Past Sponsored Programs
Two thirds of our students receive programming at no cost to them or their schools through generous donations and grants. Mobility allows us strategically to serve at-risk youth where there is the most need. We take a holistic approach to integrating art into core curriculum. We partner closely with PUSD administrators to ensure that we are working to provide art to all students. All 5th graders at four PUSD Schools receive an intensive 10-week STEAM woodworking curriculum called “Kinetic Creatures” . Our 2nd grade public art curriculum serves all 1,500 2nd graders in PUSD as a part of the K-6 curriculum “My Masterpieces” that pairs our City’s cultural institutions to grade level curriculum. This year we are embarking on a new program working with a group of Rose City High School Students to Curate the PUSD District wide art exhibition “No Boundaries”. The schools we work with the most have over 90% subsidized lunches.
No Boundaries
No Boundaries is a district-wide art exhibit that showcases the talents of the entire student body of the Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD). Side Street Projects teaching artists in collaboration with curators in the Los Angeles art community are working with a classroom of Rose City High School to produce and curate the exhibition, which opens on Spring Art Night. Students are learning about every level of exhibition production from wall preparation to marketing to making decisions about how and where the art will be shown.
Initiated and coordinated since 2006 by the District Art Team and Community Art Team, the event has been held annually for the past 16 years. Due to budget cuts and limited resources within the district, this exhibition was in danger of being canceled.
2022 is the fourth year Side Street Projects and Rose City students are taking the lead on producing the exhibition. As we move forward through the years, we continue to expand upon this project and curriculum.
Scheduled to open later this Spring, eight Rose City students are taking the lead in launching No Boundaries 17. After two years of remote learning and 2021’s exhibition being hosted virtually, the project will be held in person this year.
Follow @no.boundaries.pasadena for updates on the 2022 exhibition.
This project is made possible through a grant from the Pasadena Arts & Culture Commission the City of Pasadena Cultural Affairs Division, and The Tournament of Roses Foundation.
Past No Boundaries:
Kinetic Creatures
Kinetic Creatures is an integrated 10-week kinetic sculpture STEAM curriculum for all 5th graders at four PUSD schools. This curriculum fits well into the core curriculum of 5th grade where students are really starting to develop critical thinking and creative problem solving. This curriculum gives students the opportunity to explore properties of physics and materials. Experiments take place using a combination of scientific and creative process. Students will design and create a kinetic creature, either animal or machine, with a specific function for the environment it lives in. Students will fabricate a wooden cam, lever, slider, and/or pulley mechanism to build their creature upon. Creatures can be abstract or figurative, and incorporate found images and objects.
This project is made possible through a generous grant from the Katharine Kaine Wanlass Foundation.
Modern Myths
Modern Myths was developed in response to our community requesting creative ways to share stories about our community, paired with the request for more free woodworking for youth. Students will be asked to draw symbols, objects, and foods that reflect their identities and their families on their name tags. We use the images that the students chose as a guide for what books to bring into the classroom for inspiration. Students will then design a creature/animal self-portrait that will then be fabricated out of wood. We have “found objects” that students can use to incorporate into their creature or use as an accessory. Students are also encouraged to find their own objects. This curriculum is designed for students 5-14. Some students may finish their creature early and will be able to make wooden objects and food inspired by their name tags to go with their creature. At the end of the workshop, students will share a “myth” about their artwork that will also be documented and shared with the larger community.