CLASSES

Banner Painting/ Mural Project
Offered in collaboration with the Esprit de Corps Artists Collective, this unique workshop series guides participants through the process of creating large scale collaborative paintings, to be featured as banners throughout our community. Through this process participants will also begin the conceptualization of a full-scale wall mural to be completed in the spring. Participants will explore work by other artists from across a wide range of disciplines as a source of inspiration and learning. They will engage in critical dialogue about issues relevant to youth in our community and work together on how to translate and coalesce their ideas into potent images. They will learn basic drawing and painting techniques, exploring questions of line, composition, and color, and will apply these techniques in the creation of each large-scale banner painting. All levels welcome! Ages: 10-20.

Rhythmik Reflectionz
Rhythmik Reflectionz is an intensive lyrics/poetry workshop series, which encourages youth to use Hip Hop and Spoken Word as vehicles for in-depth, critical thinking about the world around them and to examine their lyrics and poetry on a deeper level than is possible at an open mic. The workshops are facilitated by a rotating schedule of professional MCs and poets. The basic workshop structure includes the introduction of inspirational quotes/ images for the day, introduction of week’s community education theme, free-writing to music, sharing/ feedback sessions, and directed writing exercises. Participants are also linked into a wide range of new performance opportunities. Ages: all ages welcome.

Hapchida Do (self defense training)
Specially designed for Boston’s streets, Hapchida Do is an internationally certified martial art combining techniques from Aikido, Tae Kwon Do, Hungar Kung Fu, and kickboxing. Taught by Khari Moran, a lifelong resident of the South End/ Lower Roxbury and professional martial artist, this class is a crucial part of our efforts to provide cross-turf programming. Self-defense is especially important given the violent reality which our youth confront simply because of which neighborhood they do or don’t live in. Through this program we prepare them to handle violent situations efficiently with a de-escalation strategy, increase their sense of self-confidence, and provide them with practical techniques to protect themselves. All levels welcome! Ages: 10-20.

Community Education Workshops
The purpose of these workshops is to begin to contextualize the issues which our youth are facing daily within a broader socio-political picture. Developed in conjunction with our peer leaders, the workshop topics speak directly to their experiences as young people growing up in Boston today. Many of these topics elicit frustration and/or rage. By speaking frankly and constructively about each topic, we can begin to break down some of this frustration and rage into strategies for personal and collective action. We decrease the sense of isolation and move from "Why me?" into real, historical-based conversations about "Why us?" This creates a greater sense of unity and helps to decrease the territorialism and rivalry, which is at the root of so much youth violence. Because this is part of an arts-based program, the youth who participate in these workshops are simultaneously participating in arts programming here and through our collaborating agencies (Sociedad Latina, Floorlords Movement, USES, Rose from Concrete, Salvation Army, & the YMCA). This means we will not only be talking and learning together about each topic, but will also have the opportunity to channel our thoughts and feelings into powerful multidisciplinary art. Our goal is to empower youth to think critically and creatively about what "making a difference" means to each of them. And then to write it, rhyme it, drum it, dance it, and paint it, thereby inspiring and educating others as well. Ages: 10-20.