She graduated from Barnard College in 2022 with a major in Art History and Visual Arts. Ada was Studio Institute Arts Intern at The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts in 2023; prior to that, she was a college mentor for high school students in the BAI program and a program associate at A.I.R. Gallery in Brooklyn.
Kale Crowell, Assistant Artist Instructor
A recent graduate of Pratt Institute, with a BFA in Photography and a minor in Art and Design Education, Kale has worked with teens in Studio Institute programs since 2021. She served as a (virtual!) Studio arts mentor for TAP in summer 2021, a Studio assistant in 2022, and has been supporting and guiding TAP teens as an assistant artist instructor since February 2023.
Gilbert Lopez, Assistant Artist Instructor
Gilbert is a graduate of Hunter College, where he majored in Studio Arts and minored in English. The mediums he prefers to use for making art are ink and digital art. He’s currently focused on developing character designs. Now in his third year with Studio as an assistant artist instructor, he says it’s been an amazing experience, which has taught him a lot and helped him grow.
Huntah, TAP Studio Arts Mentor
Huntah is an honors sociology and African-American studies major with a minor in TV & Film at Howard University. In 2021 she participated in Studio’s Bloomberg Arts Internship, where she engaged in artistic development at the Nuyorican Poets Café. Passionate about utilizing the arts as a mental and spiritual healing tool, her work is rooted in youth, community, artistic development, and engagement.
Madeline, TAP Studio Arts Mento
Madeline is an Edward R. Murrow High School alum, and is currently an undergraduate student at the Cooper Union School of Art. Madeline’s preferred art mediums include ceramics and ink. Her prior work experience includes positions in various summer camps as support staff, as well as teaching ceramics to elementary aged children in after-school programs.
Athena, TAP Studio Arts Mentor
Athena attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School, where she majored in instrumental performance. She attends the State University of New York at Stony Brook, majoring in Music and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. She intends to continue with higher education, focusing on musicology that centers around POC and LGBTQ+ composers/musicians throughout classical music history.
Qinyi, TAP Studio Arts Mentor
Qinyi attended Edward R. Murrow High School in Brooklyn and is currently attending the Fashion Institute of Technology. She holds an AAS degree in Illustration, and is pursuing a BFA in Animation, Interactive Media, and Game Design. Qinyi’s prior work experience includes freelance work for art commissions, being a private tutor for youth, and teaching art to children as a TAP intern.
In addition to providing opportunities for teens to build college readiness and career development skills and experience the rich arts and cultural landscape in New York City, participating in Studio programs includes an additional benefit: teens who successfully complete two or more of our programs—the Teen Apprenticeship Program, Bloomberg Arts Internship, or Studio Intensives, our series of free after-school art classes—are also eligible to apply for Studio College Art Scholarships.