Hundreds of young artists are enjoying summer in the city in two programs at Moore College of Art & Design.
Young women in grades 10–12 have spent the last four weeks in the Summer Art & Design Institute (SADI), living in Moore’s residence halls and learning from award-winning faculty.
Girls and boys in third grade through 12th grade are enjoying Young Artists Workshop (YAW) classes such as anime, painting, sculpting, digital art, fantasy illustration and photography, as well as trips to Philadelphia's cultural institutions.
YAW instructor Mike Moore taught a portfolio preparation class to a group of talented high school students, who learned observational drawing techniques, traditional painting techniques, and perspective and expression.
“A lot of schools want to see their ability to work observationally, but they also want to see breadth of knowledge, so showing them different modes of working, different ways of manipulating material and more importantly that they can execute in such a way that it looks like it was specific, with intent,” Moore said.
Moore’s student Zakiyah Harrison, who will be a senior this fall at Westtown School in West Chester, PA, was adding color to her drawing of a jacket hanging on the wall of the studio.
“It’s my first time doing this program,” she said. “I like it so far, it’s really nice. We worked a lot on basics and building up on those fundamentals. I’m seeing a lot of improvement.”
Xzavier Hardigree, from Academy Park High School in Sharon Hill, PA, said he came to YAW for the first time to get more in-depth art instruction.
“I think my proportions are really improved, and I think I’ve done a lot more with value and darkness,” he said.
The YAW program, founded in 1921, maintains a rich legacy of offering exceptional art and design educational experiences for youth and high school students. Classes are offered year-round – on Saturdays in the fall and spring and on weekdays during the summer.
ART AND DESIGN
Budding artists came from as far away as California, Texas and Atlanta to attend this year’s SADI program. They earned three college credits as they took college-level courses in animation, game design, interior design, printmaking, illustration, photography and more.
“It’s authentic preparation for college without being as intense as a first year of college,” said Alison McNulty, a 2007 Moore graduate who is the SADI site coordinator. “The students this year have the best work ethic and quality of work.”
SADI Foundation Design instructor Heidi Ratanavanich had her students make miniature work spaces from cardboard.
“They were thinking through scale and proportion,” she said. The tiny desks had scaled-down versions of laptops and coffee mugs on them, and some of the desks had working drawers. “They were having fun, and they were also doing things that maybe they were not really thinking about, like measuring and cutting, things that may be intuitive, but that also comes out of a practice, and that was the goal here, the practice.”
Utopia Coll of Lambertville, NJ, designed a loft bed with a desk underneath. She said being in the SADI program marked the longest she’s ever been away from home.
“It’s been a great experience just getting to do art all day, every day,” she said. Coll plans to study illustration in college.
Reece Cooper traveled to Philadelphia from Atlanta, GA, for her first SADI experience. Her mini cardboard desk included a water bottle, bookshelf and books. The homeschooled student, who is studying Latin and Japanese, also hadn’t spent much time away from home until now.
“This is pretty intense for me, but that’s how it is when you are in this field, you have to have good stamina for this type of stuff,” she said.
In addition to the mini desk, Audrey Burch of Myrtle Beach, SC, made a fashion design collection for Barbie dolls in another class.
“It was fun, and I got to meet a lot of cool people,” she said.
Salvador Camoirano of Havre de Grace, MD, said a friend recommended she try the SADI program.
“It’s really fun, I like it a lot,” she said. Camoirano took an animation class during the month, and would like to pursue concept art and character design as a career.
The SADI students wrap up their month with a student exhibition and closing ceremony to celebrate their achievements with friends and family.
