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HOT TAKE! — You’ve got one, and we want to hear all about it. From pop music icons to indie movies to social media trends, dive into the part of culture that you never stop thinking about, and learn how to put it all down on paper. In Pop Culture Critic, we’ll dig to the bottom of our cultural passions and come back out with a short piece of pop culture criticism that will have everyone talking.

What’s the difference between a basic review and a real critical piece? How can we weave our personal narratives into cultural critique? Let’s zoom in on that one thing that lights us up, and create something sharp and memorable to share with the world! Once you have these tools in your toolbox, you’ll be using them for life.

Want to spend time with unicorns, jewels, tombs, and all things medieval? Ever look at a painting and find yourself spinning an epic story behind it? If that’s you, join us in our Poetry at The Met Cloisters workshop! In this special workshop in collaboration with the Met Cloisters, we’ll be creating our own ekphrastic poetry. This big word is simpler than it looks. Ekphrastic means “description” in Greek, and so our ekphrastic poetry will be vivid descriptions of paintings, statues, tapestries, and other works of art at this iconic site. Every week we’ll make our way through the park to The Met Cloisters, taking in our surroundings, sketching, looking closely at art, and expressing all it sparks in our imaginations through writing. The class will end with a super exciting reading at The Met Cloisters!

In this 4-week workshop, we’ll design amazing maps that tell our own unique, personal stories. These aren’t just any old neighborhood maps – they are the key to who you are. Through painting, collage, drawing, and writing, you’ll merge your favorite places, memories, and daily routes into a layered visual story of what makes you, you.

Inspired by Jaune Quick-to-See Smith and other artists who use maps to explore identity, we’ll turn maps of New York City into expressive, narrated self-portraits. At the end of the workshop, our maps will collectively show us just how many stories, cultures, and memories shape our community.