Thu 12/19 @ 5pm
By Josh Usmani
This Thursday evening, ten very special Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) high school students will take over Cleveland’s Museum of Contemporary Art.
These students are the latest class of MOCA’s ACE (Arts & Culture Enterprise) program. This competitive program connects selected students from Cleveland School of the Arts and Cleveland School of Architecture & Design at John Hay with contemporary artists, curators, architects, designers and museum professionals from Cleveland and around the US. Thursday’s event is entirely organized by these young museum professionals.
ACE students meet at MOCA bi-monthly for meetings and workshops. The students learn virtually every aspect of museum studies – including creating, installing and marketing/promoting exhibitions. The students also work to create teen tours and social events around MOCA’s current and upcoming exhibitions. They develop crucial creative and professional skills in art, writing, public speaking, design and gallery/museum management that they may otherwise have never be exposed to.
Every year, a handful of promising students are selected for this program. Their experience culminates with an entirely ACE-produced event at MOCA. At the opening reception, students engage with the public about their work. This particular show highlights the students’ favorite aspects of MOCA’s physical structure. The teens participated in discussions with the building’s architects and designers earlier this year – receiving exclusive insight into their creative process.
“There are ten students total, 9 juniors and 1 senior,” says MOCA’s Nicole Ledinek. “The group has a wide variety of arts interests — we have poets, gamers, actors, creative writers, as well as visual artists. This same diverse talent will be showcased on Thursday night.
“From 5-7 pm, teens can perform in the Open Mic Lounge, reveal a truth about themselves, take an exhibition tour with an ACE student, or experiment with different visual art media. At 7 pm, a performance featuring dancers, singers, pianists, poets and actors will commence. The building’s architecture will be a focal point for the finale.
“An important note about the program is that while I keep the teens on track, the entire program is conceived of and run by them. This is the second year of the MOCA ACE teen program.”
This is an amazing opportunity for our art community and its aspiring artists and museum professionals in the community-at-large. This program allows inner-city students exposure to professional, “real world” experience in the museum and contemporary art world. Experience is an asset that accumulates exponentially over time. The earlier that we learn something, the more time we have to put it into action. The success of this program will only be truly known years from now when today’s students become tomorrow’s cultural leaders.
However, it’s clear from their own words that this program has already made an impact on these young minds.
“ACE made me face my fears,” says student Dejiah Davis.
“I’m inspired and more open to collaborations because of my experiences with MOCA ACE,” comments Tavorris Denson.
“Learning about the art at MOCA has opened my mind,” explains Nikki Moeuth. “I’ve discovered more about independence and self encouragement.”
These kids have worked very hard. Come show them your support this Thursday evening. The event is FREE and open to the public.
The opening reception takes place Thu 12/19 from 5 – 8pm @ MOCA. http://mocacleveland.org.
Josh Usmani is a 27 year old local artist, curator and writer. Since 2008, his work has been featured in over 50 local and regional exhibitions.