Lila was always a maker. When she wasn’t crafting gigantic packing tape animals she was off exploring abstract painting or small plaster sculpture work. In Joslyn’s Kent Bellows Mentoring Program, Lila got to experiment to her heart’s content with different materials and techniques, leading her to develop a signature…
For four consecutive days in June, ten youth from the Kent Bellows Mentoring Program visited Fontenelle Forest in pursuit of inspiration, new experiences, and connection with nature and each other. They packed notebooks and recording devices, opened their minds and their senses to the dynamic range of forces in…
Joslyn’s Kent Bellows Mentoring project is so happy to be working with the young people at Project Everlast, a statewide, youth-led initiative committed to providing resources, connections and support to young adults as they age out of foster care. Maggie Weber, a KBMP alumna and current mentor is…
Our studio is thriving. With one week left for our mentees to finish up work for their exhibition Threshold, there is an intense and focused energy in the air. This deadline push can be a real challenge but it is also very rewarding. Zoe, pictured above, is finishing…
What happens to a painting that doesn’t find a home, or gets left behind by a student who has gone off to art school? Some local artists, notably Bart Vargas, scour the city in search of these discarded canvases to up-cycle them into new artwork. If you have ever…
The other day one of our alumnus interns said: “I don’t know how you do this everyday (work with teens), I couldn’t handle it.” A few years ago this same intern was a teen mentee in our programs and an admittingly demanding one. There is nothing more rewarding than…
This past week, we journeyed out of the comfort of our studio walls to take our first all studio field trip. Students and mentors explored the halls of Joslyn Art Museum, took in the new American Moderns exhibit and investigated the permanent collection. It was notable, that our teen…
Every semester subtle changes happen in the studio. While the students are away, Weston and I always stand back and take a look at our space to ask how can we make it better. Sometimes we move tables or art materials. A few semesters back we moved the…
It is not uncommon to spot KBMP’s wishbone symbol on car bumpers or windows around town, but lately they have been showing up on actual people. These tattooed heroes aren’t just any people either, they happen to be our much respected alumni. By carrying this powerful symbol into the…
It goes without saying that our teenage years are some of the toughest. Good times fly by in fast-forward and bad times seem to drag on in slow-motion. Everything is on a larger-than-life scale, in high definition, and all happening at once. Throw in hormones, high school, social media,…