Project Open Door is a free after school college preparation and portfolio development program, housed in the Department of Teaching + Learning in Art + Design at RISD. Most classes take place on the RISD campus. Students are introduced to colleges and careers in the creative sector through year-long classes and short term workshops with RISD student mentors, visiting artists, RISD faculty members and alumni.
Teens make frequent visits to RISD studios, the RISD Museum, the Nature Lab and the Fleet Library at RISD. Approximately 150 high school students from Providence and around Rhode Island participate in programs each school year and summer.
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INSTALLATION DOCUMENTING PROJECT OPEN DOOR'S PORTFOLIO 1 CLASS
THURSDAY, JUNE 18 FROM 5-8PM
IN RISD’S CIT BUILDING, 169 WEYBOSETT STREET
Funded by the Surdna Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, Deep Documentation is a multimedia installation by teaching artist and documentarian Jori Ketten resulting from Ms. Ketten’s participation in a year-long RISD Project Open Door classroom. Contrasting with standard evaluation projects by resisting reduction and simplification, the installation instead provides a textured look at student learning via interactive exhibits, video, and the pairing of text and still images.
Portfolio 1 is a weekly class for 9th-12th graders that takes place at RISD. It is run by Mara O'Day, Project Open Door's studio coordinator. The majority of students in the Portfolio 1 class come from Hope High, The Met School, and Jorge Alvarez High School.
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What are students really taking away from my classroom?
At the end of the school year, educators around the country are asking themselves this question as summer vacation approaches. Tests, papers, standardized tests, and rubrics help school teachers analyze what students have learned, but questions remain: What did my students deeply absorb? What changed or shifted for them this year? What do they really think about their work, and what are they taking away for the experience of being in my classroom?
The same questions apply for teaching artists working in schools and after-school programs. It's easy to say arts learning is visible. We know when a student enjoys the arts and we can see his or her skills improve. But what else is he getting out of it? What will she remember? What were the bright moments, what stood out? Why? And how do the arts fit into students' lives when they're not in an arts classroom?
A year-long research and documentation project at RISD’s Project Open Door
During the 2008-2009 school year, teaching artist and documentarian Jori Ketten was invited to RISD's Project Open Door. Ms. Ketten came to class weekly and piloted participatory observation practices in the program's Portfolio 1 class with the goal of helping program staff understand why students come to Project Open Door and what they get out of the experience.
Project Open Door is a free after school art education and college access program aimed at students from low income families attending Rhode Island’s struggling public schools.
Featuring students' own work and words, the installation is the culmination of Ms. Ketten’s research and investigation. Ms. Ketten will also lead a workshop on June 19 as part of Plugging In: Connecting Teaching Artists with New Media and Technology, a conference at RISD sponsored by the New England Consortium of Artist Educators (www.artisteducators.org).
Thanks to our supporters
Project Open Door receives generous support from its funders: The Surdna Foundation, Amgen Foundation, Marie Keese Le Lash Foundation, Rhode Island Campus Compact, the Frank B. Hazard General Charity Fund and the National Endowment for the Arts.
