Educational Opportunities
Highpoint’s Education and Community Programs are on the go in 2012!
This fall Highpoint’s Education and Community Programs were bustling with visits from over 700 school-age visitors, our annual Día de los Muertos Free Ink Day celebration, another successful session of the ACCESS/PRINT Project mentorship program for teens, and the launch of a new community programs such as TWOxTUE Second Tuesdays and Playdate at the Press.
Students from over twenty schools visited Highpoint this fall for printmaking workshops as part of HP’s school partnership program. Two new school partners came to Highpoint for the first time: Lyndale Elementary School, located just a few blocks from Highpoint, serves a diverse population of students in grades K-5, many of whom are of East African descent. All of Lyndale’s 5th grade classes learned to make monoprints based on self-portraiture and landscape imagery in Highpoint’s studio classroom. Students greatly enjoyed mixing their own inks and learning to operate the big etching press. Another new partner that brought students to Highpoint was Southside Family Charter School, a nationally recognized K-8 urban elementary school located in South Minneapolis. Over the course of four visits, each student in kindergarten through 6th grade visited Highpoint to get inky and make prints to take home.
This fall marked the 4th year of the ACCESS/PRINT Project, a mentorship program that grants full scholarships for 8–10 teens each year. Five high school students from all over the Twin Cities metro area were selected to participate in the fall session, and spent over 70 hours learning different print processes and developing series of prints to be exhibited in the Highpoint galleries this spring. Some of the work produced by these students included large-scale relief prints, intricate drypoint etchings, graphic-based screenprints, and a three-dimensional print installation. The spring session of the ACCESS/PRINT Project will begin in late January. Don’t miss the exhibition opening on April 27, 2012, showcasing the work of these industrious students!
As part of our growing Community and Education Programming, Highpoint launched two new programs this fall that offer unique printmaking experiences for all ages and abilities. TWOxTUE: Second Tuesdays, a free monthly event that takes on a new form each month, kicked off this October with a monoprinting workshop and a live music performance by local talent Aby Wolf. Our November TWOxTUE, titled Hootenanny: A Folk-Themed Screenprinting Shindig, featured Appalachian-themed screenprint imagery and live music from local band The Rum Runners. Our most recent TWOxTUE event was hosted by Minnesota artist Wing Young Huie. Huie is most well-known for his photographs documenting people in a culturally diverse and changing urban landscape. After discussing his recent projects, Huie led an interactive printmaking activity that challenged audience members to work out of their comfort zone.
Our upcoming TWOxTUE event will be on February 14th, 6 – 9:30 pm. In honor (or reproach) of Valentine’s Day, Highpoint will be hosting a poetry slam with Punch Out Poetry, a female spoken word contingent in the Twin Cities. Whether you're alone on Valentine's Day or want to treat your date to something special, stop by Highpoint for Print Your Heart Out: Heartbreakin' Poetry Slam and Open Mic.
Another new program at Highpoint this fall was Playdate at the Press, a monoprinting workshop for family and friends of all ages. Participants learned how to create colorful monoprints using different inking techniques, and how to operate an etching press. Everyone took home a family-sized serving of one-of-a-kind prints. Mark your calendars for the next Playdate at the Press on Saturday, April 14th from 1–4 pm!
We are looking forward to a new year filled with more opportunities to deliver quality hands-on printmaking opportunities. Be sure to check out our spring class schedule for other programs for printmaking enthusiasts of all levels.