Last year, one of our Teen Advisory Board members informed us that the Cincinnati Art Museum is not a cool place for teens to hang out.  According to her, teens perceive the Art Museum as a stuffy place that caters to an older audience.  In an effort to up our cool factor, we are launching two brand new programs designed just for 13-18 year olds this fall.

High school students are looking for opportunities to hang out at the CAM in ways that don’t feel like school- and the Young Artists Open Studio will create a space where teens can pursue art projects at their own speed. This program will allow teens to hang out with other young artists, as well as mess around with various art materials on a monthly basis.  They can either bring in their own supplies and projects, or take advantage of the supplies that we will make available during each session.  This program will also provide opportunities to explore technology, including the latest professional art and design software.  From time to time, visiting artists will be on hand to work alongside the teens on projects, offering guidance and advice.  Our favorite aspect of this new program is that if someone is looking for inspiration, we have 6,000 years worth of artworks available.

In October, we’re beginning a new partnership with the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County [http://www.cincinnatilibrary.org/].  We have long had a book club for our adult visitors, but due to the wide array of popular YA novels, we have decided to launch a new book club just for teens.  Working with our colleagues at the library, we have selected four novels for the first year of the Picture This! Book Club for Teens.  Our selections were inspired by CAM’s special exhibitions, and each session will combine a book discussion with an interactive tour of the galleries. We’re starting with Diana Peterfreund’s Rampant, a novel about a family of unicorn hunters, which we’re pairing with Raphael’s Portrait of a Young Lady with a Unicorn.  A full list of Picture This! Book Club books and dates can be found online.

We hope that you’ll join us for one or both of these new teen programs this fall!

• The Young Artist Open Studio will be held on the fourth Saturday of each month from 2-4 p.m., with our first open studio occurring on September 26^th.  We’ll meet in the Rosenthal Education Center. This program is FREE to all participants.  Email Russell Ihrig if you have other questions about this program.
• The Picture This! Book Club for Teens will be held on select Saturdays throughout the year from 2-3:30 p.m.  Our first session will be on Halloween—October 31^st.  We’ll meet in the main lobby, and this program is also FREE to all participants.  Email Shannon Karol if you have other questions about this program.