I’ve been working with artist Clark Filio and the Somerville-based Chorus Collective to launch an exciting new project that all of you should know about. It’s called the Chorus Atelier, and we hope that it’s going to change the face of arts education in the Boston area and beyond.

The Chorus Atelier will be an after-school arts intensive for Boston metro high school students interested in an alternative, progressive arts education. The Atelier curriculum will focus on process-based learning over the more standard product-based style used by most of the programs currently available to teenagers. In the words of Clark Filio, “We aren’t training painters and draftsmen, we are training thinkers and innovators.” We believe this distinction is critical to forming one’s artistic identity.

We have a wealth of visiting artists signed on to help teach, including Artists for Humanity’s Fionn McCabe and renowned artist and illustrator Rick Berry. With this team of successful artists and designers, we will expose the students to the realities of pursuing a career in the arts. The Atelier will also be joined with an active gallery that will sell both student and teacher work, allowing the students the privilege of exhibiting alongside working artists.

But before we can make the Chorus Atelier a reality, we need to raise $20,000 in start-up funds to get the school off the ground. We have launched a fundraiser on Kickstarter.com, and we are urging all people with a vested interest in the future of arts education to give whatever they can. $5, $10, $20 — no amount is too small! We hope that in reaching out to as many people as possible, we will be able to reach our goal. We hope that the success of this fundraiser and the Chorus Atelier will inspire other communities to follow suit and take strides to preserve their local creative communities.

To donate or to learn more about Kickstarter, please visit: http://kck.st/9m9z07

To learn more about The Chorus Atelier or to inquire about admissions, please visit: www.chorusatelier.com

Thanks!