Edition 22 — Amanda Pelrine
A ‘Worth It’ Job
At 16-years old, Amanda Pelrine was in search of an easy job and a quick paycheck. When her friends at Boston Latin Academy told her about AFH, she believed she’d found it. “It ended up being a lot more of an experience than I thought it was going to be,” Pelrine admitted, smiling. “It wasn’t just a quick paycheck. I would have done [this job] for the full three years that I was there without getting paid at all because it was just so impactful — such a ‘worth it’ job.”
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Edition 21: Stephen Cronin
A Family That Spreads
Of all things, t-shirts are what brought Stephen Cronin to Artists For Humanity’s doors.
Introduced to the program through a family friend who had previous children involved in the program, Cronin came to AFH in search of their Screen Printing Studio.
“I think I just walked in and asked,” he said, recalling his determination at joining the studio and the subsequent details he learned about the program. …
Edition 20 — Aristotle Forrester
In Real Time
Aristotle Forrester has been surrounded by art all his life; his mother is a visual artist and he began painting in the first grade. “I was making paintings in school instead of learning how to do math,” he laughed.
Forrester grew up in the South Side of Chicago, which he recalled as a richly diverse environment. But when he was a teenager, he moved with his mother to Needham, Massachusetts, which was very different from the South Side. “There’s a real isolation that comes with being one of the very few Black…
Edition 19 — Amy Zahlaway
The First Job I Loved
Amy Zahlaway is a jack of all trades. She earned a fair share of job experience at Artists For Humanity: first as a teen videographer, then an assistant film mentor, and finally, a recruitment coordinator. Later she worked in communications at the Lewis Family Foundation. Now she’s a hairstylist at Patrice Vinci Salon on Newbury street.
Whether it was producing media or styling hair, Amy insists that every single one of these jobs employ the skills and confidence she developed at AFH.
“AFH shows people, especially adults, the importance of the creative industry for youth…
Edition 18 — Frenell Jean-Georges
Greatness Around Us
When he was 14-years old, Frenell Jean-Georges tagged along with one of his friends to his after-school job at Artists For Humanity. He instantly wanted to be a part of the organization.
Jean-Georges then spent the next six years working for AFH. Twenty years later, he is still close to the people and the ideas he encountered at the nonprofit.
Leading up to AFH, Jean-Georges’s art education had been sparse. In high school, he had taken a television production class that focused on the technical, rather than artistic, elements of TV. …
Edition 17 — Ludgy Jean-Baptiste
A Cheat Code
As a child, Ludgy Jean-Baptiste watched a lot of Looney Tunes — to the point that he could tell which director was behind the segment, based on the way the characters were drawn. “I would record episodes on VHS and freeze frame certain parts to see how they had the characters go from Point A to Point B. I studied, but I didn’t realize that’s what I was doing,” he said.
Now, Jean-Baptiste lives in Dorchester, Boston where he works as an art educator and a freelance cartoonist. He has worked with…
Edition 16 — Anna Tsui, Life and Business Coach
Always Growing
“Growth. We were always growing. We were moving. There was always a momentum.”
Anna Tsui was a teen at Artists For Humanity almost 20 years ago, in 2001, yet she can still describe her experiences with clarity and attention to the organization’s dynamic energy. Although the interview’s video quality is limited, Anna Tsui’s smile and personality shine through the pixelated screen.
As an executive coach, Anna helps business owners identify their brand and engage their clients to realize their potential for success. She’s grown Anna Tsui Life and Business Coaching into…
Edition 15 — Kelsey Arbona
My One Constant
Kelsey Arbona, Artists For Humanity’s Design Director, was first exposed to design as a child. She would visit her uncle, a graphic designer for The Boston Globe, at work and draw Pokémon on his tablet. But her formal art education didn’t begin until her aunt saw an advertisement for AFH in the newspaper, and encouraged teenage Arbona to apply. “13 years and a thousand experiences later, I’m the Design Director,” she said.
At AFH, she began in the Painting Studio, but always planned on moving to the Graphic Design Studio. However, the…
Edition 14 — Garima Sood
“I Crave It”
A little over a decade ago, Garima Sood left Boston and moved to Montreal, Canada for college. Ever since then, she’s been searching for a community like the one she experienced while at Artists For Humanity.
Now she feels closer than ever before to building that type of community.
Sood, who is in her final year of completing her second bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design at Emily Carr University in Vancouver, said that there is a very special dynamic that plays out at AFH. …
Edition 13 — Aneisha Malcolm
In the Driver’s Seat
Aneisha Malcolm has edited videos for artists such as Young Thug, Future, and Ty Dolla $ign. She’s also created fashion films, commercials, and short documentaries. Her work is united by a glossy, colorful aesthetic; the shots and editing are extremely polished but maintain a sense of realness. In her videos, models and actors dance, flick their sunglasses, flirt, and speak to the camera.
Today, Malcolm is the Co-Founder and Co-Owner of House of Malcolm, a video production company based in New York City. …
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