SUMMER OF ART AND EXPLORATION
MCG Students Hit the Road
This summer, MCG Youth students are trading our traditional studios for the great outdoors, embarking on two remarkable journeys to the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, Montana, and Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Spending their summer pushing the boundaries of their creativity and stepping
into the wider world, these students will celebrate artistic expression, environmental stewardship, and personal growth across two unique landscapes.
The season kicked off in mid-June as ceramics teaching artist, Matt Zorn, and design teaching artist, Zo Zielinski, led MCG Youth’s sixth consecutive trek to the prestigious Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts. Widely recognized as the premier international destination for clay in the United States, the Bray offers an intensive, five-day immersion for four outstanding students. Beyond independent studio time working with specialized on-site clay bodies, the students will learn cutting-edge techniques directly from world-class resident artists before taking a break to hike Mount Helena. Zorn underscores the weight of this opportunity, noting, “This is just basically the place to go in the US for ceramics. We’re really fortunate.”
The summer exploration continues in August as Zielinski and photography instructor Germaine Watkins guide a second cohort of twelve students into the wilderness for the annual Yellowstone Forever expedition. Securing a spot involved a rigorous application process evaluating the students’ knowledge of ecology, group dynamics, and environmental stewardship.
Because of a high volume of strong applicants, the final selections came down to commitment during the training phase. “It really came down to who was available to be on the most pre-hikes,” Zielinski explains, noting that the outings are crucial “so that the students can get to know each other, because some of them may have never met at all.”
To prepare for the wilderness, the students are already spending their summer days completing local pre-hikes at Riverview and Fall Run Parks. Thanks to funding from Yellowstone Forever, every adventurer is fully outfitted with hiking boots, backpacks, and essential gear at no cost to their families. This ensures they are fully prepared to experience an ecosystem unlike anything they have seen before. Zielinski highlights the rare natural environment awaiting them, noting that Yellowstone is “one of the places, maybe even in the world, that has the most biodiversity, meaning like some, the most species, the most different kinds of climate areas.”
Because of the fast-paced nature of the trek, photography serves as the primary artistic medium, though Zielinski will also be supplying students with watercolors for when they return to their lodge. The students must creatively adapt to strict conservation rules while working in the field. “Something about Yellowstone is you can’t take anything from the park itself,” says Zielinski. “We want to keep it at its wildest, untouched by human hands. We don’t want to leave our footprint.”
This fall students will present their experiences and artwork during Family Night for our annual Yellowstone Forever Art Exhibition in the north lobby of the William Strickland Jr. Building. This provides students the opportunity to share and sell their artwork with friends and family and give artist talks alongside Zielinski and Watkins.
Ultimately, both trips represent a powerful milestone for these young artists, fostering deep personal connections and a newfound sense of independence. While the ceramics cohort steps into an elite international artistic space, Zielinski emphasizes the profound human impact of the wilderness expedition: “The most exciting part to me is really getting to know the students on a personal level... if it weren’t for those students being there, from having heartfelt conversations to dancing in the kitchen to Disney songs... I got to feel like a kid again.”
