Art Students League partners with Hetrick-Martin Institute

(NEW YORK): This July, the Art Students League of New York and Hetrick-Martin Institute (HMI) will launch a new initiative aimed at introducing the power of sequential arts and storytelling to at-risk LGBTQ+ youth. 

The four-week program highlights the League’s longstanding commitment to advocating for accessibility and inclusion in the arts. Led by veteran illustrator Steven Walker and in collaboration with HMI’s Arts & Culture Program, “Comics and Sequential Art: Learning to Tell Your Story” will teach the foundations of how comics are constructed, with the objective of presenting heroic and powerful LGBTQ+ narratives and empowering young people to achieve their full potential.

Workshop Dates: July 8, 15, 22 and 29 from 4–7:30PM

HMI is located 2 Astor Place, New York, NY 10003

The Art Students League of New York is a legendary art school founded in 1875 by a group of artists who broke away from the National Academy of Design, determined to experiment with new techniques and forms of expression. Excluded from established galleries, the students decided to create a center that could be a home to radical artists and ideas. Funded by philanthropist George Washington Vanderbilt II and designed by architect Henry Janeway Hardenbergh, the League opened their doors at 215 West 57th Street on December 4, 1892. 

For over a century, the League has served as an incubator, school, creative haven, studio and gallery for artists, dedicated to fostering independence and non-conformity and providing accessible, affordable and high-quality education and instruction in the fine arts. 

Artists who have studied at the League include Georgia O'Keeffe, Norman Rockwell, Jackson Pollock, Robert Rauschenberg, Louise Bourgeois, Alexander Calder, James Rosenquist and Ai-Weiwei, among others. Today, thousands of aspiring and emerging artists study drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking and mixed media at the League.

More about the Art Students League here: https://www.theartstudentsleague.org

The Hetrick-Martin Institute believes all young people, regardless of sexual orientation or identity, deserve a safe and supportive environment in which to achieve their full potential. Hetrick-Martin creates this environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth between the ages of 13 and 24 and their families. Through a comprehensive package of direct services and referrals, Hetrick-Martin seeks to foster healthy youth development. Hetrick-Martin’s staff promotes excellence in the delivery of youth services and uses its expertise to create innovative programs that other organizations may use as models.

More about HMI here: https://hmi.org