CAM celebrates the five-year milestone of its ArtReach program, a year-round partnership that provides weekly art classes to local high school students. Since 2017, CAM has worked with Vashon High School to keep art alive in the curriculum and available to all students. In 2021, CAM expanded its ArtReach Partnership program to include the historic Sumner High School. Artwork from both schools’ fall 2022 semester is featured in CAM’s Education Galleries this spring, including a collection of drawings, writings, and sculpture—the result of the classes’ explorations of the neighborhoods in which the schools and many of the students reside. Guiding these projects were Resident Teaching Artists Bharat Ajari, L.M. Flowers, and Mee Jey. Over the course of the second semester, Jen Everett and Yvonne Anguiano will continue to mentor students and build a positive atmosphere for creative expression.

ArtReach: Tales from North St. Louis is organized for the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis by Miriam Ruiz, School and Community Partnership Manager.