Our first Saturday in the Social Justice Hub as our new lunch space. 

We love being able to spread out while still sharing space together. 

Sophomores

Sophomores had a guest in their morning meeting, Parsons and Pre College faculty, Jes Cannon who talked with the scholars about their learning portfolios. The learning portfolios help scholar document their work and progress for the duration of their time in the program. 

Juniors

Today was a day that the juniors will never forget. Following lunch in the Social Justice Hub, ournew lunch space, the juniors gathered on the third floor at the University Center. Much to their surprise, there was a very unique exercise that their advocates Yelaine and Nick had planned. We all proceeded to move the tables and chairs to the far corners of the room and got into a circle. They were told to lay on their backs and take off their shoes. Questions were written on the board to get their thoughts flowing. Some examples of questions were, what is your greatest adventure? What will you do to positively affect your community? The juniors were asked to quiet down as we turned off the lights. (Quieting down was not as easy as one would think). Finally there, they laid still, some chose to sit, some fought back sleep, but most settled and got into a mode of deep relaxation. The calming music cascaded through the air as scent of sage engulfed the room, elevating the serene moment that the juniors along with their advocates and mentors shared. Like all good things the activity came to a close, but the day wasn’t over yet. The juniors then went to the lab rooms in 2 West 13th street where they all typed a letter to their future selves implementing their new found thoughts from earlier. Though it was an inspiring exercise the juniors, will have to wait and see what the wrote to themselves. See you in 1 year!

— Ashlie B. 

Seniors

This past Saturday, the Parsons Scholars had an interesting session as they had to come up with impromptu presentations of exhibition names and type fonts to be used for the Powrplant exhibition/residency later on in the semester.

The class was separated into 4-5 groups where each group had the opportunity to complete secondary and ethnographic research for their presentations. Each group then shared their presentation with the class with Teaching Assistants and Salome, the teacher of Capstone, giving Project Runway style critiques. The critiques commented on the group’s work and gave suggestions on things that should be improved such as professional presentation behavior and how to improve research skills.

The scholars were then informed that they had to vote for one group that will be in charge for the visuals and graphics for the class. The two most popular groups were Art Futures: Youth Mode and Art Futures: Revolutionaries.

Art Futures: Youth Mode, developed a logo that was a play on the popular 90s television show, The Powerpuff Girls. They stated that it was to bring the exhibition a sense of fun where attendees can be excited for the work the scholars create by playing on memories.

The other group favorite was Art Futures: Revolutionaries. Focusing on a Young Lords-themed feel and logo, the group focused more on a sophisticated and clean yet powerful logo that will show the significance of the future of art needing to be a revolution. In the end, the class mostly voted it was a very close call and Art Futures: Youth Mode won just by 3 votes over Art Future: Revolutionaries. 

— Allison E.