Green Street Blog

Wesleyan Physics Professor, Dr. Christina Othon, and students from her lab came to visit the Green Street Arts Center last week.

The Othon Lab led an activity for our AfterSchool elementary school students on one of their early dismissal days. The students learned about physics concepts, specifically the force called drag by making paper helicopters. In groups, they experimented with different variables to make the paper helicopter that fell to the ground the slowest while learning about the physics behind flight.

Thank you Dr. Othon and friends!

The Green Street Arts Center is honored to receive a donation from Acadia Insurance to support our Art and Science AfterSchool Program. The support is much appreciated and our students thank you.

Acadia Underwriting Team Lead, Lou Gold, and Underwriter Dave Walsh, visited Green Street this week to deliver the check. They are pictured here with Green Street Director, Sara MacSorley.

Our integrative classes in art, math, and science foster creativity and build problem-solving skills in a safe space where students can express themselves. We serve students in grades 1 – 8, many of them from the North End of Middletown. Support from organizations like Acadia Insurance allows us to give scholarships so that all children can enjoy our program. You can watch their enthusiasm in the video of last semester’s student showcase.

Registration for spring classes will open soon.

This fall we had exciting new classes for middle school students. In Art with Math, students explored shapes, patterns, and measurement while building spatial skills and creating works of art.  Wesleyan Bound took students to the Wesleyan University campus once a week to tour science laboratories, meet with student groups, participate in special art and cultural activities with the Center for the Arts, and more.

Please call the Green Street Arts Center at 860-685-7871 for more information about our AfterSchool Program or to get on our waiting list for spring registration appointments.

Capoeira is a unique Brazilian martial arts form that brings together music, dance, and acrobatics to build community. You’ll sign, play instruments, and improve your balance and flexibility. You’ll learn to physically and mentally challenge yourself and your opponents while building self-confidence in a game-like environment.

Watch our AfterSchool students perform Capoeira.

Classes run on Tuesday evenings from 7:00-8:30pm for ages 12-adult. The class is 6 weeks long and meets on 10/29, 11/5, 11/12, 11/19, 11/26, and 12/3.

Registration is required and payment for the full class block, $90, is due at the first class. Call Green Street today at 860-685-7871 or email us at gsac@wesleyan.edu to sign up today.

*A minimum enrollment of 10 people is required to run the class. 

Come join us on Sunday, October 27th for a family-friendly Halloween Bash! Wear your costume and enjoy fun fall activities. Green Street’s basement will be transformed into a haunted house too!

The festivities start at 5pm and we’ll wrap up at 7pm.

Hope to see you there.

On Friday, October 4th, from 5-8:00 p.m. (in conjunction with Middletown’s Gallery Walk series), the Green Street Arts Center will host an opening reception for  NYC artist,  Jennifer Formica, whose exhibit, Microcosmic Nature, will be on display from October 4th through October 29th (M-F, 9a.m.-3p.m.).

Jennifer Formica, originally from Hartford, currently resides in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and is an adjunct professor of Photography and Digital Imaging at Dowling College and York College/CUNY. Here photographic images — vibrant, symbolic and seductive, whimsically evoke the inner psyche and hidden beauty in organic matter, often capturing the magic of nature on a microscopic scale. Formica’s artistic process and techniques range from the use of traditional analog large format camera, to the use of a computer scanner as an image-capturing device, and even to the connection of a microscope to various film and digital cameras.

Formica says of her own work: “Though each individual organism’s color, structure and markings were not merely created for their visual beauty, I hope to transform them into something symbolic and monumental by documenting, magnifying and abstracting an unseen hidden world of complex forms, textures and bright vibrant colors.”  Certainly, this  special opportunity for a glimpse into her microcosmic perspective is not to be missed.

Are you an experienced knitter (or crocheter) or someone who has always wanted to learn?  Every other Wednesday beginning Wednesday, September 11 from 6-8:30pm.

No experience is necessary.  Please bring your own yarn and needles if you can.  We will have some supplies available.  There is a suggested donation of $5 to fund more yarn for community projects.

This is a drop-in group and there is no need to pre-register.  You can come once, or as many times as you’d like!  Bring a friend!

The Green Street Arts Center and Project to Increase Mastery of Mathematics and Science (together referred to as Green Street) are excited for a new year! We welcome and encourage college students to come learn more about what we do at Green Street. There are lots of ways to get involved in the community and we’re looking forward to your ideas and contributions.

Art and Science AfterSchool Program

• Build teaching experience, teach an integrative class in art, math, and science
• Work with a professional teaching artist as a teaching assistant
• Tutor younger students and help with homework
• Be a mentor for community youth
• Volunteer to be an extra set of hands and eyes during Wesleyan breaks

Watch the students perform at the student showcase last semester for an idea of what AfterSchool is all about.

Private Lessons

• Share your skills, be an instructor for lessons in music, art, and more
• Learn new skills, take lessons yourself

Classes and Professional Development

• Come practice Capoeira (Brazilian martial arts)
• Take a sound production class in our recording studio with our master sound engineer
• Learn more about integrative education by attending teacher professional development workshops
• Build skills in grant writing and proposal development

Communications and Marketing

• Spread the word, help us get the word out on campus about our activities
• Tell the Green Street story, reach out to local media
• Practice your science communication
• Design flyers and promotional materials
• Be a guest blog writer
• Take pictures or video of events, edit videos for web

Community

• Interact with the community by working events
• Garden at Green Street
• Teach community computer classes
• Come over to Stretch and Stitch
• See local artists exhibit as part of the Middletown Gallery Walk
• Coordinate special projects like a donor tree or Green Street history display case

Get in touch or come by for a visit to learn more
gsac@wesleyan.edu
860-685-7871
51 Green Street, Middletown
www.wesleyan.edu/greenstreet

Come join us Friday, September 6th, from 5-8:00 p.m. (in conjunction with Middletown’s Gallery Walk series) for an opening reception for New England artist, Barbara Alden DiOrio. DiOrio’s exhibit, Flesh and Bones, featuring pastel and charcoal drawings, relief prints, and mixed media works will be on display at Green Street from September 6th – September 30th (M-F, 9a.m.-3p.m.).

The Green Street Arts Center is honored to receive a Liberty Bank Award to support our Art and Science AfterSchool Program. The generous and continued support from Liberty Bank is much appreciated and our students thank you.

Our integrative classes in art, math, and science foster creativity and build problem-solving skills in a safe space where students can express themselves. We serve students in grades 1 – 8, many of them from the North End of Middletown. Support from organizations like Liberty Bank allows us to give scholarships so that all children can enjoy our program. You can watch their enthusiasm in the video of last semester’s student showcase.

Registration for fall classes is still open, especially for the middle school age group.

This fall we have exciting new classes for middle school students. In Art with Math, students will explore shapes, patterns, and measurement while building spatial skills and creating works of art. Students in Creative Writing and Bookmaking will craft original, autobiographical works with illustrations bound in their own handmade books to share with family and friends.  Wesleyan Bound will take students to the Wesleyan University campus once a week to tour science laboratories, meet with student groups, participate in special art and cultural activities with the Center for the Arts, and more.

Please call the Green Street Arts Center at 860-685-7871 for more information about our AfterSchool Program or to set up a registration appointment for your child.

For the list of fall classes and information about the activities at Green Street please visit our website.