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Updated 11/14/2024

MAPS Arts

  • Massachusetts

    MA

Institution/Business Type: School of the Arts

MAPS (Music Art Puppet Sound, Inc.) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that creates and implements exceptional arts programming for community engaged art.  MAPS makes exciting, hands-on arts experiences using many types of media including visual arts, puppetry, painting, sculpture, sound, music composition, dance and video works.  In our community engaged programming, we strive to create imaginative art-making spaces where participants can thrive as they explore a range of artistic media. We hope to spark deep curiosity about ideas and process, encourage creative friendships and give participants the freedom to play and invent. We believe that creative practice can provide emotional relief in difficult circumstances.  MAPS is at once an experimental art playground, a space for creative discourse, an arts collective producing multidisciplinary works and an educational program.

Since 2018, MAPS has been bringing exciting, arts-based curricula to public schools, community organizations, museums, libraries and more. MAPS engages participants in creative practice and dialogue through the use of visual art, theater arts, puppetry and music composition.  In all of our work, whether it is a socially engaged performance, art show, or community based program, we bring social and emotional considerations into our practice, prioritizing curiosity and experimentation in all that we do.

Find Me

Rachel Sherk
Job Title: President
Address:
37 Prospect Street
Great Barrington, MA 01230

Social Media:

Additional Content:

About

Overview

Institution/Business Type:

School of the Arts

Legal Status:

Nonprofit - Independent

Year Founded:

2018

Overview

Institution/Business Type:

School of the Arts

Legal Status:

Nonprofit - Independent

Year Founded:

2018

Disciplines

Primary Discipline:

Multi-Disciplinary

Additional Disciplines:

  • Multi-Disciplinary

Activities and Services

Activities and Services:

  • Arts for Social Change / Creative Activism
  • Arts and Health
  • Cultural Preservation
  • Creation of a Work of Art (Including Commissions)
  • Public Art Projects (In Free, Public Spaces)
  • Writing Services
  • Arts Instruction / Lessons
  • Cultural Education
  • Curriculum Development
  • Residency - In School
  • Workshops / Demonstrations / Master Class
  • Audio or Video Recording
  • Film Preproduction / Production / Editing Services
  • Professional Development / Training
  • Film Showings
  • Performance / Concert / Reading
  • Professional Network Gatherings / Events
  • Residency - Community
  • Virtual Events
  • Community Arts
  • Exhibitions
Seasons Active: spring, summer, fall, winter
Events Per Year: 10

Communities

Populations Engaged:

  • Adults
  • Houseless/Housing Insecure Individuals
  • Businesses
  • Elders
  • Families
  • General Public
  • Immigrant Populations
  • Incarcerated (or Formerly Incarcerated) individuals
  • LGBTQ Populations
  • Native American Tribes
  • Nonprofits
  • People with Disabilities
  • School Groups
  • Teens
  • Veteran/Active Duty Military Personnel
  • Youth-At-Risk
  • Rural Populations
  • Artists

Languages Available:

  • Spanish
  • English
  • American Sign Language

Geographic Reach:

  • Town / City
  • County
  • Multi-County Region
  • State
  • Multi-State Region
  • National
  • International

Accessibility of Services

Accessibility of Services:

  • Accessible website and/or multimedia for people with sensory disabilities
  • Access accommodations for people who are Deaf and hard-of-hearing
  • Access accommodations for people who are blind, partially sighted, and have low vision
  • Access accommodations for people who use a wheelchair and have limited mobility

Media Gallery

Migrant youths making large puppets
MAPS Artists performing original work
Youths pointing to puppets they made
Youths pointing to puppets they made
Student wearing planet mask they made in a residency with MAPS using puppetry and art in a science curricula
Formerly homeless youths planting flowers for an Art Garden
Students exploring storytelling through shadow puppets
Students painting
MAPS artists performing original show in full body puppet

I Have Worked With

Affiliations and Accomplishments

Awards

Awards:

  • two times a Teaching Fellow Academy of Teachers

Awards

Awards:

  • two times a Teaching Fellow Academy of Teachers

Education

Education:

  • Co-Founder Rachel Sherk has a BFA from Bennington College and an MA from NYU's Gallatin. Co-founder Aaron Rourk studied Improvisational Music Composition through the CUNY Baccalaureate Program and holds an MFA in Sonic Arts from Brooklyn College.

Artist Info

Teaching Artist

Teaching Settings:

  • Afterschool Program
  • Arts and Cultural Center / Venue
  • Community Site / Center
  • Healthcare Facility
  • Private Studio
  • School / University
  • Virtual / Remote

Ages Served:

  • Pre-Kindergarten-age
  • Elementary School-age
  • Middle School-age
  • High School-age
  • College-age
  • Adults
  • Seniors

Subject Areas:

  • Arts Integration - Communications
  • Arts Integration - English Language / Literacy
  • Arts Integration - English as a Second Language
  • Arts Integration - Health
  • Arts Integration - History and Social Science
  • Arts Integration - Mathematics
  • Arts Integration - Physical Education
  • Arts Integration - Science / Technology / Engineering
  • Dance
  • Design
  • Literature
  • Media
  • Music
  • Theater
  • Visual/Crafts

Certifications and Training:

  • MFA and MA

Fee range:

At MAPS we work with the organization we are partnering with.

Teaching Artist

Teaching Settings:

  • Afterschool Program
  • Arts and Cultural Center / Venue
  • Community Site / Center
  • Healthcare Facility
  • Private Studio
  • School / University
  • Virtual / Remote

Ages Served:

  • Pre-Kindergarten-age
  • Elementary School-age
  • Middle School-age
  • High School-age
  • College-age
  • Adults
  • Seniors

Subject Areas:

  • Arts Integration - Communications
  • Arts Integration - English Language / Literacy
  • Arts Integration - English as a Second Language
  • Arts Integration - Health
  • Arts Integration - History and Social Science
  • Arts Integration - Mathematics
  • Arts Integration - Physical Education
  • Arts Integration - Science / Technology / Engineering
  • Dance
  • Design
  • Literature
  • Media
  • Music
  • Theater
  • Visual/Crafts

Certifications and Training:

  • MFA and MA

Fee range:

At MAPS we work with the organization we are partnering with.

Touring Artist

Technical Requirements:

  • we must find funding to support our work and keep it unrestricted for participants

Fee Range:

We are a nonprofit and part of our mission is to bring exciting arts programming to underfunded communities. So we work with partnering organizations to keep our programming affordable, and mostly free, for participants and viewers.

State of Residence:

Massachusetts

Minimum Number of Performers:

2

Maximum Number of Performers:

10