El Centro in Motion

Our intern Jaylisa Perez from the innovative high school El Centro de Estudiantes brought her semester long internship to a grand finale with the installation of her show "El Centro in Motion" on March 7th. Her foray into curating highlighted the professional experiences that she had with Portside, and included stories and images from 21 of her fellow students and the mentorships that they experienced through the program. This unique school pairs at-risk youth with mentors who work with the students to give them the professional experiences they need to move forward with their individual goals. Of her opening night, Jaylisa wrote:

"As I walked around all I could hear were great comments and see huge smiles. The teachers and other students were happy to see all that I had done along with the help of my advisor, mentors, and Krystal. There were many different elements of art including paintings, canvas work and photographs by Krystal Cruz another student in my advisory. I also included pieces of art done by our art teacher Andrew Chrisman and art done by Beth Prusky, teaching artist and mentor. The photographs were of students in our school at their internship sites. Most of the students who saw their photos on the wall were excited and felt somewhat important knowing that they were featured in an actual art exhibit. That made me proud to know that I was admired for putting this show together. There was food donated by mentors who were also interested in the work I was doing.  The mission for my show was to exhibit all the talent and hard work that is done through the Real World Learning Program at el Centro de Estudiantes high school."

And we think she did just that! Portside is so happy to have agreed to a supervised mentorship with two wonderful students.  It has been a very rewarding experience for all of us!

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