Editor’s note: This press release was provided by the Pelham Art Center. The Pelham Examiner publishes press releases in the form received as a service to the community

PELHAM, NY. Pelham Art Center continues to grow the teen engagement initiatives. At the end of September Pelham Art Center started hosting FREE open studios for teens from the surrounding area to come together and create on Friday afternoons. The Open Studios have had 6 successful sessions so far and 5 additional sessions were recently added for November and December 2022.

This meaningful time to relax, create and connect with peers and professional artists is beneficial to explore mediums, techniques and to speak about larger life plans for the future. This safe space provides art materials and guidance. Teens have come to work on independent projects for AP portfolios, college applications, or to simply free create in the art studios of Pelham Art Center.

Lead by Susan Saas, Charlotte Mouquin, and Emlyn Taveras Pelham Art Center hopes to continue these programs as long as it is supported through additional funding. Currently there are 10 more open studio sessions planned for Spring 2023, but with additional support Pelham Art Center would like to add 8 more to the January and February programming.

In addition to the open studios a Teen Artist Council has formed. The teen artist council meets twice per month to discuss relevant upcoming projects and initiatives to further engage and inspire youth and art. Saturday, October 22 during the New Rochelle ArtsFest members of the Teen Artist Council created a pop up display of recent artworks at the Pelham Art Center courtyard, had a community drawing project, and started a knitting project which will evolve into a public sculpture in the Pelham Art Center courtyard this Winter.

The Teen Artist Council has some great projects lined up for 2023 including curating an exhibition at Pelham Art Center in April. The current Teen ArtistCouncil is working to define the themes of the exhibition and will be conducting an open call for artists of all ages. The open call will open in early December 2022 and be open through January 2023. Stay tuned for more information from Pelham Art Center!

Teens from the Teen Artist Council and the Open Studios have expressed interest in learning more about careers in the Arts. Pelham Art Center is currently planning 4 panels to learn from working professionals in January and February 2023 on select Saturdays, more information will be coming to the Pelham Art Center website in December 2022.

The current interns; Chanel Baxter of the Denzel Washington School of the Arts, Natashya Johnson of New Rochelle High School, Natalie Nakawana of Pelham Memorial High School, and Lydia Whalen of Pelham Memorial High School have assisted in leading these new project initiatives.

Internship applications for the January-June internships are currently open! The four inaugural interns for the reformalized Pelham Art Center internship program have done a fantastic job, and PAC has great expectations that the next four teen interns to make a 6 month commitment to Pelham Art Center will be equally committed to learning, working, and dedicating time to this multi-purpose touchstone of art engagement in Pelham, NY.

These programs are made possible by the New York State office of Children & Family Services, ArtsWestchester, and TD Charitable Trust. Please consider further supporting these programs by making a donation to Pelham Art Center today.