2021/22 school year
Community Wide Programs
Mural Campaign | The last phase of our mural, Realidades del Sur, is underway this fall. Alexa Eliana Chumpitaz is completing the 173 ft mural including another portrait (featuring a local Mayan weaver) and more of our natural assets in Burke. Three block parties were hosted through October engaging 150 community members to collaboratively paint the mural. See the complete photo gallery here.
AIR | The Artist in Residency program (AiR) in launching this fall with multimedia artist, Desirae Lee, creating a body of work to support the story and model of Material Return. The public projects seek in impact at least 1,000 local community members.
K-12
Our k-12 programs are resuming with on-site, after-school sessions and in-school collaborations with the goal of impacting 350 students monthly. Forty percent of students we serve are low-income and/or BIPOC.
On-site
After School | Two days of after school Sept-Dec for K-5. In the Spring we will resume k-12 afterschool.
Open Studio | Two Open Studio sessions will be offered weekly with more added in the fall if demand exists.
Internships | We continue to work with high school students through NC Works to provide learning/working opportunities.
Off-Site
Wonderful Wednesdays | Monthly workshops with Forest Hill Elementary serving 275 students
Summer Camp Recap 2021
This summer, TOSS reached 93 students through its summer camps and 140 community members through our Mini Art Festivals, celebrating themes around STEAM, Industrial Design, and Racial Equity.
Pollinate, Pretty Please
In these two, 5 day camps, elementary students learned about the pollinators in our region (the Catawba River Basin) and how they might become pollinators in their own neighborhoods. Students illustrated the anatomy of a flower, making clay flower sculptures. We designed bee hives and monarch butterfly mobiles. Everyone made pollinator costumes and helped us paint our milkweed garden planters. At the end of the week we had a Mini Art Festival: Families gathered for a picnic in front of the studio and ate yummy food provided by Rotation Food Truck. We celebrated the student's artwork through displays and sales. Campers were encouraged to share the true cost of producing their project with a transparency sheet we developed together to describe all the expenses that go into making art. We believe every emerging artist is an entrepreneur in training. The day ended with a paint party, with families painting vignettes that will be installed on our mural downtown (Realidades del Sur | Southern Realities) which is all about biodiversity and cultural diversity.
Circularity at Play
In this three-day workshop, middle school students brought the concept of circularity in textile manufacturing to bare on product design, making a functional, upcycled product of their own. First, students were given a spectacular tour though the concept of Circularity by intern extraordinaire, Robert Seevers - soon to be graduate from the Wilson College of Textiles. Campers learned about the work of Material Return, Carolina Textile District, and COLLECTION, business in Burke county all working together to regenerate textile manufacturing. This, combined with Robert's overview of design principles and strategies launched the campers into their project, designing and sewing bags with recycled fabrics. Christa Flores with Mountain Maker applied her training in STEM to guide students over the finish line.
Y'all Bee the Hive
In this 5 day camp for high schoolers, campers explored the role of visual art in the public sphere. Campers collectively create an asset map, of places for future public art projects and identified stories that still need to be told to raise awareness of racial and cultural diversity in Burke County.To kick things off, students toured our community to learn about the signs and symbols that are already present in our community such as the confederate monument, the mural depicting legends about the brown mountain lights, and the statue of Etta Baker. Equity Specialist, Dr. Leslie Mckesson, lead this "Hometown Walkabout." Students also participated in a guided tour through our local history museum and after these experience we had a discussion to evaluate what stories were being told and what remained to be told.As an outcome of this camp students began an asset map of places and stories that deserve to be celebrated in Burke county. Their work serves as the basis for TOSS's long-term public art campaign.
