RUNNING HEAD: Teen Program Grant Proposal 1

Teen Studio: A Teen Program Grant Proposal

MacKenzie Smiddy
LIS 60626
Kent State University
Teen Program Grant Proposal 2

About the Library

The Natural Bridge branch of the St. Louis County Library is a small, neighborhood branch located in

North St. Louis County. The library is across the street from a public middle school with 400 7 th and 8th

graders and an elementary school with 900 1-6 th graders. Overall, we serve a school district of about 3000

students. Our neighborhood also has a teen group home and a homeless teen drop-in center located

several blocks away. The population of our service area is roughly 83% African-American and the median

household income is $34,731 (Source: DemographicsNow - Demographic Snapshot Comparison, Geography:

ZIP: 63121 Saint Louis).

Due to the library’s close proximity to neighborhood schools and teen shelters, it is usually buzzing

with teenagers - especially after school and during summer vacation. Many of these young adults, because

they come from low-income or unstable living situations, don’t have the opportunity to engage in artistic

exploration very often. This workshop series will give the teens in our community the chance to discover

new artistic mediums, explore their creativity, and learn valuable self-regulation skills.

About the Program

Teen Studio will be series of art workshops hosted at the Natural Bridge branch from June 14, 2018

to August 2, 2018. This 8-week program will feature eight distinct art therapy workshops for teens ages 12-

18. It will be open to all teens, but I will specifically target those from the Epworth Drop-In Center, a short-

term teen shelter located two blocks from the library. The program will be presented primarily by library

staff, but staff from the Epworth Drop-In Center will also be assisting. The exposure to different teen-friendly

art mediums (ex: tie-dye, rock painting, etc.) and the inviting atmosphere (ex: music, refreshments, etc.) will

hopefully attract and engage the teens.

Each Teen Studio workshop will start with a mini-activity provided by a teen social worker from the

Epworth Center. She will introduce herself and lead the group in breathing exercises and other self-

regulation techniques. She will then provide a brief introduction to art-as-therapy and discuss how people

use art to express ideas and navigate their emotions. We will then share the art activity of the week and
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briefly explain the process. Teens will then spend the remaining time creating their artwork and socializing

in a calm, supportive atmosphere. This will not be a formally-led art class. Instead, I and the other staff

members facilitate the program and provide assistance as needed. Teens will also be reminded that this

experience is just as much about process as it is about product, and that their work doesn’t need to be

“perfect” to be beautiful.

Registration will be limited to 20 teens per workshop, but I will have enough supplies for 25 to

account for possible walk-ins. Teens can sign-up for all eight workshops or pick and choose which ones to

attend. Each week they will create a new art project and have the choice of either taking their artwork

home or “donating” it to the teen art gallery. After seven weeks of collecting artwork, library staff will

display an art gallery in the teen space. During the final workshop, we will have a pizza party and gallery

viewing.

Workshop Schedule

Note: The workshops will be held every Thursday from 6-8pm.

Date Week Art Activity

June 14, 2018 1 Water Color & Pastel Resist Painting
June 21, 2018 2 Rock Painting
June 28, 2018 3 Spirit Animal Sculptures
July 5, 2018 4 Spin Art (with paint and salad spinners)
July 12, 2018 5 Sand Art (sand bottles and sand painting)
July 19, 2018 6 Guided Group Painting
July 26, 2018 7 Self-Portrait Collage
August 2, 2018 8 Tie-Dye T-Shirts & Pizza Party/Gallery Viewing

Goals and Objectives

 Provide teens with a safe space to express their creativity.

 Help teens foster their artistic interests and abilities.
 Help teens learn emotional regulation techniques through artistic expression and other regulatory
exercises.
 Display a collection of teen-generated artwork throughout the teen space.

YALSA Teen Programming Guidelines

If implemented, the Teen Studio program will meet the following YALSA Teen Programming Guidelines:
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 3.3 Strive for diverse program attendance by targeting underserved teens including but not limited
to youth who are low income, immigrant, LGBTQ, or of varied abilities and inviting them to
be active collaborators and participants.
 3.6 Facilitate programs, rather than act as leader and expert.
 3.8 Create a welcoming, inclusive environment in which teens can collaborate and network with
peers outside their own cultural, ethnic, and socio-economic groups.
 4.1 Develop programs that address the unique emotional, intellectual, and social needs of teens.
 4.5 Enable teens to develop emotional skills, such as self-regulation, self-management,
persistence, independence, and organization.
 4.7 Connect youth with mentors, guides, and other adult role models and educators.
 4.11 Enable teens to engage in self-expression and meaningful content creation.

