Photoville Educator Lab Fall 2023
The Compassionate Classroom: Social Emotional Learning Via Arts Integration
REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED
Photoville, in partnership with PhotoWings and Abrons Art Center, invites educators to explore the concept of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) utilizing various art mediums with an emphasis on visual arts and photography.
The Educator Lab will provide a space for educators to explore the evolving work within trauma informed care and youth development programming, and feature collaborative sessions giving participants an opportunity to explore relevant themes and connect with other educators.
An interactive and intentional workshop for educators, led by Danny Arenas, LMSW will serve as an introduction to Healing Centered Engagement and practical tools for the classroom that incorporate SEL. Danny will also discuss the power of visual storytelling and the benefits of being engaged in an art practice.
The event will include a curriculum workshop with artist/educator Lacresha Berry, and a presentation by Bard High School Teacher, Alexis Lambrou and Bard High School Students. The presentation will highlight their dynamic project, “Speaking Portraits” that was awarded a 2023 Photoville Educator Grant.
This lab is ideal for New York City middle + high school educators across subject matter who want to explore advancements in social emotional learning and incorporate visual storytelling into their curriculum.
Light Breakfast + Lunch will be provided.
All attendees must be vaccinated to attend. Masks are not mandatory, but we do encourage them.
Additional Accommodations: If you are in need of special accommodations while attending our event including an ASL interpreter, please reach out to [email protected]
Photoville Educator Labs are professional development workshops for educators to be inspired, connect and collaborate on ways to bring visual storytelling into the classroom. The program is free and open to educators of all subjects and of all ages, but the content will be focused on middle school and high school art teachers working in the DOE and in community programs.
Photoville Educator Labs are produced in partnership with PhotoWings. With additional support from Abrons Arts Center.
Tuesday, November 14, 10am–4pm EST @ Abrons Arts Center
Featured Artists
Healing Centered Engagement & Social Emotional Learning
Danny Arenas
Danny Arenas, is a Cuban-American painter, photographer, and Licensed Social Worker. Danny is the Director of Programs and Impact at Art Start. He earned an MSW Degree from Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College in 2014. Prior to joining Art Start, he worked with Urban Pathways as the Director of Social Services at a shelter in Midtown Manhattan. He began his career in Social Services as a Preventive Case Manager for the Institute for Child and Family Health. He is well-trained in Motivational interviewing and is a former Cultural and diversity trainer.
Photoville Educator Check-in Panel with Alexis Lambrou & Bard High School Students
Alexis Lambrou
Alexis (she/they) is an arts educator at Bard High School Early College in Manhattan. She is interested in collaborations, exhibitions, and projects that connect students to the world around them through culture, history, and justice. Her teaching aims to facilitate cross-generational conversations and bring student work out of the classroom and into the world. Previously, she has worked with young people at Sarah Lawrence College’s Social Justice Collective, The New York Public Library, the International Center of Photography, Brooklyn Community Arts and Media High School, New York City’s Parks and Rec Centers, Photoville NYC, and the YMCA on the Cheyenne River Reservation. She has received generous support for teaching through Brooklyn Arts Council, NYC SALT, Aperture Foundation, Magnum Foundation, and the Sioux YMCA.
Curriculum Workshop with Lacresha Berry
Lacresha Berry
Lacresha Berry is a culturally responsive educator, performance artist, and a multi-subject curriculum consultant. She specializes her training and teaching in providing culturally responsive pedagogy with arts based, hands-on activities within multi-subject disciplines to increase student engagement, strengthen classroom management, and foster fun and creativity in classrooms across the country. Lacresha is devoted and committed to creating compassionate leaders who celebrate their own legacies and has been designing educational experiences and safe spaces for teachers, parents, students, and school personnel. Her research interests include work in cultural responsive pedagogy, gender equity, social justice in education, diversity and inclusion, arts in education, and anti-racist education.
Her arts education lesson work and editing skills were recently published and featured in the new curriculum guide by Fresh Education, entitled, Fresh Ed: A Field Guide to Culturally Responsive Pedagogy. She’s also helped to design lesson prompts and edit original content through Fresh Education’s digital annotator, found on www.freshed.urbanarts.org. She’s also written a sample curriculum for the newly launched poetry book, “Can I Touch Your Hair?” by Charles Waters and Irene Latham.
She earned her bachelor’s in Theater from the University of Kentucky (2003) and her master’s (36 credits) in Costume Design for Stage and Film which she uses in every facet of her teaching and consulting work. Before Lacresha’s work as a consultant, she taught full-time as a certified multi-subject generalist for grades 5-9 for 10 years in Harlem. Since then, Ms. Berry continues to passionately work with students of all ages and backgrounds as a teaching artist through several organizations based in New York City. Lacresha currently performs and facilitates workshops across the country using culturally responsive content and autobiographical portraits of her life.