2022 - A Year in Review

2022 was full of ambitious projects, talented young people, and special moments, many of which you can read about in our Annual Report. As we approach the new year, we wanted to take a moment to pause and reflect on some incredible things we have accomplished with youth this year.

Apprenticeship

Our Apprenticeship is a credit-bearing program for high school students taking place both in and out of school. Through the Apprenticeship program, Beam Center trains teams of NYC youth in job related skills, collaborative project-making, and leadership skills. Running in both the fall and spring, the Apprenticeship centers around a thematic project.

Spring Apprenticeship

Fall Apprenticeship

Spring Apprentices celebrating their work

Stool made by Fall Apprentices

The Fall 2022 apprentices are building projects related to the theme The Shapes We Make. Inspired by the 2022-2023 Beam Project NYC, Baobab: The Tree of Life, the Apprenticeship project explores notions of building unity through woodworking, mosaics, circuitry, and a communal project activation. 

Our Spring 2022 project centered around the theme, Fabric of Our Lives, where Apprentices worked in small groups to create a tapestry composed of embroidered patches which when put together told a story. They used color, material, and positioning to intentionally relay a message through the project. 

Project Production

Our Project Production enterprise, collaborates with artists, Beam staff, youth staff, and youth participants to build large projects across Beam’s programming sites, both in NYC and at Beam Camp in New Hampshire. Our Project Director trains participants in the Project Production enterprise, called Fellows, in all aspects of project development and helps fold an artist’s vision into an experience for youth and staff. Fellows help with the prototyping process for our big project built at Beam Camp and they also collaboratively build our NYC-based project which is placed in a local NYC community.

School Programs 

As an ongoing partnership with the DOE, Beam Center leads project-building programs in schools across NYC. Beam’s Project Designers collaborate with teachers to facilitate hands-on projects related to what students are learning in class. There were many amazing projects youth at school built, here are some highlights. 

Escape Room

Thomas Edison students built an escape room in their Social Studies class to make history an interactive experience in collaboration with our project designers and teachers. After the Escape Room was completed, they celebrated their work by hosting a community event “Edison Escape;” where community members were able to experience the Escape Room.

Hydroponics

In two Living Environments science classes at Manhattan Comprehensive Day and Night High School, students explored the pros and cons of using an indoor hydroponic garden system. They worked with our project designers together to construct, mount, and run a functional hydroponic system on the 6th floor of the school. At the end of the project, each student designed their own hydroponic system.

Colosseum - UASDC

9th grade students at Urban Assembly School of Design and Construction (UASDC) built an interdisciplinary project for their Global History Class. In collaboration with Beam Project Designers, students built a multi-part semi-oval model of the Roman Colosseum. In addition to building and decorating the colosseum, students wrote and starred in a gladiator-inspired performance that they performed for their school community.

Project Leaders

Project Leaders at CAMBA site

During the school year, Beam Center works with community-based organizations to offer after-school programs to elementary school children. Project Leaders are high school aged or recently graduated youth who facilitate hands-on projects at CAMBA sites. Each cohort of Project Leaders collaboratively designs the projects they facilitate, all of which focus on one theme. The 2021-2022 theme was Color and Light, and our Project Leaders designed projects such as thermochromic slime, kaleidoscope, cyanotype portraits, window gardens and more.

Along with providing programming at CAMBA sites, we were also partnered with a middle school in Brooklyn to lead projects after-school. One cohort of project leaders collaborated with Dock Street School and designed projects specifically for 6th and 7th graders, building projects like boomboxes, vehicles, and journals.

Beam Camp

Beam Camp campers with tree house and altar

At Beam Camp, campers worked together with counselors and Beam Staff to build this year's two-part big project, As Above, So Below. One portion of the project (seen above) was a tree house and altar that campers filled with objects inspired by their own personal rituals. The other portion of the project (seen below) was a floating cave, designed to float on one of the two Camp lakes. Present in both parts of the project were stalagmites and stalactites, rich colors, and a relationship to rituals.

In addition to the big project, Campers worked on their own independent projects and engaging in a wide variety of collaborative and communal pursuits. We couldn’t celebrate another summer at Beam Camp without lots of fun, too, of course!

Floating Cave: second portion of As Above, So Below

Beam Camp City

This past summer at Beam Camp City young adults from Beam Center’s Youth Employment programs, Beam Staff, and campers collaborated to build Tree Chuang, a suite of textile artworks designed by artist Xinan Ran. Inspired by the traditional Chinese Chuang, a cylindrical textile ritual apparatus commonly used in Buddhism, Tree Chuang is a combination or mixing of narrative and textiles. Campers and youth staff at Beam Camp City had the opportunity to tell their diverse stories through their handmade artwork on the collaboratively made textile pieces that comprised each Chuang.

Campers also had the opportunity to work on smaller take-home projects and had time to enjoy some fun in the sun on Governors Island.

Younger Youth + Summertime School Programs

As part of the Summer Youth Employment Program, Beam designed a special program for the younger youth cohort of 14 and 15 year olds. Working with Project Designers Anthony and Serena, younger youth participants created their own “Environmentally Triggered Chain Reactions,” also known as Rube Goldberg machines. In addition to the Younger Youth programming happening with our partners Brooklyn STEAM Center and schools at the Park West Educational Campus, Beam also offered this program to other school partners across the city. Programs took place at Bronx International High School, Manhattan International, Brooklyn International, the International high School at Prospect Heights, Brooklyn Frontiers High School, and the International High School of Health Sciences in Queens.

Externships

In addition to all of the young people we're able to employ in-house, Beam is proud to run a robust externship enterprise. Through our externships, Beam places young people in paid jobs and internships with other community-based organizations and businesses across NYC. Read our blog from this past summer to learn more about the externship program and the experiences of youth.

Beam Center Artist in Residence Program

Having just completed its third year, Beam Center hosted six artists during our summer 2022 Artist in Residence program on Governors Island. We welcomed a variety of artists and practices, including painters, writers, and sculptors, and hosted two Open Studio events to allow the public to see their work. 

Inventgenuity Festival

We hosted our annual event Inventgenuity Festival in August to celebrate the close of another amazing summer. Inventgenuity Festival is our annual two-day, family-friendly festival featuring interactive activities, workshops, and performances for youth ages 6 and up. During the festival, youth and their families participated in workshops hosted by Beam Center and our guest organization, the Lewis Latimer House Museum. Participants enjoyed performances organized and performed by youth from another partner organization, Building Beats.

In order for us to continue our robust programming with youth we need your help! As we are counting down this year and looking ahead to the new year, we ask you to join us in our mission by making your end-of-year donation to Beam Center. You can make a one time donation or become a monthly donor on our website.

Many thanks for your continued support - we can’t wait to show you what 2023 has in store for Beam Center!