In This Issue:

Hall Farm Project

Spring Classes

Annual Spring Show

The Shack Project

Staff Changes

Profiles

Donations

In-Sight Celebrates 10th Anniversary

Students from the Hall Farm Project - see story. Photo credit: Hannah Wilson

What began as a one time, one-month summer photography class for at-risk teens in 1992 has become a year-round photography program reaching hundreds of students ages 11 to 18. Celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, Insight offers introductory, intermediate, and advanced-level courses in the afternoons and evenings and on weekends.

Although donations are suggested to cover part or all of a course, no youth is ever turned away for lack of ability to pay. In-Sight students have seen their work exhibited in local galleries, coffee shops, libraries, churches, newspapers, and the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center.

The volunteer instructors at In-Sight have predominantly consisted of college-age photography students from Marlboro College and Greenfield Community College.

Over the years, this has proven to be a win-win approach. The In-Sight participants perceive the college-age teachers as inspirational role models who treat them as peers. And the college students gain appreciation for the importance of community service while gaining hands-on teaching experience. Housed on Flat Street in downtown Brattleboro, In-Sight leases space from the Brattleboro Area Boys and Girls Club (formerly the Teen Center). The two nonprofit organizations have shared a strong, collaborative relationship since In-Sight's inception. In-Sight's facilities include a gang darkroom, a classroom, cameras, and all necessary supplies, such as film, paper, and chemicals.

Focusing its sights on Brattleboro and beyond, In-Sight has reached across the country and around the world. In-Sight's students and volunteer instructors have carried the philosophy and ideals of the In-Sight Photography Project across borders and oceans by collaborating with similar programs in places as far away as Guatemala and Romania.

Last October, In-Sight joined forces with a similar photography program in the Bronx to bring the youth together at a weekend event hosted at the Hall Farm artists' residence in Townshend, Vermont. And plans are underway for In-Sight volunteers and possibly students to visit the SuAnne Big Crow Boys and Girls Club in South Dakota this summer. Located on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, the SuAnne club is interested in using the In-Sight model to create its own photography program, one that could partner with In-Sight in Vermont to bring together youth of both states.

For more information about the In-Sight Photography Project, call (802) 251-9660 or (802) 257-3397.