IAPS Grant Update
As you recall, PSNJ was awarded one of the three grants offered by The IAPS Global Society for the purpose of advancing the knowledge of pastel and spread the appreciation of the pastel medium to the public. Our grant proposed a multi-generational workshop, exposing teens and seniors to the magic of pastels.
Although we faced some scheduling and curriculum issues, we successfully launched the program. Our original plan called for a 2 -hour session with the Seniors at the Deal Sephardic Network, with the idea of giving them enough time to learn the techniques and finish a painting. The organizers of the senior program quickly disabused us of that idea, explaining that the senior’s attention span maxes out at 45 minutes. So, we adjusted our curriculum to suit the audience.
Our next challenge was scheduling. While planning to introduce pastels to the seniors and teens simultaneously was the original premise, schedule constraints required us to first give a pastel workshop to the teen girls at Ilan High School and then, the following week, have a joint workshop. This was fortuitous as the teens, who were now familiar with the techniques of applying pastel and had the opportunity to create their own “masterpiece”, were more focused on engaging with and teaching the seniors what they had already learned, as you see in the photos here.
Taught by our very own member, Dianne Gray, the workshop was well attended and enjoyed by all. As the seniors thoroughly enjoyed the session, we have been invited back to the senior center (with the teens from Ilan High School) for another session. And because the girls (those that participated and those that happened upon our group) were so excited with the pastel medium, the director of the clubs program has asked us to create a “pastel club” for the Spring semester, to be held at the school Wednesdays from February to April. We were ecstatic about the prospect!
The first club meeting was a great success. Dianne Grey returned to teach this longer term program with 15 students enrolled and PSNJ providing the supplies with the funds we received from the grant. Each student oohed and aahed over her own set of pastels (who can resist a brand-new box of colorful sticks of heaven). They were also given drawing tools and watercolor paper to practice their mark making. Dianne shared images of her paintings as well as those of other artists to encourage the students to feel free to interpret the images they choose to paint. The club will continue until the Spring when we plan to have an artist’s reception for the students. We anticipate great works of art.
As pastel artists we understand the thrill of pastel painting. With the IAPS educational initiatives and grant funds, we have been able to foster the love of the pastel medium across two generations.
On December 6th, Pastel Society of New Jersey President, Mozelle Forman, and Dianne Gray went to Deal Sephardic Network to attend a workshop funded by an IAPS grant. Teens and elderly participants worked side by side creating works of art!