Terms of service

Community Guidelines

Student Behavior 

We expect all students to abide by the following guidelines. We center respect and ask that all participants act in ways that better the community. 

• We respect each other's identity, space, and artwork. This means all learners will use one another's preferred name and pronouns to affirm our unique identities.  Learners in this space will ask for consent before touching another learner or their artwork. Any behaviors that are disrespectful to other learners, such as bullying, fighting, or name calling will result in consequences outlined below. 
• We work together in our community. Anything we do is  made better by all learners participation! Learners should contribute, pay attention, and avoid distracting behavior. Learners should also help our community by picking up and following instructions.  Failure to participate in our community may also result in consequences. 

For our youth learners disobeying these guidelines will first result in a parent note. Further infractions may result in being barred from further classes and/or being disenrolled from the current course. We understand that there may be cases where a child may just not be ready. This will be discussed with the parent with the potential to try again next term.

For adult learners an infraction will result in a conversation with administration and possible disenrollment.

A disenrollment due to behavioral infractions will not result in a refund. 

Misconduct 

Mess Arts does not tolerate any form of harassment or misconduct, whether  verbal, sexual, or physical. If any participant displays harassing behavior toward another participant or staff member they will be disenrolled from their current course and barred from attending further events or courses. 

Any incidents should be reported to the administration. Please provide documentation and administration will move forward with removing the offending individual. A documented report will be kept on file.    

 

Diversity and Inclusion Statement

Mess Arts is an art education community. Our community is dedicated to creating a learning environment for all students regardless of race, gender, sexuality, class, ability, or age. Different perspectives and experiences brought to the community are valued and add to learning opportunities for all. We provide a safe space where self-expression is welcomed! However, it is not an individual learner’s responsibility to educate and advocate for a group to which they may belong.

As educators, we take responsibility for creating an inclusive atmosphere. We believe in the importance of representation and design our curriculums accordingly. Our teaching incorporates art, craft, and design from many different cultures, traditions, and regions. Our library of references is ever-expanding and we welcome new additions. We seek feedback from students in order to make the curriculum more inclusive, but ultimately we take responsibility to do the work.

Our positions as educators extend beyond the curriculum to include encouraging community-minded behaviors. Art education involves more than just the making. Learning to discuss and think critically about artwork is paramount to an art education. Sometimes artwork may involve experiences of race, class, gender, sexuality, ability, and age. We teach to address these topics with compassion and empathy. These topics are not shied away from, rather normalized in order to facilitate learning opportunities. Our learning community is a place to practice and grow without fear of failure. 

Artist and educator Kerry Downey writes in their essay “Reaching Out Reaching In: Museum Educators and Radical Transformation”:

“Bridging the personal and political, art education facilitates the forms of creative participation that support and dignify peoples’ lives. Art expels anxiety and stabilizes us. Educators help create a learning container for experimentation and expression that is critical to any social justice work. Educators facilitate experiences by both encouraging and challenging participants without making demands. Like a railing, a shower bar, or a monkey bar, educators build a more secure environment to encourage people to exercise their everyday agency, negotiate their way through the world, or explore through art. This also includes the right to refuse to participate. As a creative practice that cultivates radical possibility, the handle can be used to pull, push, grip, grab, and therefore negotiate, tend to, and work with our options.”

We ascribe to the same view as Downey: that art education communities are a collection of potential. We are committed to learning and training ourselves in ways to concrete inclusivity into the foundation of our community.

Staff Qualifications 

All teachers must pass a background check and have valid references attesting to their work. All teachers must be vaccinated for COVID-19. 

You can always contact us for any further questions on our policies at info@messcollabs.com.