Program Outcomes

 Teens will develop their artistic interests and abilities by exploring multiple artistic mediums.
 Teens will produce multiple works of art and have opportunities to display them in the teen space.
 Teens will learn calming exercises and other self-regulation techniques.
 Teens will develop a more positive relationship with the library and library staff.

Measuring Impact of Program

I will measure the success of the program using a mixture of qualitative and quantitative data. I will

use a spreadsheet to keep track of monthly attendance and record informal comments made by the teen

attendees throughout the eight weeks. Library staff will also be asked to keep track of informal comments

related to the program. On the final day of the workshop series, teens will be given a brief survey in which

they complete some basic demographic information and answer some simple questions. Examples of

possible survey questions include:

1. How many Teen Studio workshops did you attend?

2. Which workshop was your favorite? Least favorite?
3. Do you think the Teen Studio program increased your interest in making art?
4. Did you find the calming exercises useful?
5. What would you change about Teen Studio? What would you keep the same?
6. Do you think the library should offer Teen Studio again?

Itemized Budget

Item Amount Purpose Cost

Watercolor Paper 2 packs Week 1: Watercolor/Pastel Relief Painting $20
Liquid watercolor – various colors 13 bottles Week 1: Watercolor/Pastel Relief Painting $55
Oil Pastels 3 packs Week 1: Watercolor/Pastel Relief Painting $60
Landscaping rocks 1 bag Week 2: Rock Painting $20
Paint markers 6 packs Week 2 Rock Painting $50
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Sculpey Polymer Clay 13 packs Week 3: Spirit Animal Sculptures $135

Acrylic paint 30 bottles Week 4: Spin Art $75
Salad Spinner 3 Week 4: Spin Art $60
Funnels 12 Week 5: Sand Art $15
Colorful Craft Sand 24 jars Week 5: Sand Art $55
Sand bottles 25 bottles Week 5: Sand Art $20
Canvases 25 Week 6: Guided Group Painting $110
Paintbrushes 3 packs Week 6: Guided Group Painting $30
Paint palettes 25 Week 6: Guided Group Painting $30
Bleeding tissue paper 5 packs Week 7: Self-Portrait Collage $20
Tie-Dye Kit 2 Week 8: Tie-Dye T-Shirts $60
T-shirts 25 Week 8: Tie-Dye T-Shirts $40
Food and beverages N/A Weeks 1-8 (including Pizza Party) $145
TOTAL $1000

Note: While this particular workshop series may not be sustainable, we are bound to have leftover paint,
clay, tissue paper, and other supplies. These leftovers will be used for future art and makerspace programs
for teens.
Timeline

After receiving the grant funds, I will implement the following action plan:

Date Action
Monday, March 26 Meet with manager to finalize budget and establish action plan.
Wednesday, March 28 Order all art supplies and contact Epworth’s teen social worker to set-up meeting.
Monday, April 2 Submit publicity requests to Communications Dept.
Thursday, April 12 Meet with Epworth’s teen social worker to discuss the workshop and plan
introductory activities.
Monday, May 7 Distribute promotional flyers
Wednesday, May 16 Promote program during pre-summer outreach
Thursday, May 17 Promote program during pre-summer outreach
Monday, June 4 Organize programming supplies and make art examples
Tuesday, June 5 Visit Epworth Drop-In Center to promote program and meet one last time with
teen social worker.

Marketing Plan

Because this program will be concurrent with the Summer Reading Club, I will promote it at middle

schools and high schools during my scheduled pre-summer visits. I will share some of the art activities and

tell them about the art gallery and pizza party. I will also post flyers and handouts on the teen bulletin

board. One month prior to the program, I will take flyers to the Epworth Center and other neighborhood

organizations that serve teens. I will also make one final promotional visit to Epworth a week before the

program starts. The flyer is pictured below:

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