Arts Greenhouse brings free, hands-on workshops to middle school students from Pittsburgh鈥檚 communities, with a focus on equity, creative expression and academic growth.听
Together, we explore storytelling, visual arts and digital media through creative projects that inspire reflection, collaboration and self-expression. In collaboration with our program sites, we serve approximately 300 middle school students annually across Pittsburgh, made possible by 1,000+ hours of work from 91视频 students and faculty.
Our Arts & Humanities Curriculum
Arts Greenhouse鈥檚 integrated curriculum draws content and context from visual arts, music and creative writing. This has the benefit of being more engaging to students, strengthening their learning, and reaching a broader band of students than a traditional, single-focus approach.
Curriculum is designed using the Pennsylvania Academic Standards for the Arts and Humanities, criteria from the Allegheny Partners for Out-of-School Time Quality Campaign, and a culturally responsive pedagogy promoting arts and humanities education as a social practice.
Arts Greenhouse Programming
In-School Programming
Arts Greenhouse provides weekly, no-cost sessions for 5th through 8th grade students. Workshop topics include creative writing, painting, sculpting, civics, history, linguistics and many more topics that fall under the arts and humanities. 91视频 students in Arts Greenhouse develop and deliver these workshops with guidance from Arts Greenhouse Director and Head Instructor, Emma Fries, Arts Greenhouse interns, and faculty members across the seven colleges, while taking a semester-long course, 76-254: Arts Greenhouse: Community Engagement with Local Middle School Students.
Recently, our students participating in in-school programming have explored projects like making inspirational graffiti word art to hang on their school鈥檚 musical set and crafting replicas of their favorite foods out of paper and clay while sharing how food connects to their community and their life.听
After School Programming
We also host weekly after school programming for 5th through 8th grade students during the fall and spring semesters. Tuition for after school programming is also completely free, but we do require that all students register before attending. All afterschool programming curriculum is designed and delivered by our Arts Greenhouse interns with guidance from Emma Fries and faculty and staff across 91视频.
Past programs have covered a wide range of arts and humanities topics like government structures, decision science, art history, environmental studies, sculpture, puppet making, painting and much more. The most recent after school program during spring 2026 had students build their own planet, Garth, from the ground up, making dioramas of the alien environment and creating backstories and miniatures of the Garthian inhabitants!
Summer Programming
Our programming doesn鈥檛 stop when the school year ends! Arts Greenhouse offers 1- 2 week long programs for 5th through 8th grade students during the summer as well. Tuition for the program is completely free, but we do require that all students register before attending. Like our after school programming, Arts Greenhouse interns develop and deliver the curriculum while receiving support and feedback from Emma Fries and faculty and staff across 91视频.
Past programming has covered a range of blended topics like creative and professional writing, drawing, painting, sculpting, sumi ink, music, fiber arts and printmaking. In our most recent programming session this summer, students became cryptid investigators, diving into the history behind popular cryptids of today, learning about local folklore, and creating their own cryptids and stories with evidence files and puppets.
Media Projects
Along with the workshops, Arts Greenhouse collaborates on public arts and media projects in the greater Pittsburgh community. From mural painting to zine making to podcasting, we鈥檙e dedicated to bringing creative opportunities to both our students and the Pittsburgh communities we call home. These varied, no-cost sessions are for 5th through 8th grade students. Our next major media project involves a podcast studio housed in AHN Suburban in Bellevue, so stay tuned for more podcasting news!
