Focus On: The Prep for Prep Arts Initiative

While the Prep community has long embraced and excelled in the arts, there is a burgeoning interest in the field right now. We sat down with Akili Tommasino (XXI/Poly Prep '05, Harvard '09) MA, Harvard '12; PhD, Harvard '20, who currently chairs the Prep for Prep Arts Initiative, to learn more about the group. Founded in January 2015, the alumni-driven Initiative seeks to facilitate, augment, and create opportunities for young people from historically disadvantaged backgrounds to become leaders in the arts. Akili is a curatorial assistant in the Department of Painting and Sculpture at MoMA.

After several years of conversations between Prep alumni who share a passion for the arts, in January 2015 I convened a group of alum peers and Prep staff at The Museum of Modern Art where I am Curatorial Assistant for the Department of Painting and Sculpture. We brainstormed ways for alums in the arts to give back to Prep. We envisioned a platform that would connect and impact the entire community of Prep students, alumni, and affiliates, as well as our professional spheres.

The Prep for Prep Arts Initiative has been developing a range of programming with the several phases in the life of a Prep student in mind. We have ideas to foster the creativity of students in the Preparatory Component and to augment arts-related Post-Placement activities. Additionally, we are planning events for and with alumni, from established arts professionals to casual museum-goers. Our inaugural curatorial project is a mini-retrospective of the accomplished multidisciplinary artist and Prep for Prep alum Kamau Patton (VI). The Prep for Prep Arts Initiative simply seeks to expand upon existing resources offered to Prep students by creating parallel opportunities in the arts.

It is imperative that Prep supports alumni in the arts, because in the arts, as in other fields, leaders don’t just happen. I attribute my lifelong passion for the arts to formative experiences at cultural institutions throughout New York City (the Brooklyn Museum in particular), but my travel to Italy at age 15 through the Experiment in International Living, an opportunity made possible by Prep for Prep, was pivotal in setting me on my path. During an epiphanic visit to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence with my EIL host-mother, I determined I would pursue a career as a museum professional. Prep enabled me to return to Italy the following summer to participate in a program called Humanities Spring in Assisi, and the spring of my senior year of high school, through Prep I was able to enroll in a course at the International Center of Photography.

Individuals interested in attending our monthly meetings and actively participating in the Initiative should email prepartsinitiative@gmail.com. Look out for announcements of our upcoming events in the Alumni Newsletter.