Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club and local teen launch summer program
This summer as part of The Mint Museum’s NexGen Mint program for area teens, the museum is partnering with the Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club and a local teen to start a new photography club. The Mint is offering the program as part of its community outreach from the Here & Now: 80 Years of Photography at the Mint, curated by the Mint’s President & CEO, Dr. Kathleen Jameson. The Here & Now exhibition is on view through September 18 at Mint Museum Uptown.
Kathyrine Hankin, a rising tenth-grader at Charlotte Country Day School, has started “Mind to Heart,” a community service organization for peer to peer academic tutoring at the Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club on Marsh Road. This winter, Kathyrine approached the Mint’s educators to propose offering a summer photography program to provide creative expression for 10-14 year olds at the Club.
Cynthia Moreno, Director of Learning & Engagement for the Mint, said: “We are delighted to be offering this introductory photography program with help from Charles Smith, the Unit Director at the Marsh Road Boys and Girls Club, and Kathyrine Hankin, the local teen who helped inspire the project.” Resident artist for the program is Nicolle Driscoll, a local photographer and videographer who has worked with middle school and high school teens. The ten-session program is being offered on Monday and Tuesday afternoons through July 24. Volunteers for the program include Lexi Myers, a Mint intern from Clemson University, and Kathyrine Hankin.
More information about the exhibition is available by clicking here ; more information on the NexGen Mint program available at nexgenmint.org .
ABOUT THE SALVATION ARMY BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF GREATER CHARLOTTE
The Salvation Army Boys & Girls Clubs was founded locally in 1934 on North Poplar Street. Today, eight clubs serve nearly 2,500 school-aged children, including more than 1,700 members, in Mecklenburg and Union counties. Programs include academics, recreation, the arts, character and leadership, and health and life skills. The clubs are located in diverse neighborhoods from Charlotte Housing Authority sites to the nation’s only club in a homeless shelter. The Boys & Girls Clubs is a division of The Salvation Army of Greater Charlotte. For more information, visit bgccharlotte.org.
FREE teen Mint membership creates thriving peer-to-peer interaction
Generation Z generally refers to the cohort of people born after 1995, or “second wave Millennials.” It is a group impacted by the events of 9/11, a great recession, mass school shootings, and, to some, a decline in cultural scholarship. It is also a group who questions cultural, religious, racial and sexual stereotypes, and a generation who has always known the Internet.
Making up more than 26 percent of the U.S. population ( U.S. Census Bureau ), Generation Z will undoubtedly find their voices among the Boomers, Gen X’s, and Gen Y’s in virtual environments. They will redefine the “new normal,” and in the art world, the art they make will not be limited to the walls of a brick-and-mortar museum.
Beginning in August 2014, Cynthia Moreno of the Mint’s Learning & Engagement team initiated an effort to spark a conversation about engaging with art and museums with the Z Generation. She wanted to offer creative teens a new “place and space” in Charlotte to gather, exchange ideas, interact, and learn within the museum setting. Using ideas and input directly from teens, the Mint developed the NexGen Mint program. Thanks to the generosity of The Jimmie Johnson Foundation, Wells Fargo, and IBM, The Mint Museum now offers a FREE NexGen Mint membership for ages 14-18 that focuses on behind-the scenes access, mentorships and hangouts with working artists, design labs, and peer-to-peer activities with other creative Gen Z’s. Dozens of members from Gastonia to Concord have signed up, and teen participants have met with artists including installation artist Mel Chin , contemporary Pueblo artist Rose B. Simpson , fashion collective threeASFOUR , and jewelry designer Nora Fok for design labs and round table discussions. A new lineup of meetups is planned for 2016.
Teens are ambitious, collaborative, and independent entrepreneurs, so they need a virtual platform where these characteristics could thrive. The Mint has launched its first-ever inspiring social mash-up website, which gives teens access to shareable content inspired by the museum’s collection and an opportunity to create their own responses and experiences with Charlotte’s cultural environment. If a teen you know wants to get involved, visit NexGenMint.org to sign up today.
—By G. Scott Queen, Digital Media Manager. Mint Museum intern Scott Lerner contributed to this article.
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Want to know more?
Learn more about the NexGen Mint or the Mint’s numerous teen programs and initiatives, by visiting mintmuseum.org/visit/nexgenmint/
This article appeared in the Fall + Winter 2015 issue of The Mint Museum’s member magazine, Inspire. Want a copy? Visit either museum location or call 704.337.2009
IMAGE: Mel Chin (American, 1951 – ) SEA to SEE, 2014, mixed media installation. Featured in Connecting the World: The Panama Canal at 100. Mint Museum Uptown. © Mel Chin, All rights Reserved, 2014
Thinking about the future…I have learned to express myself in my art. I have learned that I can be myself!
-NexGen Mint participant
NexGen Mint invites students to engage with art and design both online and in galleries
Calling the next generation of museum-goers: Teens are invited to engage with art and design at The Mint Museum in a wide range of new ways with the help of a recently launched initiative, NexGen Mint.
Teens’ lives are centered around home and school – and now, the NexGen Mint’s vision is to offer them a nurturing, creative “third place.” It’s a creative community to exchange ideas, have fun, interact, and learn from artist role models and peers.
Thanks to major grants from the Jimmie Johnson Foundation and Wells Fargo and additional support from IBM and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Arts & Science Council, the Mint is rolling out a series of new offerings for students ages 14-18, including:
–A free membership offering teens the opportunity to make unlimited visits to the museum with a guest;
–Exclusive opportunities for teens to interact and foster their creativity with internationally known artists and designers who visit the museum;
–New forms of online interaction via a new website with curated, teen-focused content and dialogue scheduled to launch this spring; and
–Scholarships for 30 teens to attend a free week-long summer art camp.
Following a series of teen focus groups during 2014, public events kicked off with a teen round table with contemporary artist Mel Chin at Mint Museum Uptown in February. Chin, a former Artist-in-Residence at McColl Center for Art + Innovation, introduced the participating teens to his installation SEA to SEE, which he created to analyze human environmental impact on the world’s oceans in conjunction with a recent Mint exhibition examining the centennial of the Panama Canal. And on March 21-22, teens met at Mint Museum Randolph with contemporary Pueblo artist Rose “Bean” Simpson of Santa Fe, New Mexico, for a hands-on roundtable and workshop. Future NexGen events include:
–An April design lab and talks with fashion designers threeASFOUR, whose body-altering creations are a major feature in the Mint’s upcoming Body Embellishment exhibition, which will be on view from April 11 through September 6 at Mint Museum Uptown.
–A May design lab and talks with Dzine (aka Carlos Rolon), an installation artist and painter and author of a photographic history of nail art. His visit is also in conjunction with the Body Embellishment exhibition.
–A June design lab and talks with modern jewelry designer Nora Fok, also featured in Body Embellishment.
Participants can register NOW to receive the free NexGen Mint museum membership and begin receiving invitations to upcoming events. More information is available at mintmuseum.org/visit/nexgenmint.