Thursday nights at the Grant Street
Neighborhood Center include discussions of pixilation, filtering, and
rendering. By the way, it’s girls only.
Every Thursday in December the center,
along with Squeaky Wheel, is hosting TechArts for Girls, a series of workshops
that encourages girls to receive an affordable, hands-on technology and media
literacy education.
“When the program was started,
studies showed that girls from low socio-economic backgrounds were more likely
to fall behind in media literacy and technical skills,” said Jax Deluca,
director of programming at Squeaky Wheel. “The program was designed to help
them to thrive and stay up to date in a fast paced, computer savvy world.”
Squeaky Wheel, a non-profit media
arts center, provides low cost access to video and film equipment rental,
editing suites, and workshops.
“In this specific lesson at the
Grant Street location, students will use an iPad application to apply traditional
painting and techniques in a digital environment,” said Deluca. “Software and
hardware for digital painting will be discussed, experienced, and investigated
with the aim of creating digital visual images.”
This specific program plans to break
down the economic barriers that prevent these young women to access digital
technology from their homes.
“We are looking at this program as a
test run for future collaboration with Squeaky Wheel,” said Janice Li of the
Grant Street Neighborhood Center. “I am sure we will work together again on
future programming.” Story by Jessica
Chetney and Chelsea Goodridge
