@ Station 3510
Resilient Canvas is an intentional 5-day gallery residency designed to give youth a safe and beautiful space to ground themselves in art. Inside the gallery, your child will find a supportive community where they can safely explore their voice, build internal strength, and discover just how much capacity they have to shape their own story—culminating in a public exhibition where the youth will completely title, curate, and install their own professional art show.
Key Features
Residency Experience
July 13 – July 17, 2026
9:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Ages 11 - 14
The Environment & Location Resilient Canvas takes place entirely within the professional walls of Station 3510 (3510 Rhode Island Ave, Mount Rainier, MD). For 5 intensive days, your student will step ointo a fine art gallery and into the official title of an Artist-in-Residence, working directly alongside teaching artist Aja Moon.
SEL Framework
To help youth navigate the pivotal shift off immense personal and social transition, this residency uses a proprietary methodology that bridges expressive art with core Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) competencies.
By exploring color theory, heavy body acrylic paints, and structural mixed-media collage, students physically learn how to manage tension, build boundaries, and translate their internal world onto a resilient canvas.
Culminating Exhibition
July 17, 2026
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
A residency is defined by its outcome. The program concludes with a formal, public-facing Group Gallery Exhibition and Opening Reception at Station 3510.
Exhibition Reception: Friday, July 17, 2026, at 5:30 PM
On this final evening, parents, family, and community leaders are invited into the gallery to celebrate the Artists in Resident. The students themselves will take direct agency over the space—formally naming the exhibition, curating the layout, writing professional artist statements, and installing their own physical body of work. Your student will stand in a real gallery, look the community in the eye, and confidently command their own creative narrative.
Facilitated by Aja Moon
Through Resilient Canvas, Aja fuses her fine art skill and social emotional learning. Her mission for this youth residency goes far beyond basic studio instruction: she is dedicated to giving young creators the structural tools, artistic agency, and internal discipline required to express themselves through art.