Alternative Outreach

My name is Hannah Rankin. I am a School Outreach Instructor for Educational Programming at OJAC.

Normally during the school year I travel to various Region 14 school campuses, visiting thousands of students through our Art-To-Go program. While on spring break this year, I received an unfortunate phone call saying that the schools were closing due to Covid-19 precautions, which meant that myself and the other Outreach Instructors would ultimately not see our local students, classrooms, and teachers again until the next school year. This was hugely disappointing as we love our monthly campus visits, as well as hosting each of those students at the museum in May for the final month of the program. But- just because Art-To-Go was placed on hold, doesn’t mean that our student outreach went on hiatus! The Education Department at the OJAC worked quickly to create outreach alternatives for these student audiences despite these unusual circumstances.

Even though we are not able to greet and learn with our students in person, we have offered many opportunities these past months to learn #athomewithOJAC, including virtual field trips, staff-led gallery tours, visual-art inspired mixtapes and studio-process demos via our social media, just to name a few.

One program I have specifically worked to facilitate are our weekly Art@Home Survival Kits. Every week through this program we provide free, take-home craft/ activity kits for local learners ages 4-12. These kits include guided visual instructions and all needed supplies to create at home at the kitchen table.

We have watched each week as families from ours and surrounding communities make the long walk or drive to visit the trunk outside our museum gates and retrieve their free bags. They have created wind-chimes, woven turtles, sun-catchers, bird feeders, constellation flashlights, balloon rockets, kaleidoscopes, and even braided pet toys that could donated to a local shelter. It has been a blast to offer these projects each week and I’ve so enjoyed seeing the photos of student creations that parents have tagged and shared with us via our social media!

I won’t say I haven’t missed the personal interaction we’ve grown accustomed to with our local K-12 audience, and I look forward to a time when we can once again, roll our art-carts through the doors of each local campus. But the OJAC Education Staff have been so proud to continue to serve our students and families in a way that is fun, educational and FREE during this challenging time.

If you are one of the hundreds of families taking advantage of our weekly kits- we hope you feel the love we are packing into each brown bag, and know that we can’t wait to see you soon!

Hannah Rankin
OJAC School Outreach Instructor

READ MORE FROM OJAC STAFF

Spring Student Programs!

Currently on display in the Stasney Center for Education are forty artworks by young artists from the surrounding area. The artists are local 7th-12th graders and are all students who benefit from the OJAC's monthly in-school program, Art-to-Go. In January, one of our staff members and ATG instructors presented these students with five pieces by known artists in the OJAC collection. In cooperation with our theme "Talking Back," each student chose one of the five collection pieces as inspiration and responded by creating their own unique artwork. The collection pieces serve as a "jumping off point" for the students as they find their own voice or show us their own take on the subject matter, technique, or style of the original. As a part of the learning experience and honing their own artistic voice, students are also asked to write an artist statement with their work. 

We call it a Student Art Show not only for the artist participants but also for its jurors. The OJAC is proud of our Junior Docent corps, 7th-12th grades students who volunteer or work for the Education Department. The annual student art show is one of the JuDos' biggest projects during the school year. In the week before the show opens, JuDos volunteer their time and efforts to judge hundreds of submissions and carefully curate a show of artworks that speak to the theme and meet quality standards of creativity and craftsmanship. At the opening reception (held Saturday, March 10th) our JuDos present the winning students with certificates and prizes for Honorable Mention, Best in Category, and Best in Show.

On Saturday April 14th, JuDos will be hosting International Slow Art Day at the OJAC. Each of them are already hard at work to prepare a small gallery talk and activity for museum guests. Their research and presentation will be based on their favorite piece from our current exhibitions. In the coming weeks students will contact contemporary artists and research the history and style of their piece to give visitors a fresh look at their chosen piece and facilitate a more interactive museum experience. 

All in all, we're proud of the young artists and art appreciators in our area. It's deep within our mission at the OJAC that art is for all and we work hard to make it so. Be sure to come by and check out the Student Art Show before it goes off display at the end of March and mark your calendars to show your support for our students on International Slow Art Day, Saturday, April 14th.

Molly Gore Merck, Education Coordinator

Earth Day at the OJAC

On Saturday, April 22nd, the OJAC hosted a Family Festival in celebration of Earth Day! Families of all shapes and sizes from the surrounding area made the trek to Albany to participate in arts, crafts, and activities that included important Earth Day topics. We created a cheerful spring mural out of our recycling, made bird feeders, and even got our hands a little dirty planting in an effort to learn about taking better care of our planet.

The truth is, after all the planning and preparation, Family Festivals are as much fun for the museum staff and volunteers as they are for those who attend. We love introducing local students and people of all ages to new cultures, art-forms, and social awareness topics in an exciting, hands-on way. Seeing our student's faces light up when they try or learn something new reminds why we're here and brings joy to even the most mundane tasks. In the weeks leading up to a Family Festival, flyers are sent out to all our participating Art-to-Go students from Region 14 and personal invitations are extended by our instructors in every classroom they visit. As a result, families come from miles around to experience the crafts, music, games, and refreshments inspired by a culture or topic represented in the museum collection.

We look forward to these quarterly opportunities to make fun and creative connections with visitors of all generations from our community. Bring the whole family and join us for our next Family Festival this Fall. 

- Molly Gore Merck

Education Coordinator

Graduating Intern Reflects on her Time at The OJAC

Being a Junior Docent has played an important role in my life.

I signed up to be a junior docent my seventh grade year. I heard of the program through my older brother who was also a junior docent. I saw how he enjoyed his time at the Old Jail and decided I would give it a shot. I loved art class and I loved making art and hoped that the Junior Docent Program would bring me the same creative joy.  Being an awkward 12 year old, I was shy, quiet, and didn’t like to step outside of my comfort zone. Over the years, working with the junior docents has brought me out of my shell and taught me to be more social. I have loved getting to work all of the family festivals and summer art camps. When I was asked to be a high school intern my sophomore year, I was so excited. I get to work at the Old Jail every week and I honestly enjoy every minute of it. I love getting to make samples for Art-to-go and Distance Learning and volunteering at the family festivals. It’s heart warming to watch other children make art and enjoy it as much as I do. Being a part of junior docents has had a big role in my becoming who I am today. I keep telling Erin I’m going to drive back and forth from San Angelo State so I can keep working here while I’m in college. 

I have enjoyed my time here at the Old Jail Art Center and I highly recommend joining the Junior Docents program to any student interested in art.

Savannah Perez
2016 Graduate of Albany High School