“There was magic in what they created, they took it on with such care and reverence.” ~Stephanie Robertson on participants and their creation of Exodus community project

Program Summary

ArtForce: Visual Arts 2017 provided thirteen high school students from the Indianapolis area with the opportunity to explore and learn within the visual arts. Over the three week time period, the apprentices were exposed to various forms of media such as painting, fabric art, and illustration. The students also participated in different workshops that not only strengthened their artistic ability, but also developed their writing skills. Any work that was created during the program would contribute to their final portfolio and culminating art exhibition.

ArtForce: Visual Arts participants were able to share their knowledge and new skills during the program as well. By learning how to create an art lesson plan, the participants were able to instruct younger students on a topic of their choice. The students were given the opportunity to not only teach once to the younger students, but twice. After receiving feedback from teaching the first time, the participants were able to go back and improve their lesson plan to better deliver their teaching.

“During ArtForce I discovered that I should exercise my talent more and try new things” ~Art Force Participant

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On the final day of the program, the participants were able to show off their artwork in a culminating art exhibit at Ivy Tech.  Since the exhibit was open to the public, the participants not only received support from their families, but also the Arts for Learning staff, Ivy Tech faculty, and the Art Force performing arts students. The art created and showcased by the students sparked admiration, curiosity, and thought throughout the duration of the exhibit.

Upon completion of the Visual Arts program, the participants accumulated new pieces of artwork to add to their portfolios, improved their skills, learned how to create and effectively implement a lesson plan, and received an experience that aided in enhancing both their knowledge and their passion for the arts.

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Our Partnerships 

The three week program was made possible by the partnership between Ivy Tech Community College and the Arts for Learning. Through their partnership, both college and organization, made it possible for the participants to receive a unique opportunity at not only growing within their passion, but also applying it in a college setting. The chance to work in a college setting will hopefully improve the transition from high school to college in the future.

Additionally, ArtForce partnered with the AYS summer camp from school #84 to give the participants to explore the education side of the arts. Through the partnership, the ArtForce participants developed and taught their lesson plans to the younger AYS students. This interaction and the openness of the ArtForce participants aided in providing confidence to the younger students, and perhaps the idea of choosing to begin taking interest in the arts.

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The Creative Team

Two major contributors to the success of ArtForce: Visual Arts would be Jingo de la Rosa and Stephanie Robertson. Through their tag-team approach Jingo and Stephanie are able to both engage and motivate the students to explore within their passion. Teaching artists and instructors De la Rosa and Robertson brought together different teaching artists to provide workshops, lectures and hands-on experiences for the participants. De la Rosa instructed students in art techniques such as illustration, self portraiture, and more. The duo was able to bring together not just themselves, but also artists such as Jason Roth (Design Tech), Kate Oberriech (Visual Artist), and Kristine Slentz (Poetry) and more. The students were also able to teach alongside their college mentors, Mary Young and Zoe Heard.

“My vision is growth. I would love for this program to grow in quality; quantity is perfect. We are able to dig deep and establish a good relationship with the students” ~Jingo de la Rosa on ArtForce Program