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The Art Effect is pleased to present our 2018 Annual Report, celebrating our first year as a merged organization. Formerly Mill Street Loft and Spark Media Project, the two organizations officially joined as The Art Effect on January 1, 2018. The Art Effect is now the largest art education organization in the region, directly serving…

Stage & Screen Program for Poughkeepsie Middle School Students! For 6th, 7th, & 8th graders • Mondays and Wednesdays, 3:00 – 5:00pm at Poughkeepsie Middle School, 55 College Ave., Poughkeepsie EXPLORE the worlds of film and theatre! CREATE original films and plays! LEARN video editing, improv acting, directing, scripting, and staging! To register, fill out…

Friday afternoon, The Art Effect received a $1,000 grant from The Poughkeepsie Awesome Foundation at our studios in The Poughkeepsie Underwear Factory. These generous funds will support increased participation by Poughkeepsie youth in the annual Exposure national high school photography competition. The Exposure exhibition is a unique opportunity to showcase the talented photography of local…

We’re excited to announce that twenty students from The Art Effect’s Art Institute program received recognition at the 2019 Hudson Valley Regional Scholastic Art and Writing Award. Presented by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers, the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards recognize exceptional and artistic talent in students from across the United States. By…

Spend your summer with The Art Effect! With programs for children ages 4-19, your child will develop personally and professionally while gaining the tools necessary to explore the arts, strengthen their creative voices, and gain meaningful experiences. Take a look at what’s happening this summer: Dutchess Arts Camps: Ages 4-12 Each week brings a new…

Thank you to all for joining us for Art After Hours: Teen Visions at the Poughkeepsie Trolley Barn last Friday! It was a special evening for us and we hope you enjoyed the fabulous food and drink vendors that provided us with a delicious experience! Guests enjoyed over 70 pieces of artwork created by young…

  Please join us this Saturday, December 15th from 4:00-6:00pm for the opening reception of the Senior Project exhibition! Senior Project is the most intensive program offered at The Art Institute. Modeled after a senior thesis college course, Senior Project challenges high school seniors to be career-minded and think seriously about their art as they…

On September 25th, 2018, The Art Effect held its inaugural Art After Dark at The Henry A. Wallace Center at The FDR Presidential Library and Home, honoring Michael J. Quinn and Niki Pagones Quinn, Creative Breanna Lee Nussbickel, and Amina Kearney. 140 guests enjoyed a wide variety of immersive arts experiences, including digital art created…

The Art Effect is proud to announce our 2018 Art After Dark honorees: Michael J. Quinn and Niki Pagones Quinn, Creative Breanna Lee Nussbickel, and Amina Kearney. Distinguished honorees will be celebrated at the first annual Art After Dark event on Tuesday, September 25, 2018, from 5:30-8:00 pm at the Henry A. Wallace Center at…

The Art Effect is Listening for Good! “Last year we provided some feedback about the state of the Art Institute… I wanted to thank you for making so many improvements, including the suggestions we made. We were impressed by the year over year improvement. It shows you listened and are an organization that listens.” —…

Thank you to all for joining us for our summer edition of After Hours at the Poughkeepsie Underwear Factory last Thursday. It was a special evening for us, and we hope everyone had a delicious experience!    Proceeds from this event provide support for The Art Effect’s arts education programming. By participating in this fundraising…

We had so much fun celebrating the kickoff of our After Hours event series in April! We hope you’ll join us for this month’s summer edition of After Hours on Thursday, July 26th. Your ticket provides you with unlimited tastings from craft breweries, local distilleries, and amazing food vendors, as well as chill music and…

Congratulations to the Poughkeepsie Public Library District for receiving the NEA Big Read Grant earlier this month! The NEA Big Read is a national initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest, which broadens our understanding of our world, our communities, and ourselves through the joy of sharing a good…

  Deborah Coconis is the newest addition to our lineup of Program Directors for Dutchess Arts Camp. She will be leading the program’s Millbrook location. Local to the area, Deborah has been living in the Millbrook area for the past fourteen years. She studied both theater and visual arts in college and later apprenticed with master…

Students at the Art Institute designed, created and delivered these two incredible murals to The Children’s Home of Poughkeepsie last week: Thank you to the members of the National Art Honor Society of The Art Effect: Chloe Mosbacher Anthony DiBattista Max Von Der Horst Claire Wu Leyla Cerella Shapiro Oliver Gresch Emily Canning Yan Lam…

