Museums are committed to ensuring that students from diverse backgrounds have access to enriching, engaging, and high-quality educational experiences. The Amistad Center for Art & Culture is dedicated to providing a robust in-person and virtual experience for all students, complementing their classroom learning and deepening their understanding of history, social studies, world regional studies, visual arts, and the humanities.
We encourage students to think creatively and critically, allowing visual arts to inspire and influence them throughout their educational journey.
The Amistad Center for Art & Culture presents SNAP! PHOTOGRAPHY, an annual summer artist residency led by Hartford-based photographer and professor of photography, Joel Cintron; a teaching artist assistant, and Associate Curator for the African Diaspora, Bethani Blake. This four-week program engages teenage artists-in-residence from the Greater Hartford community in portfolio creation, the business of fine arts, undergraduate program exploration, and a group exhibition in the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art.
The sessions will consist of studio, critique, and seminar sections which include learning the history of photography, camera function, lighting, printing, lectures and/or critiques from visiting artists and museum professionals and more. We will go on partial-day excursions to various neighborhoods in Hartford to practice camera work and implement course material in real time. You will be given homework assignments to complete in your off time at the end of each SNAP! session.
SNAP! Photography and Thicker Than Water is made possible by funds provided by Lauren Allen-Jones and Gregory M. Jones and the Legacy Foundation of Hartford.
Additional funds provided by Mitchell Auto Group.
Discover the stories of creativity, struggle, and jubilation in this new set of lesson plans and resources for K–12 educators featuring works of art from our collection that explore the richness and inspiration of artists of color. Each lesson plan encourages critical and historical thinking in students and strategies for social-emotional learning and cultural responsiveness.
• Introductory essays
• Downloadable high-resolution image
• Critical thinking questions for students
• Classroom activities
• Selected additional resources
The Amistad Center for Art & Culture believes in the power of connecting K-12 students to the rich history and legacy of African Americans and people of African descent through object-based and inquiry-based learning.
Works of art, objects, and artifacts in our collection demonstrate the creativity of the culture, highlight the dark past of segregation and disenfranchisement, and celebrate the talent of artists of color.
The collection extends beyond visual arts, uplifting the humanity, compassion, and joy of the human spirit to foster empathy in students toward all mankind.
© 2025 The Amistad Center for Art & Culture at Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art.
