Queensbridge Summer Art Program

FOR AGES 12-19

 
 

Big Sky Workshop is excited to announce YEAR TWO (Summer 2023) of our Summer Art Program for young artists, ages 12-19 who live in the Queensbridge Houses.

This year, students will come together to progress through the study of different disciplines - including - drawing, painting, photography, music, sculpture + performance, culminating in a film project. We will work in our Long Island City neighborhood and take field trips to cultural sites around the city at no cost to families and students.

Last summer, this program was created with generous space + resource partnerships with other organizations including Billion Oyster Project and Flux Factory. We are currently selecting this year’s partners and are excited to announce that we are in the process of going 501c-3 ourselves.

 

In 2022, our pilot year, our community raised about $1,500 and many people and organizations volunteered time and services. We have a $20,000 goal for summer 2023. Please help us with funds for support staff, transportation, supplies, lunch, water and more.

Click below to donate or Venmo @bigskyworkshop, Cashapp - #bigskyworkshop

In its pilot year, our success will help ensure that we can offer this essential program for years to come.

Interested in providing more specialized support? Contact kerry@bigskyworkshop.com.

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We will provide exposure to local organizations and resources, instruction and support from accomplished artists, and space to explore and develop their own creative processes in supportive community. We offer our students tuition-free programming and mentorship at the level of private institutions, providing lunch, transportation, and supplies.

We want to repeat this program every year and offer access to resources beyond the summer. We aim to grow its impact in our community and beyond. We can’t do it without your support!

PEOPLE + PARTNERS

Lashawn “Suga Ray” Marston - Big Sky Advisory Board, Summer Program Partner, Film Instructor

Lashawn “Suga Ray” Marston is an artist and activist dedicated to community building through storytelling, filmmaking, and spoken word. He is currently serving as an Artist-in-Residence at MoMA PS1, and his work has been featured at Flux Factory and the Museum of the Moving Image, as well as in local New York City magazines. He has been honored for his community work with two New York City proclamations; first for his personal transformation and commitment to community empowerment in 2012, and in 2014 for his initiative “Bless the Corners” which honored those lost to homicide in Queensbridge. He is frequently featured in local media outlets for his organizing work and mutual aid such as the ongoing Wellness Wednesday vegan food distribution and health empowerment initiative, Healthier Hood. Suga Ray is committed to using media and arts-based solutions to address systemic issues of racial and social injustice. Through art and community organizing, Suga Ray is actively building a world that centers community safety and care.

Kerry da Silva Cox - Drawing + Painting Instructor

Kerry da Silva Cox is the founder of Big Sky and an interdisplinary artist + teacher. She is excited to combine her love of the LIC/Astoria community, the NYC arts landscape and 15 years of teaching experience with the launch of this program. Kerry has exhibited and performed in venues including A.I.R. (Brooklyn, NY), the Berkley Museum of Art (Berkley, CA), and Duke University (Durham, NC). In 2021, she was a recipient of a City Corps Grant, with with she self-producted a pop-up exhibition, panel and educational program, and an In Practice resident at Oxbow School of Art. Kerry holds an MFA in Visual Art and an MA in Modern and Contemporary Art Theory and Criticism from SUNY Purchase where her research focused on the evolution of Brazilian Art under the period of Military Dictatorship.

Space has been generously provided by