Another great year of the Reel Expressions International Teen Film Festival! In its sixth year, the festival featured youth-produced films – narrative, animation, experimental and documentary – from the Hudson Valley and around the world! This film festival highlights youth creativity, features a teen perspective on many important issues, and showcases the incredible work done…

Celebrating its sixth year, the Reel Expressions International Teen Film Festival features a variety of youth-produced films from the Hudson Valley and around the world.  Themes for this year’s film showcase address many issues modern teens face including self acceptance and mental health through narratives and documentaries. A Q&A panel with the young filmmakers takes…

The Art Effect is proud to announce this year’s Exposure High School Photography Competition winners. Students from across the nation and overseas, submitted digital and traditional photographic works. Professional photographer, Eric Lindbloom reviewed the more than 478 individual entries, selecting 71 for the final exhibition and the 6 winners. Best of Show was awarded to…

Thank you to all who joined us for our first ever After Hours event at the Poughkeepsie Underwear Factory. It was a special evening for us, and we hope everyone enjoyed the fabulous food and drink vendors that provided us with a delicious experience!  By attending this event, Art Effectors supported our growth by providing us…

The Art Effect is proud to present a unique film produced in collaboration with the Arc of Dutchess that premiered at its signature event, An Evening of Discovery, on March 29, 2018. Written, produced, and cast by people of all abilities from the Arc of Dutchess, “Sassy Chef” delighted the audience on March 29th and…

By Mary Ellen Iatropoulos, Paul Thompson, David Wong, and Sarah Taylor A few lucky Art Effect staff recently had the opportunity to attend the Remix NYC Summit on Culture, Creativity and Technology, thanks to support from Wave Farm and NYSCA. Two days packed full of thought-provoking speakers, stimulating conversations with colleagues old and new, and…

Catching Up With Caleb Wild, Last Year’s Reel Expressions Winner It’s safe to say that Caleb Wild thoroughly wowed the audience at last year’s Reel Expressions International Teen Film Festival with his breathtaking and raw film “Cycle,” which took home the first place prize and the Golden Sparky. The film, which also won the Golden…

We’re Listening…For Good: The Art Effect Receives $45,000 National Grant The Art Effect is proud to announce receipt of a $45,000 Listen For Good grant from the Fund for Shared Insight. The Art Effect will use these funds to help gather vital information from the people we serve to better design our programs for maximum…

Experiencing Teen Visions ‘18 – The Powerful Effect of Teen Art On Thursday, Jan. 11, we invited volunteers, supporters, and donors to attend a sneak peek reception of our annual Teen Visions show — an exhibition of more than 60 paintings, drawings, and photographs created by participants in The Art Effect’s 2017 Art Institute Summer…

Calling all Teen Filmmakers: Reel Expressions Call for Entries is Open! The Art Effect is currently accepting entries of short films of all genres made by teens (ages 13-19) for the 2018 Reel Expressions International Teen Film Festival, to be held on June 15, 2018 at the Bardavon Opera House in Poughkeepsie, NY. The grand…

It’s that time of the year: the Exposure annual national high school photography competition call for entries is now open! High-school photographers are welcome to submit up to five photographs. Submitted work will be considered for prizes and inclusion in the 2018 exhibition, which runs from May 12 – June 14, 2018. Our updated Call…

From having their first go at camera operation to getting settled in pre-production, 17 young producers in Beacon are off to a great start creating an exemplar video for The Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies’ “Data Jam Competition”. This is an exciting collaboration, where students learn to interpret and create stories using scientific data sets,…

Students From The Art Effect’s Art Institute Receive More Than 100 Awards at Scholastic Competition Top winners will proceed to a national competition, others showcase work at SUNY New Paltz The Art Effect is proud to announce that students of the Art Institute received more than 100 awards at the recent 2018 Hudson Valley Scholastic…

Celebrating its fifth year, the Reel Expressions International Teen Film Festival features youth-produced films – narrative, animation, experimental and documentary – from the Hudson Valley and around the world. Reel Expressions takes place on Friday, November 10 from 5:00 – 7:30 pm at the Bardavon 1869 Opera House, 35 Market St, Poughkeepsie, NY. This teen…

The Art Institute of Mill Street Loft + Spark Media Project is partnering with prestigious arts colleges to provide merit scholarships to local students. The Poughkeepsie organization, which provides advanced arts and media education to youth ages 14-19, is announcing two new scholarships which will offer graduates merit-based awards to attend Moore College of Art…

Media Magic is our after-school workforce development program where students earn a stipend, while learning about the process of making media in various mediums and collaborate on their very own short films! Media Magic offers youth a unique opportunity to develop advanced media skills and improve media literacy, all while earning a stipend and priceless…