In-School Programming
Breck Create partners with Summit County schools on both recurring and one-time, in-school programs, offering teachers and schools throughout Summit County the opportunity to engage students and meet its curricular and social emotional learning objectives through art. Breck Create’s school-based educational programs are 100% underwritten by generous contributions from individuals, philanthropic corporations and private foundations.
Please email jae@breckcreate.org if you are interested in learning more.
Current + Ongoing Programs
ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE @ sNOWY PEAKS HIGHSCHOOL
Breck Create’s artist-in-residence program offers regional, national and international artists of all disciplines an opportunity to focus on creative process while leading new arts-based curriculum in Summit School District schools and engaging with the local community in a meaningful way.
While in Breckenridge, Artist-in-Residence Jodi Stuart will collaborate with Snowy Peaks Junior and Senior High School to expand the arts education curriculum through hands-on, technology-based projects. Stuart will introduce students to 3D pens and the Precious Plastic studio at the Breck Create Campus, encouraging them to think about sustainability, innovation, and creativity. Her workshops will spark curiosity about how art, sustainability, and technology intersect while giving students tools to bring their own ideas to life.
After School Art @ Upper Blue Elementary
Breck Create offers after school art activities at Upper Blue Elementary. Led by Breck Create instructor, Emily Jones, students have the opportunity to explore different visual mediums and build artistic skills through project-based activities.
Interested in lending your expertise to facilitate After School Programming and foster student creativity?
Email jae@breckcreate.org.
Hispanic Heritage Programs
CAL DURAN - OJO DE DIOS WORKSHOPS
@ summit COUNTY ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
As part of Hispanic Heritage Month, artist Cal Duran will visit four Summit County elementary schools to guide students in creating traditional Ojo de Dios weavings. The project will celebrate cultural heritage while giving students a chance to explore color, pattern, and symbolism. The Ojo de Dios weavings will then be incorporated in Cal’s altars and on-display at the Día de Muertos + Latin Festival.
PHOTOGRAPHY Workshop with JUAN FUENTES
@ summit high school
Breck Create offers after-school art activities at Summit High School, including photography with Juan Fuentes. He will lead a hands-on workshop during Hispanic Heritage Month in collaboration with his new exhibition Lo Que La Tierra Abraza/What the Land Embraces. Juan will teach students about his own work and how he uses photography as a form of storytelling. This program will teach students to experiment with cameras and capture their own perspectives.
HANDMADE HOLIDAY
STUDENT BOOTHS + CAROLING
@ HANDMADE HOLIDAY
Breck Create presents a special opportunity for middle and high school students to participate in Handmade Holiday by running their own creative booths. This program introduces students to the world of artisan markets while fostering entrepreneurial skills, artistic expression, and community connection through live engagement with festival visitors.
In addition, elementary school choirs will join Handmade Holiday with festive caroling performances throughout the night. This program celebrates student voices while spreading holiday cheer and building connections between local schools and the wider Breckenridge community.
Past Examples
AirStage Ofrenda
Breck Create’s most far-reaching educational endeavor in 2022 was the AirStage Ofrenda (shown in the photo above), an immersive installation created by artist Adrian Marban and in partnership with the Mexican Cultural Center (MCC). This mobile altar inside Breck Create’s AirStage - a 1975 Airstream trailer that the organization retrofitted into a mobile stage in 2021 - reinvented the traditional Día de Muertos altar in an unlikely space, inviting viewers to step into a world honoring the dead, featuring characters and symbols from Mexican folklore. After making its debut on the Arts District Campus for Breck Create’s Día de Muertos festival, the installation traveled to Frisco Elementary, Summit Cove Elementary, immigrant-rights organization Mountain Dreamers, Silverthorne Elementary and Dillon Valley Elementary. Students were invited to honor a deceased loved one by coloring paper cut-outs of butterflies and attaching them to a fabric panel.
MLK Day Service Project
As part of a service project for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, students at the Peak School spent four months collecting clean and label free #1, #2, #5 & #6 plastics for incoming Artist in Residence and BIFA Trail Mix Artist, Calder Kamin. Calder spoke virtually with the students about her process of turning trash into art. Calder used their collected plastic to create the BIFA Trail Mix Installation “Once Upon a Time in the Future” and invited the students to her free community workshops to create mushrooms that accompanied the Pegasus sculpture. The unused collected plastics were donated to our Precious Plastic initiative.
Learn more about:
ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE @ SUMMIT HIGH SCHOOL
Artists selected for Breck Create’s Artist-in-Residence program engage with the community in a variety of ways, including teaching in-school workshops at local schools.
The winter of 2023, Artist-in-Residence Leela Srinivasan worked with Summit High School students to create works for a public exhibition that w displayed at the Breckenridge Rec Center. Leela has worked as a teacher, tutor, and facilitator for topics including spoken word poetry, personal essays, and therapeutic journaling, which she will incorporate into her teachings at the high school.
MARKER COLLECTION
Breck Create hosted a drive to collect spent ballpoint pens, markers (washable, permanent and dry erase), and highlighters for the Precious Plastic Initiative. Of the five participating schools, the one that collected the most by weight won a free AirStage concert for the last day of school, which was the Summit High School.
Precious Plastic’s mission is to keep plastic trash out of the landfill by transforming it into art. Using specially designed machines, plastic is shredded, melted, and used for art projects and classes on our Arts District Campus. Interested in getting involved? You can learn more about the Precious Plastic initiative here.
“I AM AN ARTIST” ART CLUB
Students at Summit Middle School had the opportunity to join Breck Create for a six-week Art Club. A variety of “starter” projects were offered, and students could choose which art skills and projects they wanted to focus on. Breck Create instructor, Emily Jones provided guidance and inspiration to assist participants in their creative and artistic practice.
Exploring Connection – Self Portrait in Breckenridge Landscape
In fall 2022 Los Angeles-based artist Stephanie Mercado, taught a block-printing workshop at Snowy Peaks Junior and Senior High School entitled “Exploring Connection – Self Portrait in Breckenridge Landscape.” In this block printing workshop, participants carved a self-portrait that is representative of self as human, animal, plant, or object. Each carving was printed on paper and collaged to create an artwork that represents one’s connection to their surrounding environment.
DJ CLUB
Students at Summit Middle School had the opportunity to join Breck Create for a six-week DJ Club. Led by local DJ, Alex Whalen, students learned the basics of DJing on the equipment used by the pros while exploring song selection, beat matching, transitions, and the history of electronic music.
Generously Underwritten By:
