Chesterton Art Center Delivers Accessible Youth Program to Hundreds of Young Artists

Through its Youth Arts Outreach program, Chesterton Art Center (CAC) delivers visual art instruction to more than 200 students each week at their partner sites. CAC offers their program partners, Duneland Family YMCA, Duneland Boys & Girls Club, and Portage Township YMCA, up to twenty-five weeks of free classes that take place during the school year. Since 2021, Youth Arts Outreach has offered K-8 students the opportunity to engage with creative learning and design thinking through a curriculum that explores art history, STEAM, cultural topics, and various art-making techniques. Young artists in CAC’s Youth Arts Outreach program also participate in the annual youth exhibition in the art center’s galleries in April. So far this year, CAC Youth Outreach Instructors have led three separate five-week sessions, focusing on fossils, science and science fiction, and puppetry. Students have had the chance to handle actual fossils and learn observational drawing exercises; learn about the latest in technology and dream up exciting futuristic robots; and explore the art of storytelling through puppetry—combining visual art, design, engineering, and theater! 

“We are thrilled to be in our fifth year of Youth Arts Outreach,” says Cara Schmitt, CAC Education Director. “This  year has been especially exciting as we explore art in a broader context—using it as a tool to better understand the  past, imagine future possibilities, strengthen storytelling skills, and develop problem-solving abilities.” The Youth  Arts Outreach program supports CAC's mission of creating accessible, enriching arts programming and is  generously funded by The Cleveland-Cliffs Foundation and NiSource Charitable Foundation through NIPSCO. 

Please visit www.ChestertonArt.org or call (219) 926-4711 for more information about Youth Art Outreach and all other programs at Chesterton Art Center.