Artist Ambassador Training
Artist Ambassador Training empowers professional artists to share their work in an educational format or setting. The training focuses on demystifying the artistic process and providing artists with the tools to work with the disability community.
Artists are encouraged to view their practice as process-based and given guidance and tools to enable them to share that process with others. The creative process is broken into “how” and “why” an artist makes work the way they do, and translates that into an approachable format for neurodiverse audiences.
Recent Projects
Dance & Movement with Alice Heyward. The Watermill Center. 2023. Alice Heyward, an Australian dance artist, was coached through adapting her movement workshops for neurodiverse audiences and was provided the opportunity to develop those skills in a classroom setting. Heyward’s experience with The Klein Technique was leveraged to focus her instruction on adapting to the ability and potential of each individual, enabling participants to explore movement using their own unique style and not by mimicking her form.
Masterclass with Piper Bangs. The Watermill Center. 2023. Piper Bangs, an undergraduate BFA artist at Lagune College of Art and Design, was empowered to lead a masterclass for the community to complement her exhibition at a local restaurant. The class focused on Bangs sharing her process of botanical sketching with participants, from the act of choosing a subject through the act of sketching. The workshop made use of The Center’s expansive gardens, encouraging participants to explore the grounds and find a subject for their sketch amongst the flower beds, mirroring Bangs’ exploratory approach.
Movement with Kayla Farrish. The Watermill Center. 2023. A workshop adapting the artists’ studio dance practice to teach neurodivergent students to explore the body and movement as a storytelling device.
Studio Visit with Philippe Cheng. The Watermill Center. 2023. Philippe Cheng, a fine-art photographer, was provided the tools to develop his latest project and current studio practice into an educational resource. Cheng was coached through facilitating a studio visit for neurodiverse audiences, adapting his working studio to be sensory-friendly and provide an accommodating and engaging experience. Cheng’s latest visual-arts project was developed into a workshop, providing insight into his creative process and allowing students to understand how photographers interpret the world around them.
Studio Visit with Anthony Vine. The Watermill Center. 2023. An afterschool program for children that provided the opportunity to explore the creative process of a composer and musician, providing the artist with a new format to share their work and showcase it as an educational experience.
Featured Artists
Piper Bangs, Brian Block, Philiipe Cheng, Georgios Cherouvim, Kayla Farrish, Fana Fraser, Alice Heyward, Viola Kantor, Tsubasa Kato, Coby Kennedy, Carina Kohn, KOR’SIA, Matthew Leifheit, Adam Lenz, Pontus Lidberg, Maria Louizou, Ola Maciejewska, Ale Mendez, Miki Orihara, Passepartout Duo, Pe Mellado Dance Company, Monica Ramon Rios, Matthew Randle-Bent, Alvaro Restrepo, AM Ringwalt, Asia Stewart, STUDIOTASSY, Robert Taylor, Tassy Ellen Thompson, Ogemdi Ude, Anthony Vine, Tuce Yasak, Netta Yerushalmy
Featured Partnerships
Bridgehampton Childcare and Recreation Center (Bridgehampton, NY), East End Explorers (Southampton, NY), Estia’s Little Kitchen (Sag Harbor, NY), Organización Latino Americana of Eastern Long Island (East Hampton, NY), Parrish Art Museum (Water Mill, NY), Peconic Community School (Cutchogue, NY)
photo copyright Lindsay Morris