The Artists-in-Schools Program (AISP) is The Print Center’s award-winning, visual arts youth education program. AISP has established a reputation for its innovative structured, yet flexible, curriculum model and capacity to deliver high-quality arts instruction. Since 2002, AISP has offered completely self-contained, semester-long residencies including teaching-artists, curricular frameworks, all course supplies and materials and field trips, to students in Philadelphia public high schools – completely free of charge.

Through AISP, students are engaged in all stages of artmaking, from conception and design, to installation and exhibition, while gaining free access to new concepts, materials, techniques and facilities. Curricula are based on exhibitions at The Print Center and include instruction in contemporary art and theory to provide a framework from which to learn the essentials of photography and printmaking using a wide range of tools and techniques. Teaching-artists, classroom teachers and students collaborate to tailor the curriculum to meet the needs of their specific classroom.

AISP:

introduces students to contemporary art through contact with practicing artists and visits to professional exhibitions;

teaches technical and creative artmaking skills in photography and printmaking through hands-on experiences;

engages students in critical thinking and dialog through and around contemporary art;

enhances students’ cultural awareness and art appreciation;

inspires students to think more expansively about their lives, potential futures and the world around them;

provides students with the capacity for self-expression through artmaking;

develops sustained working habits through the creation of both individual and collaborative art projects.

During the 2023-24 school year, AISP served approximately 425 students through 20 residencies in classrooms at ASPIRA Bilingual Charter High School, Furness High School, Hardy Williams Charter High School, School of the Future, New Foundations Charter High School, U School and Vaux Big Picture High School. Teaching-artists Danielle Faulkner, Jezabeth Gonzalez, Anaiyah Luther, Lucy Pistilli, Amber Rivera, Arshayla Robinson, Jillian Rock and Sofie Seymour worked with classroom teachers Mia Bagnall, James Gallagher, Grace Hurley, Meredith McDonald, Josh Kleiman, Maria Pandolfi, Dominique Samarco, Christen Sanderson, Sofie Seymour and Joy Waldinger to provide hands-on learning to their students. The dedicated and talented teaching-artists and classroom teachers were led and inspired by AISP Coordinators Lindsay Sparagana through November of 2023, and Lucy Pistilli beginning in December of 2023.

View our Curricular Frameworks

AISP has been generously supported by dozens of funders throughout its history. To see a full list of current funders, click here.