Kindling Fellowship, Summer 2022

You’ll retain full ownership of all the work you do and artifacts you create in the program. However, Powderhouse will retain a license to be able to publish and adapt the work you create in the program. You can read the full policy here. If you have any questions or concerns about this, please let us know, and we’ll be happy to work with you to figure it out.

We’ll cover the costs for anything (within reason) you need to do the projects you tackle during the program. The only major exception to this is, if you are looking to start a business, while we will support limited prototyping, you will be responsible for buying materials for the products you well.

Because of the short timescale of this program, we want to make sure that participants have some background in at least one of our areas of focus (i.e. computation, narrative, or design). In the case of computation, this might mean you’re a professional developer or have an extensive collection of Scratch projects you’ve been building since middle school. In the case of narrative, maybe that means a spoken word poet or write as a freelancer. In the case of design, perhaps you screenprint t-shirts and posters for bands or design and build physical projects of your own.

We hope this will ensure that we can work together to create great pieces even without the time to get everyone fluent with all of those skills. If you have any questions about this or would like to discuss your background more, please get in touch.

We’ve chosen the theme “Secrets” for our first issue. You can read more about the theme here. Unfortunately, with only two months for the program, time doesn’t permit collaborating on the choice of theme.

But, the point of a theme is just to create some coherence for readers. Our interest in interdisciplinary work means we are especially interested in creative or poetic interpretations of the theme, so within the theme Secrets, we are eager to co-design and develop project and piece ideas with you.

If you have a particular idea or direction of interest and are wondering whether and how it might fit within the theme, please get in touch.

We require all participants to provide proof of booster and vaccination before attending. We’ll require daily temperature checks and offer regular on-site testing. Our studio will be equipped with sanitation stations. Participants will not be required to be masked indoors (though of course, you are welcome to mask if you’d like, and we will provide masks for anyone interested). If local guidances change before or during the program, we may reassess these plans.

“Secrets” is the working theme for our first community publication, to be released in 2022. We may title the publication something else with fellows, the basic concept is simple:

To protect a loved one. To lie to ourselves. To one-up a competitor. To avoid an uncomfortable conversation. To keep our money safe. To keep our country safe. To organize against oppressive regimes. To get away with it. To connect with someone. To keep someone at arm’s length. To surprise someone. For fun.

Whatever the reason, we keep and tell secrets from the moment we’re aware that what other people know and know about us matters. Whether cryptography and whisper campaigns or corporate surveillance and being in the closet, this issue will give us an opportunity to explore how and why we keep (and break) secrets.

This theme is meant to offer a jumping off point, a flexible structure we hope fellows will make their own, exploring and expanding on it through personal projects, anything from writing personal stories about playground secrets to investigating corporate or government practices around transparency to writing computer programs to encrypt and encode information. These projects will turn into the pieces which will make up the publication we release at the end of the program.

In general, we have publication themes to tie together the diverse projects and eventually pieces we hope people will develop in our programs. We chose “Secrets” as our first theme since:

1. Our summer program is only a couple months long. We knew we’d have to truncate some of the experiences we hope to tackle collaboratively during the longer experiences we plan to run. Choosing a theme was something we felt we could expedite, whereas community building and creative work were not.
2. We believe nearly any topic offers the potential for deep learning and investigation. But, some topics offer a broader and more diverse set of entry points than others. “Secrets” offers obvious points of entry for personal storytelling, cultural critique, computational exploration, and more—while also being approachable and easy to riff on.

Powderhouse’s team is running this fellowship. We’re running it to prototype some elements of a replacement for high school we’re working to build as part of our larger mission.

We believe that for many people, School doesn't work, with severe consequences. Although society invests in improving School-as-it-is, where will radically new approaches to School come from?

We’re trying to answer that question, and we hope you’ll help us do so!

As long as you’re eligible, all we’re looking for is an interest in computation, narrative, and design (including some experience with at least one of those); friendly and critical collaboration; and a commitment to creating great projects and publications.

If you have any doubts about whether you’re a good fit, please get in touch. We’re happy to arrange a call to discuss the program in general and your particular situation.

There is no cost to you; you will be paid. You will be responsible for your own housing and living expenses; although, we offer a stipend for re-location support for those moving to the Boston area.

We’re looking for 2-5 creative, critical, and collaborative people who bring a diverse set of skills, perspectives, and backgrounds to this work. Everyone will be here because they are excited about computation, narrative, and design; interested in Powderhouse’s mission; and eager to do creative projects.

No.

Unfortunately, not at this time.

“Special education” can mean many things, and we are committed to supporting people to be able to comfortably and effectively participate. As long as you are eligible, we will work closely with you to ensure you have all the support needed to participate. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

The program will be run in English and will be accessible to folks who are conversational in English; there is no expectation that you are a native speaker. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

The team behind Powderhouse is the same team that put together the proposal which Somerville’s School Committee rejected in 2019. This program is part of our next steps pursuing the same mission, and draws on a lot of the design work we’ve done in the past. But there is no formal connection between the Powderhouse Studios Innovation School and Kindling.

