Atlas Programs

At Atlas, we provide a safe space for high school students to gain a better understanding of themselves through art. Our free programs meet weekdays during the school year and over the summer, for eight weekly sessions. Give your high schooler the opportunity to express themselves in a creative way!

Click the button above to learn more about our current teen program offerings, and to register. What's more, you can sign up for as many programs as you'd like! 
 

Summer 2019 Programs

Programs begin June 24 and end August 19

Know Your Hiphopstory 101
Mondays & Tuesdays | 2-5 p.m.
Program Description: Want to learn the four elements of hip hop: spinning records, breakdancing, graffiti art, and rapping? Learn from professional rappers and emcees!

Anime
Fridays | 2-4 p.m.
Program Description: Express your love of anime! Learn new drawing techniques while creating your own characters, backgrounds, and storylines. 

Program begins July 10 and ends August 1

Alter Egos: A Creative Performance
Wednesdays & Thursdays | 2-5 p.m.
Program Description: Let your creativity soar! Invent your own characters, alter egos, and fictional narratives through sculpture and performance.

 

Spring 2019 Programs (April 8-June 3)

Fashion From The Ground Up
Mondays | 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Program Description: Calling all fashionistas! Learn how to create your own sustainable fashions using recycled materials.

Word of Art 
Tuesdays | 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Program Description: Let your creativity soar! Design your own masterpiece through a variety of mediums and then use your art as inspiration to write poems and stories about identity, acceptance, and empathy. 

Self Portraits
Wednesdays | 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Program Description: Express yourself! Create your own self portrait while learning different art and drawing techniques. See how you can create a true representation of yourself through art.

   

 '

Teen Leadership Council
Our teen leaders are a special group of teens who are working on projects that develop their voice and leadership. For example, our 2019 Teen Leadership Council banded together to help one of our young people Natalia Mangaroo, 18, with her high school senior project. The 12th grader from Open High used the artistic experiences she gained from ART 180 to give Paradise Park, a beloved Richmond treasure hidden in the heart of the Fan, a fresh coat of paint.

“I decided to do this as my senior project because we used to come here all the time for field trips in elementary school. This was such a happy place for me when I was little, and it made me sad to see it not as it used to be. So I decided to revamp it so that the younger kids who come here now feel the same joy that I felt when I was their age.” -Natalia  

We Believe in Young People

Each young person is a valuable part of our community. We promise to offer a supportive and nurturing environment, which allows our young people an opportunity to bring into being the beauty that exists within their creative spirits.

We Believe in Creative Expression

Everyone will be free to be an artist who can give birth to a masterpiece, because we recognize that innovation is the heartbeat of growth.

We Believe in Communication

We seek to provoke ideas and stimulate conversation that encourages self-awareness and expression of diverse perspectives, remove barriers of fear, create a better understanding of humanity, and illuminate hope.

We Believe in Compassion

We advocate kindness to heal division and resolve conflicts, because everyone has a right to be heard, to experience love, and to be treated with dignity and mutual respect.

We Believe in Community

We value the importance of collaborative relationships, which celebrate diversity. We recognize that by sharing together we're capable of making even greater creative contributions that can enhance the well-being and quality of life for the whole.

We Believe in Change

We embrace change as a gift that empowers young people to transform our world through creative expression. It provides opportunities to be passionately engaged in a natural process of learning, challenging complacency and discovering opportunities to live a meaningful life.