Author: Meghan McNamara

Here’s to another successful summer! Our Summer Institute wrapped up earlier this month with a joyous virtual showcase of art, writing, and performances created by our amazingly talented participants. Check out highlights from the showcase below and the full recording here! Our Showcase was a celebration of our very first summer offering two different programs. Aarushi Agni, our Summer Camp … Continue reading “The best experience of my life”

Camp is over but the fun continues! After four weeks of writing, learning, exploring, and building together, it’s bittersweet to say goodbye to Camp. But luckily we have one more chance to get together: you’re all invited to our virtual Summer Showcase in just 3 days, where you’ll get a chance to see all the amazing work … Continue reading The fun continues!

We can't believe the summer's nearly over!  We’re excited for you to join us to celebrate the incredible art, writing, and performances of our Institute participants at our Summer Showcase on August 5th. See below for more details, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and Instagram for the latest updates on our Institute and Summer Camp programs!Here's what … Continue reading Building the cities we want

Hello from the Octavia Project!  Our brand-new Summer Camp for girls, trans and nonbinary youth ages 10 to 13 kicked off this month, taught by OP alum Aleighya and Cheyann. Our campers started with a week of exploring writing, music, and STEM, and will continue to gather in person for the rest of the month as they learn about urban planning, visual … Continue reading Welcome to Camp!

We’re starting 2021 with bold plans! This summer, we’re adding a new middle school program for girls and non-binary youth ages 11-13. This has long been a dream of ours, as we often get asked by parents about free programming for their younger children. This new program will be hosted by Urban Assembly Institute in … Continue reading Brand New! OP Summer Camp for Ages 11-13

FREE and live on Zoom! On March 10th, award-winning author N. K. Jemisin will be sharing behind-the-scenes insights from her writing process and how sci-fi and fantasy can open new worlds, in discussion with the next generation of writers from NYC’s Octavia Project. Hosted by Greenlight Bookstore, this event is free with a suggested donation … Continue reading N. K. Jemisin + the Octavia Project, 3/10!

We're so excited to share this very special debut--our first ever Octavia Project Zine! This digital publication is filled with artwork, stories, games, poems, and more from our incredible Octavia Project Class of Summer 2020. The title, Positive Obsessions from the Minds of the Octavia Project, was the idea of one of our teens, who … Continue reading Debuting our very first OP Zine!

Our 2020 Summer Institute ended on a high note with our first-ever Virtual Showcase! In case you missed it, you can now find a recording of the showcase.Our final week began with a Career Panel, which included professionals from the fields of medicine, game design, illustration, and animation. We spent the rest of the week finishing projects in preparation … Continue reading Closing out the summer & our 2020 Virtual Showcase

In the last two weeks, we've imagined new worlds, crafted stories, learned 3D modeling, coded games, studied astrology, and wrote fan fic (and that's not even all!)—scroll down to catch some of the highlights.First, Octavia Project co-founder and author, Chana Porter, came back to lead us in a world-building workshop. We made emergent maps of imaginary cities and then brought those worlds … Continue reading Building worlds, telling stories & learning to code