Intro to Summer Programming
Summer has officially arrived at Beam Center, and with it comes a new wave of creativity and collaboration. From a bold, student-built float in Coney Island’s iconic Mermaid Parade to the launch of our newest architectural summer program, SPARK, the creativity of young people across NYC is shining.
Mermaid Parade
Youth from International High School at Lafayette paraded their community project at the annual Mermaid Parade on Coney Island.
Students from International High School at Lafayette recently collaborated with Beam Center on their community project to build a striking float for Coney Island’s annual Mermaid Parade. Their float came to life through layers of paper mache for the head and hands, and flowing fabric for the body. Their choices were inspired by Bread and Puppet theater, a nonprofit theater company that utilizes large, theatrical puppets to relay political messages.
Lauren Trager, Katherine Kokoska, and Bella Rhodes three of Beam’s project designers, collaborated closely with the school’s teachers and students to facilitate coming up with an inventive and alluring float idea. Lauren describes how she faced the challenge of introducing the student to the context of the project and cultivating excitement about the parade itself. “It was hard to convince the students that what we were doing was really cool,” she said. However, some compelling explanations led to what Lauren recalls as the most rewarding part of the project: seeing the students’ excitement to show off their final product at the parade.
This is Beam Center’s second year of collaborating with International High School at Lafayette to create a float for the Mermaid Parade, and those involved last year were not shy to come and pay a visit to see this year’s creation. Shout out to all of the young people who worked hard to design and put together an incredible piece of art!
Preparing for SPARK
Cesar Garcia building inspiring prototypes for SPARK for the youth who will participate in the program starting in early July.
Now that summer is in full swing, Lauren is transitioning to working alongside other project designers, Christopher Medina and Cesar Garcia to plan for one of Beam’s newest summer programs, SPARK. An architectural intensive, SPARK will enroll 14-15 year olds from public schools throughout NYC to create accurate scale models of their dream living spaces and sustainable communities. Students will have the opportunity to develop and apply 2D drafting skills to create a 3D model of their buildings.
Our project designers are hoping that SPARK will not only provide a fun, inclusive space where the young people can share their ideas, but also for the students to develop skills that they can take into their undergraduate studies or future careers. Cesar is hoping that the tangible products that the students design will act as incentive to build with intention; he is excited to see their diverse cultural knowledge come together to create with real people in mind.
Preparation for the program has taken place in three phases. They began by creating a blueprint using a collage of different shapes, and then utilized that blueprint to build a bigger, physical model. They are currently beginning phase three of preparation, which is a collaborative project that will emulate the program’s goals. Stay tuned to see SPARK in action once the program begins.
