YouthHUB: Experiences in Contemporary Art

Creative Mentorship Classroom Programs for Students in Grade 10 – 12.

Are your students interested in pursuing the arts at the post-secondary level? Looking to gain firsthand knowledge of how an art gallery operates? Want to meet contemporary artists at the site of their work?

Griffin Art Projects is thrilled to offer YouthHUB: Experiences in Contemporary Art, an educational program designed to foster critical and creative engagement in the arts. Educators can work with Griffin's Residency and Public Program Coordinator to develop a program offering tailored to your students’ needs, with payments arranged on a sliding scale.

YouthHUB engages youth with artists and cultural producers working in their studios, providing valuable insights into the day-to-day flow and process of creative professionals. Griffin is able to provide youth with a wide spectrum of engagement opportunities, from art making, to research, critical thinking and community outreach.

Our goal is to work with school educators to create a welcoming space where youth feel at home to gather for informative sessions, debates, and intimate chats with Griffin’s artists in residence and program staff. In this way, Griffin aims to create a sense of autonomy and independence, fostering young patrons for the visual arts, who will potentially go on to cultivate artistic careers of their own.

For your students, we can offer the following engagement opportunities (subject to calendar availability):

1–An artist studio visit and guided exhibition tour. We can welcome your class to Griffin Art Projects' residency and gallery space. Dividing the class into two groups, one group will have a studio visit with our current artist(s) in residence while the other receives a guided tour of the current exhibition. Then the groups will switch.

2– Hands-on workshop. One of our current artists in residence will visit your school for a short artist talk and/or a hands-on workshop. The school will need to have the space and materials available for this engagement opportunity. Subject to artist availability.

3 – Online artist talks. We regularly host online artist talks of our artists in residence. Programmed on Sundays, your students are welcome to join us and ask questions!

4 – A combination of all of the above. Drawing from these engagement opportunities, we can always brainstorm ideas together and adapt to your class' needs.

If you are interested, please send an email to the Assistant Curator of Engagement, Bahar Mohazabnia (bahar@griffinartprojects.ca), with your school name, grade, and the opportunity you are interested in. We'll be in contact shortly!