Spotlights

Youth Arts Project Grant
Artist Mentors For Arts Careers

Engagement in the arts in high school can lead many directions. An FY 2013 Youth Arts Project grant to Lebanon High School supported an innovative ceramics project that helped broaden career opportunities for the school’s ceramic students. The project built upon art educator Jacqueline Clary’s quality art program and expanded it to help students who are serious about their art to spend time with Artist David Pellerin, a professional potter from Springfield, New Hampshire, in his studio where he served as an artist mentor.

Pellerin has a successful studio and gallery called Wellhouse Farm Pottery where he makes and sells his work. He creates both unique and functional high fire porcelain, stoneware and raku pottery. Pellerin’s business model is unique in that it includes pottery production, teaching, and rental space at his facility for other potters. He also sells clay and glazes he formulates himself.  This multi-faceted approach to running an artist business provided a well-rounded setting for students to explore viable career options in the arts.

In the fall of 2012 Clary took several groups of Lebanon High School ceramics students to David Pellerin’s studio for hands-on workshops. Each student made ceramic pieces as part of this experience and they sold some of their own art work to help support the program. Here is what some of the students had to say about their experience:

“I learned it is possible for me to use my artistic skills for a profession.”
“It gave me an idea of what I could do with my life.”
“What was valuable about the experience was to see how an everyday potter can go big and start a business.”

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Youth Arts Project Grants for Extended Arts Learning fund high-quality arts and cultural education programs that encourage creativity, develop new arts skills and foster academic success for young people (K-12). The overall goal of this grant category is to provide young people opportunities to engage in the arts beyond the normal school day so that they can develop creative problem solving skills and become more engaged in their communities.  

For more information on Youth Arts Project grants contact Arts Education & Arts in Health Care Coordinator Catherine O’Brian.

Last updated: January 2, 2014