Community-Responsive Programming

The Eliot School is a home for all creatives and the community-members who support them.

Equity Initiatives in Programming

Woodworking for Black, Indigenous, & Women of Color
alison_bipoc_class_small.jpg	In Fall, 2021, the Eliot School of Fine & Applied Arts offered its first woodworking program for Black, Indigenous and women of color. Women, and particularly women of color, have historically been underrepresented in our Wood Shop. This program offered a designated space for these women to join our Wood Shop and learn from an educator who represents them.
Women of Color Sewing Circle
carol_sewing_hands_small.jpg	The Eliot School of Fine & Applied Arts created a resource group for instructors and community-members who work with fibers. There was a need for a gathering-space for women of color, where participants could offer each other support and foster healing.

Organizational Equity Initiatives

As part of the Eliot School's commitment to equity and inclusion, staff and associates participate in a variety of initiatives aimed toward a more-just world. These include forums and work-groups for artists/artisans of-color, community programs for social justice, and ongoing trainings in DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion). The School also provides training for arts-educators in these topics, most-notably, through the "SPEAC(Supporting the Processing of Experiences through the Arts during Crises)" program.
alison-sanding_bowl_small.jpg	Racial Equity in Craft Peer Learning Group   The Racial Equity in Craft Peer Learning Group is a consortium of diverse arts-organization leaders facilitated by Associate Director of the Eliot School of Fine & Applied Arts, Alison Croney-Moses. The group collaborates with peer organizations, partners and scholars to build a more racially equitable sector and document a more accurate and complete history of American craft.
aaciprogram-description.jpg	African-American Craft Initiative   The African American Craft Initiative (AACI), helmed by Dr. Diana Baird N'Diaye of the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, is designed to expand the visibility of African American artisans and ensure equitable access to resources. Established through a consultative process of dialogue with African American makers and organizations, as well as the mainstream craft sector in the United States, AACI outlines concrete actions for sustainable change. Through collaborative research, documentation, and public programming, the initiative builds upon the relationship between craft and community by amplifying and supporting efforts of African American makers to sustain their craft practice.
elliot-school.jpg	Indigenous Land Acknowledgement   The Eliot School is consulting with scholars, activists, and organizational peers to develop efforts to reconcile the fraught history of the school's land.

Community Programming Partnerships

Boston Public & Charter Schools		Community Providers & Centers
Eliot School of Fine & Applied Arts instructors are in classrooms in Greater Boston, teaching Kindergarten through teen students visual arts, woodworking, and more.		We offer classes, workshops, and programs in collaboration with a number of community servicers
South Street Youth Center Kid	Boston Green Academy Compass Boston Croft School Ellison Park Early Education Center Grew Elementary Haynes Early Education Center JFK Elementary Lee Academy McKinley Elementary Sumner Elementary	ad_for_abcdc_maroon_small.jpg	ABCDC Benchmark Senior Living Boston Educators of Color Boston Explorers Brookside Health Camp Gan Israel Dunamis Boston The Haystack Mountain School of Crafts The Jamaica Plain Arts Council Roxbury Tenants of Harvard The Network for Arts Administrators of Color

CLASSES FOR ALL AGES

Our Jamaica Plain classrooms welcome students of all ages, from 2 to 100.

TEEN BRIDGE & ARTISTS-IN-RESIDENCE

We nurture a select group of young artists through Teen Bridge, and support Boston-based artists through our annual Artist in Residence.

EVENTS

Artisans’ talks, faculty exhibitions and family and other events round out our offerings.

19th century reports applauded the Eliot School for helping students “satisfy that instinctive desire of human beings to create.” Today, we still inspire the pleasures of learning, craft and artistic creation— for all.

Mission

The Eliot School inspires lifelong learning in craft and creativity for all.

Vision

We cultivate welcoming environments where people convene across a continuum of age, economic means and backgrounds to build skills, craft and community. Our offerings satisfy the human desires to create, engage in self-expression and learn by doing, and our vision builds upon the school's historic role in shaping education in fine and applied arts.

Core Values

Learning and Enjoyment

• We provide opportunities to imagine, create and build with head, hands and heart.
• We help students learn for personal fulfillment and enjoyment.
• We embrace students of all ages, backgrounds and abilities.

Integrity and Excellence

• We hold ourselves accountable to the highest standards of excellence.
• We conduct ourselves with honesty, fairness and integrity.

Community and Inclusion

• We value and promote inclusivity, diversity and equity.
• We maintain an open and welcoming environment, where all who enter are treated with dignity and respect.
• We are interconnected through high regard for each other as colleagues, partners, teachers, learners and neighbors.

Continuity and Change

• We are respectful stewards of our historical role in shaping education.
• We adapt our mission and programs over time, keeping our work relevant and contemporary.

Welcoming Statement

EQUITY, ANTI-RACISM & LEARNING

The Eliot School seeks to contribute to a more just and equal world. As we design our programs and spaces to pursue equity, we are currently asking of ourselves: How do all parts of our school enact our mission to inspire lifelong learning in craft and creativity for all?

We know absolutely that Black lives matter. We are committed to provide a safe, creative learning environment for students, teachers, and staff of any nationality, ethnic origin, race, color, religion, physical ability, economic status, documentation status, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression.

We acknowledge that our physical spaces are not easily accessed by those with different mobility abilities. While we are not yet able to meet all needs, we aspire to provide access to all. We welcome students and visitors to contact us to suggest changes and request accommodations when needed.

We are working to eliminate bias and discrimination in our admissions, program administration, hiring, outreach, and management. We strive to remove historical barriers to creative learning and develop learning environments that are welcoming to all.

Our schoolhouse sits on traditional lands of the Massachusett, Wampanoag, and Pawtucket people. We recognize that the name John Eliot speaks to a complex and violent past. As a first step, we are currently engaged in a deep learning process around the Eliot School's history and the land it occupies.

Our students, staff, and board reflect the diversity of Greater Boston. Our reach extends well beyond our immediate neighborhood. Our programs take place in schools, libraries, and community centers throughout Boston. We are devoted to supporting our communities through bonds of common humanity.

We invite our community to engage with us in this development process. Please join us in dialog as we build a more equitable, welcoming community.