SUMMER 2024

POD teens heading down to the water on our annual field trip and picnic to Tillinghast Farm in Barrington, RI

What a wonderful summer we've had at Project Open Door! The studio was active all summer long with new and exciting collaborations, annual partner programs, busy drop-in open studio sessions, and many alum visits!

We are now eagerly gearing up for the fall semester and are just a few weeks away from kicking off POD programming for the 2024-2025 School year. We can not wait to welcome new and returning teens, along with our dedicated team of teaching artists and teaching assistants, to the POD studio. Learn what POD has been up to recently in our summer newsletter!

POD SUMMER STUDIOS

CERAMICS @ THE STEEL YARD

Our third annual partner program with The Steel Yard was a resounding success! Teens learned both hand-building and wheel throwing techniques to create some truly remarkable pieces. Thank you to the dedicated instructors Lindsay and Kit and to all the Steel Yard folks for welcoming us to your facilities.

See more from our week at the Steel Yard and amazing finished pieces in this recent Instagram post.

GLASSBLOWING @ GATHER

In this first time pop-up workshop, teens took a field trip to Gather Glassblowing shop in Providence to learn how glass blowing works. Each participant, led by Gather staff, created their very own drinking vessels (see below). Thanks for the awesome experience, Gather!

See more images here.

RISD BEACH TRIP!

Our annual picnic and end of summer beach trip to Tillinghast Farm in Barrington, RI is always a highlight of the summer!

FASHION DESIGN WITH ONWARD WE LEARN

POD Teaching Artist Dorian Epps led a week-long fashion design course in collaboration with our long-time partner, Onward We Learn. Over the course of the week, Onward We Learn students learned basic sewing skills, both on the machine and by hand, and created garments from recycled materials that reflected their personal style and interests, strengthening their connection with our partner and the fashion industry.

Above: Onward We Learn teens with their fashion creations!

HASBRO TOY + GAME DESIGN SUMMER STUDIO

Hasbro has been an incredible partner over the past seven years, and our annual toy and game design workshop is always one of our favorite weeks in the summer. This year was no exception! Throughout this intensive week-long workshop, teens experienced the ins and outs of toy and game design- from concept to product and branding- directly from professional Hasbro designers. They also got to see Hasbro designers at work and create alongside them during our tour of the headquarters in Pawtucket, RI.

A huge thank you to everyone at Hasbro who made this year's program possible and offered endless inspiration and encouragement to POD teen artists.

Top: POD teens outside the Hasbro Headquarters! Bottom: Examples of student work and concepts from the week.

We are still accepting applications for

POD's Saturday Portfolio Program

for the 2024/2025 academic year!

If you know any creative and driven students who attend a public high school in Providence, Pawtucket, Central Falls, or Woonsocket, please check out and share the link below for more information and to access the online application.

Deadline to apply is September 16th.

**We are only accepting applications from 9th + 10th graders as our other classes are at capacity.**

2024/2025 SATURDAY PORTFOLIO APPLICATION

RISD PRE-COLLEGE SCHOLARS

This summer, eleven POD teens (10 pictured above) had the experience of a lifetime at RISD Pre-College. During this intensive 5-week program, they experienced a college-level curriculum with day-long studio classes, critiques, and projects. Teens worked alongside other creative students from around the world and lived like RISD students- staying in dorms and eating at the dining halls on campus. Our POD teens majored in glass, graphic novels, fashion, textile design, and more!

Congratulations to each of them for all their hard work and dedication at Pre-College!

Above: Textile piece created by Sabely Z. during Pre-College

POD ALUMNI SPOTLIGHTS

Talented Project Open Door Grads Earn Full Scholarships to RISD:

Four incoming first-year students discuss the enormous impact that POD has had on their lives...

POD alumni who were accepted into RISD and received the POD Alumni Scholarship, were recently featured on risd.edu! We are so proud of each of them and can't wait to see what they accomplish during their time at RISD over the next four years.

Read more at risd.edu

DESMOND ANDREWS

This summer, POD alumni Desmond Andrews, who graduated from Hope High School in 2019, joined the POD team as a Summer Studio Intern through the Comprehensive Community Action Program (CCAP). CCAP assists RI youth and young adults through free education training programs, work readiness and job placement assistance.

Desmond wore many hats this summer as our Summer Studio Intern- as a teaching assistant for all summer programs, resident artist, studio manager, and more. We are so grateful for his hard work and energy, and we loved having him back in the studio this summer in an emerging leadership role.

Desmond is an extremely talented artist, has been taking classes at the Community College of Rhode Island since graduating high school, and plans to transfer into MassArt in the future! We are proud of his accomplishments and to have him as an alumni ambassador of POD!

Below: Desmond (left) pictured with our other amazing alumni Studio assistant, Vetty!

Left: Recent mixed media paintings by Desmond