Parsons Festival this Saturday: Join Us!!!

Please join us for the opening of the first annual exhibition that displays the growth, achievements and bright futures of all of our scholars.

We are proud to include the work of each student in the Parsons festival, which is a new annual series of art and design events which provide opportunities for the entire campus community and the general public to experience the high quality and diversity of work created at Parsons and to preview the next generation of leaders across a broad range of disciplines.


The Scholars Exhibit will be:

May 7th and May 8th

Opening reception:

Saturday May 7th, 2011
5:30-7:30pm
2 West 13th Street,
11th floor

Also:
Presentation of the Senior Project

(Our seniors will be presenting their design proposals for new brand identity for local public schools.)

4pm
Kellen Auditorium
66 Fifth Avenue

ground floor

Please join us in the celebration!

We look forward to seeing you all there!

"The Kitchen"

April 16th, 2011

At "The Kitchen" in Chelsea scholars met the artist, Kenya (Robinson), featured in the gallery. She spoke of her featured work, Kenya Eats A Cracker.

On this rainy day, the scholars walked from The New School to the gallery.

Robinson's work raised many questions for the scholars about race and how it relates to her work.

Kenya talks about her process in installing her performance piece.

Performance Installation piece: Kenya Eats a Cracker by Kenya Robinson

Richard Pean: Talenthouse movie poster winner!

Our very own Richard Pean (Undergrad Mentor and Scholar alum) recently won a Movie Poster Design Competition on Talenthouse, which is a platform that provides opportunities for creatives to "participate in unique projects with artists and brands, collaborate, gain recognition and compensation."

For his winning poster design, Richard will attend the film premiere in London or LA (travel and accommodation provided!) and work closely with the production team to create the official film poster.

Big congrats to Richard!!!

*Scholars, Mentors & Alumni, keep the great news coming! We're happy to share everyone's success..

Chris Soria Visits Scholars!

On Saturday April 16, artist Chris Soria met with Senior Scholars to share his work and to discuss his process with students.

Students were impressed at the wide range of work Chris does: including collaborative large-scale murals, illustration,photo collage, pumpkin carving and more!
It was great to meet an example of someone who finds a way to divide his time between a wide range of interests-- all while making a living doing (many) things he loves.
Above, Chris motivates Brihanna and Grace to do a physical brainstorm.
The Scholars enjoyed learning new brainstorming and mind mapping strategies while learning about his work.

Preparing for the Parsons Festival

We've been working hard at preparing the upcoming program-wide exhibition in the new annual Parsons Festival which will highlight the progress and achievements of participants in the Parsons Scholars program.

Join us on May 7th at 5:30 for our opening in 2 West 13th st.

More info soon..

Below, a sneak peek at preparations with coordinator Ananda Cavalli and scholars Kumlyun (Katie) Son and Nelson De Jesus.

Looks promising!

For a full list of Parsons-wide events, see the Festival calendar.

Visit to Stony Brook University

On Tuesday April 26th, Mei Yue Luo and her coordinator Nadia enjoyed the last day of Spring Break by taking a tour of SUNY Stony Brook University (where Mei has been accepted!) in Long Island.

It was a beautiful day, and Mei received a lot of information to help her make an informed decision of where she'll be attending next year.

Since most colleges require students to respond to their letters of acceptance with a reply by May 1, this is a week full of balancing options, comparing financial aid packages and evaluating program quality-- one last time.

Good luck to all of our seniors with their (well-informed) decisions!

Artist: Tanya Linn Albrigtsen-Frable (Mensen)

Mensen joined Scholars April 2nd to present her work and create a comic with the us. It was an awesome experience and we all learned a lot - from Feminism to using art to make political statements.

Mensen also gave the Scholars the task of creating a comic - together! Each Scholar drew a panel and then passed it around and the process continued. It was great to complete these comics and decipher what each Scholar was trying to express in their panel.

After the presentation the students ended their day with the Union Sq pillow fight. It was a perfect ending to a great day!

Braiding Workshop!!!

It's an understatement to say that our seniors have been working hard all year-- balancing college applications, maintaining good grades in school, and attending our Saturday program and monthly meetings, among other extra-curricular activities.But, believe it or not, we've managed to have fun along theway.. We just haven't had time to

post the pics!

Here are a few photos from one afternoon in November when our girls spontaneously created a braiding "workshop", which turned out to be a great (much-needed) stress reliever!

Looking good, ladies!

Artist: Hank Willis Thomas

Yashua and Shola's Scholars welcomed Hank Willis Thomas to their Saturday Program March 5th.

Laniqua Sprull said, "While viewing the artitst's work many of us took on the analyzation that his work was based on racism. Listening to the feedback of the work made us finally understand the purpose of finally telling what the titles actually meant."

Leonard Cintron said, "Hank Willis Thomas let the viewers know that just about anything can be racist and most things in the present have something to do with the past."

Other Scholars commented on Hank Willis Thomas' work.

Roxana Sana said, "I liked the way the same person is looked upon differently depending on what they wore."

Raquel Castillo said, "The way you dress yourself can determing the way people think of you when they first meet you which can be something good or bad for you."

Ashlie Juanita Baptiste said, "I loved the way he incorporated himself in most of his pieces. It shows that he is a part of the experience."

Forbes Galleries Visit!

Shola's group of Scholars participated in a mini scavenger hunt during their visit to Forbes Galleries February 26th. They were broken up into groups and asked to work together. Not only did they learn about Forbes Galleries being a home to Forbes Magazine but they learned about the various exhibits and artists there.

Juan Peña Parsons Scholars 2011 said "Forbes Galleries has great paintings, jewelry, and drawings. I had a good time with my classmates searching for stuff in the galleries."