Meet Julie Schabel
We are all here to learn. Wave Space is an artist-run creative studio in Lakewood, Ohio owned by Julie Schabel. Their goal is to be accessible to the community by offering free art classes to areas of Cleveland that are underfunded and have cut art programming in schools. Having taught art classes in CMSD schools and by speaking with students in classes, Julie sees a strong need for more social emotional learning, especially in the arts, our proposed classes will provide that for students. Wave Space Workshops will also focus on the skills to develop their own creative style with high quality projects and in depth instruction. Screen printing is like magic to kids. The look on their faces when they lift the screen up and see the print transferred from the screen to the shirt, bag, paper, is priceless. This process, as well as other printing and stenciling techniques are great for encouraging group learning and critical thinking skills.
Creative Impact Fund Project: Wave Space Summer Camps at CPL
Wave Space, a team of educators and artists, plans to offer one-week Wave Space Workshops for free at Cleveland Public Libraries in the Hough, Collinwood, Union Miles, and Central Kinsman neighborhoods. The program will focus on printmaking, creativity, and learning the elements of design. By the end of each week, students will have completed a cumulative project, which will be showcased at Human Heart Studios’ art gallery to showcase the students’ work.
Each Wave Space session will run for one hour in the afternoon from 1-2 in August or after school as per the schedule. The program will welcome up to 15 students ranging from 1st to 4th grade who can register either online, at the library, or via social media. The lead teacher for the program will be Julie Schabel, who has 5 years of experience teaching art programming in the Cleveland area. Additionally, Wave Space will have another staff member alongside Julie Schabel to assist and oversee the project.
Besides, the program will document the classes by capturing photographs of the students. Each student will be requested to give permission by signing a release form that includes information about Wave Space and Assembly for the Arts. Moreover, pre and post-class evaluations will be conducted to understand the effect of this program on students’ skill development and engagement.
A quote from Wave Space founder, Julie Schabel: “Kids always tell me that art is their favorite class. I hope that the projects I create stay with the kids as they grow and learn valuable life lessons from their art making experiences. I try to guide the students to a final project that is influenced by their creativity and ideas. Sometimes the end result is very different from my initial explanation but the student ends up developing their own style through this process, so I encourage it. I teach students about artists they don’t normally learn about in school or on a museum field trip. I find that using more accessible contemporary examples helps connect them to the project more.”