Summer institute with esperanza 2025
“home is where the heart is”
Art
This year, the students created art projects that allowed them to explore what home meant to them. They were also encouraged to reflect upon their identities and articulate what they needed in order to feel truly at home. Local muralist Solyani Pena led two workshops with our Institute students where they created drawings of scenes and objects that represented home. Teaching Assistant Cecelia Morales designed a tye-die workshop where each student created their own tye die camp t-shirt using colors and patterns that had meaning for them. The students also made their own marionette puppets and created vignettes, short films, dance pieces and skits with them, all inspired by this year's theme. All of these art projects were showcased during the Final Sharing, along with other artwork the students created that reflected their deepened relationships with community, identity, and the meaning of “home”.
Advocacy
Throughout the summer, our teaching artists led the students in conversations and activities which explored their relationship to their community, identity, and what it means to feel at home. Our advocacy guest expert, Dr. John Meyer from the Lower Raritan Watershed Project, encouraged the students to consider what animals, insects and trees would need to feel at home. During the field trip to ArtYard, Dr. Meyer took the students on a nature walk where they investigated the different homes found in nature and brainstormed on what they could do to respect and preserve these habitats for the species who live there. They also created self portraits using paint and sustainable materials found in nature. The students displayed their artwork and talked about their ideas for preserving natural habitats during the Final Sharing.
Community
Over the three weeks of Summer Institute, the students discussed and considered how to carry home in your heart wherever you may go, how they could make others feel at home, and ways they could give back to their home of New Brunswick. Teaching Artist Lazarus Simmons did a photography project with his studio, where they captured images around New Brunswick of places, people and objects that made them feel at home in their community. Teaching Assistants Cecelia Morales and Adriana Morales helped the students to create a visual art piece which used the map of New Brunswick as the canvas. The students proudly displayed their community centered artwork during Final Sharing.
Funding Provided by:
Rutgers Community Health Foundation
New Brunswick Tomorrow, Esperanza Neighborhood Project
Final Sharing | Comparto final
Friday August 22 2pm
viernes 22 de agosto 2pm
In person at Arts Institute of Middlesex County, 9 Livingston Avenue, 3rd Floor Exhibition Hall
New Brunswick, NJ 08901 OR on Youtube
En persona en la Arts Institute of Middlesex County, 9 Livingston Avenue, 3rd Floor Exhibition Hall
New Brunswick, NJ 08901 OR el enlace de youtube
Teaching Artists and Guests
A Look inside the Studio
Tie Dye!
Teachers Cecilia and Adriana helped students create fun personalized heart tie dye on their new coLAB Arts shirts
Field Trips!
We took a field trip to Art Yard in Frenchtown, NJ. Our advocacy guest, Dr. John, from LRWP led students through a nature walk.
Artist Workshops!
Guest artist Solyani Peña came in to work with each studio on “Home Is Where the Heart Is” projects. Soly is the artist behind our upcoming mural on the corner of Suydam and French St.
Meet Our Studios
Students were divided by age into 3 teams throughout institute.
Studio 1
Flowers
Hearts
POems
Studio 2
Collages
Studio 3
Pendants
Puppet Gallery