We are interested in great pieces which are:

• consistent with our themes and editorial priorities,
• creatively, intellectually, and/or technically ambitious,
• and of genuine interest to someone (i.e. people will read it)

Given Powderhouse’s own interest in learning from this fellowship, we are particularly interested in projects and pieces which demonstrate the role computation, narrative, and design in opening up a wide variety of projects and interests to active investigation.

Note that although projects and pieces will be regularly critiqued and workshopped, we offer no grades (numeric or otherwise) evaluating projects and pieces.

You’ll be learning from other fellows as well as from Powderhouse’s team alongside experts and advisors from the community whom we’ll bring in to support particular projects and pieces.

We’ve been developing youth and adult programming since 2009, prototyping hardware, software, and media to support rigorous, creative work across a variety of disciplines. Academically, our backgrounds span math, physics, environmental engineering, creative writing, and community performance.

Tinder is the material that can turn a spark into a fire. Kindling refers to what turns that first flame into a small fire, e.g. the sticks and twigs just big enough catch and light the main fuel that will sustain the fire.

Our work often involves helping people spark their own intellectual and creative journeys. And we hope that our publications can offer the same to our audience, in small ways.

And not for nothing: Powderhouse’s namesake is a gunpowder magazine. Whether the forest fire that clears out the brush while fertilizing the soil for something new, the revolutionary muzzleloader, or the spark that leads to a lifelong passion, we have an affection for the fragile and new, and hope to provide some space where it can gather momentum until it can be self-sustaining.

We are accepting applications on a rolling basis through 15 May 2022. To get started, apply here, and we’ll be in touch within 24 hours about next steps.

Briefly:

1. We’ll ask you to briefly describe your background, what’s interesting to you about this fellowship, and share a few ideas for or examples of projects you think are great (whether or not you want to do them yourself).
2. Based on that, we’ll follow up with an informal video interview during which we’ll discuss those questions further, along with any questions or concerns you might have about the fellowship.
3. And finally, based on that, we’ll ask you to complete a mini-project (which shouldn’t take more than five hours) of your own design.

The purpose of all this is to give you as much of a chance as possible to showcase what you’ll contribute to the program. We don’t care whether you’ve found traditional kinds of success before (in school, sports, or wherever). We care that you’re excited to work collaboratively to make great creative projects—and that you’re willing to work for it.

If you have ideas about how we can do this better (in general, or in your case in particular), please let us know.

We understand life happens. But, you are expected to treat this program as a full-time commitment. If you find that you are regularly missing sessions, we may ask you to leave the program and reapply when things have settled down for you. If you know already that you have a scheduling conflict, please get in touch with us to discuss it.

None. Because we'll be working with a lot of digital materials, all fellows will be working on Mac products. Necessary equipment (e.g. laptop, tablet, and phone) will be provided if you don’t already have access to them. Fellows will have the opportunity to purchase this loaner equipment at a discount at the end of the program.

This is not a bootcamp or traditional skills-focused course: our primary goal during this summer fellowship is to release a publication and learn what we can from the experience for the design of future youth programming. Given the short timeline, we won’t be able to dive into these skills in the way we would a year-long experience. Instead, we’ll offer introductory workshops around these skills in addition to deeper dives and just-in-time support tailored to the specific projects and pieces you’re tackling.

To get a more detailed sense of what that will involve, check out our answer to this question for the full-year youth program.

As long as you feel like you are a good fit for the program, can speak English at a conversational level, are fully vaccinated against COVID, and are older than 18, you’re eligible to apply.

Note that you’ll be using programming and design tools, collaborating with colleagues, and sometimes traveling for projects. If you might need accommodations to do this (e.g. for reasons of disability) or if you have questions about any of the other eligibility requirements, please get in touch.

You’ll be paid ~$1,500 weekly via direct deposit. This is the equivalent of an$80,000 annual salary. If you need a bank account, we can help you get set up with one. If for some reason direct deposit doesn’t fit your circumstances, let us know and we can work to accommodate you.

No. However, we can provide some funding to support those relocating to the Boston area, and we’re happy to help with your housing search if you’d like.

Yes. We offer full healthcare, dental, vision, and retirement benefits. You can read more about the benefits we offer here.

Unfortunately, we do not offer academic credit yet. But, we are eager to help you prepare whatever materials (including a portfolio) may be required to translate your experience with Powderhouse into academic credit for prior experience and learning or any employee education programs which might be relevant.

This is a full-time commitment. You’ll be expected to be available 10AM–5PM, Monday–Friday (excluding federal and state holidays) for the duration of the program. We also expect that you’ll spend some time (~5 hours/week) outside of that schedule to work independently or with other fellows on projects, revisions, and workshop materials as needed.

Yes, but you’ll need to wait at least one month after receiving the decision on your previous application. If and when you do reapply, we’ll be looking at what has changed since your previous application.

“Disability” can mean many things, and we are committed to supporting people to be able to comfortably and effectively participate. As long as you are eligible, we will work closely with you to ensure you have all the support needed to participate. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

We’ll be meeting 10AM–5PM, Monday–Friday from 1 June–29 July 2022 (excluding state and federal holidays). Refer to the full calendar for details.