As the school year winds down, MFA mentors Matt Manco and Kat Smolinsky took a minute to reflect on their experience teaching creative writing to high school students at Saint John’s as part of the Gibbes’s art and literary arts outreach program.

Matt Manco (MFA Fiction ’20)

Our work at St. John’s High School through the Gibbes Museum of Art’s Workshop program has given us the opportunity to connect with an enthusiastic set of students.

It took a few weeks, but the students really embraced the forms and the opportunity to write the program provides. The literary magazine and the chance for publication was a big draw for them. They encouraged one another, bragged about how many pieces they placed in the 2018 edition of It Starts with a Dot, and worked hard to elevate their own work over the course of the program.

After our own adjustment period we found our footing with the students. There was a little bit of resistance at first to some of the more challenging work we put in front of them, but they rose to the challenge and rewarded us with excellent work.

Students had an opportunity to see and interact with artwork currently on display at the Gibbes. The Gibbes’ collection of local artists had an impact on the students. Seeing their landscape celebrated by local artists gave them a burst of confidence that was noticeable in their work.

I believe we provided the students space and permission to explore a part of their creativity they may not have accessed otherwise. It has been tremendously rewarding to see them grow in their work and engagement with new art forms, something we hope will last a lifetime.