Green House Graphics(GHG) is a project-based learning experience, set up as a series of participatory workshops. (We refer to GHG as a “workshop”.) The workshop is the cornerstone of an art-making enterprise that will produce quality works of art in a variety of media that express the personal creativity of the artists, contribute to the community, and allow young artists to develop skills and abilities that can lead to future career opportunities.
The GHG workshop is led by a team of a Mentoring Artist and Peer Mentor Assistants. Each young adult in GHG is matched with a Transition Facilitator for help with concerns outside the workshop, including help with finding and applying for further education or employment in art fields. Young adult participants are paid for their training time in the workshop and, as the micro-enterprise develops, will have opportunities to produce art work for sale.
Green House Graphics is founded on a few simple beliefs:
All young people have creative talent;
The creative talent of young people, when combined with diligence and hard work, has value that people will pay attention to and pay money for;
Developing talent is a way of building self-confidence, motivation, healthy life choices, and strong foundations for adulthood.
The vision for GHG is the same as Tempo. Our vision is that all young people will have strong, resilient foundations for adulthood. Tempo helps young people with extra challenges become healthy, productive adults. We focus on achievement, employment, schooling, healthy relationships, and practical skills to reach future goals. Young adults learn to be leaders, learners, workers, and role models.
Because many young people need employment and job skills, we have spent over three years researching ways to help young adults find meaningful work. We were happy to join with Artists for Humanity (www.afhboston.org), a Boston arts organization with similar hopes and dreams for young people, and to figure out how to replicate here in Framingham some of what Artists For Humanity does in Boston.
Tempo is part of a larger, non-profit organization (Wayside Youth & Family Support Network), and so it is governed by some rules that come from laws and regulations for non-profit and human service organizations.
GHG is different from a school-type course. There are no grades or homework; the artists and mentor work collaboratively; and artists are paid for their work. GHG is not a “service” or mandatory requirement for anything. It is a completely voluntary learning/work opportunity. Each participant is respected as an individual artist, and we work and learn together with guidance from mentors with art-making experience. We all respect each other, each others’ work and ideas, our materials and workspaces, and the purpose of the GHG enterprise.
GHG started with support from Artists for Humanity, The Sudbury Foundation, the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, and Wayside Youth & Family Support Network.