Teen Programs

Emerging Teens Program

Registration for Emerging Teens PDF

This free program is for students aged 12-15 with a passion for art, a curiosity for learning in a museum environment, and a craving for new experiences with artists and peers. Mentored by SBMA Senior Teaching Artist Tina Villadolid, participants dive into the themes of a current exhibition and/or a featured artist during a session of six weekly classes. Inspired by these themes, the group creates art in a variety of mediums, showcase their resulting artwork, and lead activities connected to their discoveries at a culminating event. Some sessions include interaction with a visiting Artist-in-Residence or local artists.

There are three separate sessions: fall, winter, and spring. Classes take place 3:30-5:30 pm on Thursdays at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art (fall and spring sessions) and at the Ridley-Tree Education Center (winter session), and may occasionally include additional expeditions. There is a 10 student capacity, and enrollment is on a first-come, first-served basis. Students may sign up for one, two, or all three sessions.

Students are to be dropped off and picked up at SBMA by a parent, guardian, or otherwise designated responsible party. Other arrangements for drop off/pick up may be discussed with the Senior Teaching Artist leading the program. Participants must be able to commit to all six classes and culminating event dates within each session.

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Fall Session: Multi-media Installation

What does it mean to be an emerging artist, and what is a site-specific art installation? April Street, the inaugural SBMA Park Projects artist, lends her insight to these questions and others as students create an interactive installation for SBMA’s Community Celebration honoring the Mexican holiday of Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).

Winter Session: Sculpture

With a dynamic array of sculptures from the Museum's collection as a research lab, use materials that are rigid and soft, traditional and experimental to create three-dimensional works of art that tell stories. A visit to local sculptor Bela Bacsi's studio initiates the session.

Spring Session: 21st-Century Portraiture

How can power, image, and status be expressed within the genre of portraiture? The group has the opportunity to experiment with fresh ideas for this age-old concept, inspired by the work of Kehinde Wiley, whose portrait of President Barack Obama was unveiled in early 2018 for the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. Wiley's painting, Equestrian Portrait of Prince Tommaso of Savoy-Carignan, will be installed in the Park Lobby of the Museum in March 2019.

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For more information or to apply, please contact:

Tina Villadolid, Senior Teaching Artist
Tvilladolid@sbma.net