Past Sponsored Programs
No Boundaries
No Boundaries is a district-wide art exhibit that showcases the talents of the entire student body of the Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD). Side Street Projects teaching artists in collaboration with curators in the Los Angeles art community worked with a classroom of Rose City High School to produce and curate the exhibition, which opens on Spring Art Night. Students learn about every level of exhibition production from wall preparation to marketing to making decisions about how and where the art will be shown.
Initiated and coordinated since 2006 by the District Art Team and Community Art Team, the event has been held annually for the past years.
This project is made possible through a grant from the Pasadena Arts & Culture Commission the City of Pasadena Cultural Affairs Division, and The Tournament of Roses Foundation.
Past No Boundaries:
Kinetic Creatures
Kinetic Creatures was an integrated 10-week kinetic sculpture STEAM curriculum for all 5th graders at four PUSD schools. This curriculum fits well into the core curriculum of 5th grade where students are really starting to develop critical thinking and creative problem solving. This curriculum gave students the opportunity to explore the properties of physics and materials. Experiments took place using a combination of scientific and creative processes. Students designed and created a kinetic creature, either animal or machine, with a specific function for the environment it lives in. Students fabricated a wooden cam, lever, slider, and/or pulley mechanism to build their creature. Creatures can be abstract or figurative, and incorporate found images and objects.
This project is made possible through a generous grant from the Katharine Kaine Wanlass Foundation.
Modern Myths
Modern Myths was developed in response to our community requesting creative ways to share stories about our community, paired with the request for more free woodworking for youth. Students were asked to draw symbols, objects, and foods that reflect their identities and their families on their name tags. We used the images that the students chose as a guide for what books to bring into the classroom for inspiration. Students designed a creature/animal self-portrait that will then be fabricated out of wood. We had “found objects” that students can use to incorporate into their creature or use as an accessory. Students are also encouraged to find their own objects. This curriculum was designed for students 5-14. Some students may finish their creature early and was able to make wooden objects and food inspired by their name tags to go with their creature. At the end of the workshop, students would share a “myth” about their artwork that would also be documented and shared with the larger community.