PIC Kids | PIC

Annual Youth Programs

At PIC Kids Summer, young artists (ages 7-15) go on an adventure through the creative process as they explore theater, movement, and music. Each week follows a different theme, and all weeks culminate in a sharing of the young artists' original work on Fridays. The number of participants each week is capped at 14 and instructors will be assisted by a Junior Counselor and/or CITs.

Bombyx Center for Arts and Equity is a non-profit organization established to steward the property at 130 Pine Street, in Florence, Massachusetts - a historic gathering place founded by abolitionists who championed anti-slavery, gender equity, and religious tolerance. Carrying these values forward, we serve our community as a venue for transformative arts experiences, spiritual growth, and challenging conversations.

The Workroom at 33 Hawley

33 Hawley is an arts complex owned and stewarded by the Northampton Community Arts Trust. The building serves as a home to three leasing arts organizations: A.P.E., The Northampton Center for the Arts, and Northampton Open Media. PIC is proud to be a part of the inaugural class of The Workroom Cooperative- sharing this wonderful space with a group of equally wonderful artists and arts organizations throughout 2024.

Richie Barshay began drumming inside kitchen cabinets at an early age, and continues banging on things worldwide to this day. He has performed with Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Esperanza Spalding, The Klezmatics, Fred Hersch, Kenny Werner, Natalie Merchant, Bobby McFerrin, Joe Lovano, Lee Konitz, Donald Harrison, Lionel Loueke, Julian Lage, the Curtis Brothers, Gabriel Kahane, Pete Seeger, and the Tony Award winning musical The Band’s Visit on Broadway and national tour.

As an Arts Educator, he trained at New England Conservatory of Music, and Lincoln Center Education Summer Forum, and has taught groups and individuals of all ages about global rhythms, body percussion, improvisation, and drumming in general. Based in Northampton, Massachusetts and New York City, he is an AmSAT certified Alexander Technique teacher helping performing artists and others develop more body-mind coordination and ease of movement.

Tracy Einstein (she/her/hers) enthusiastically joins PIC Kids Summer after nearly a decade bringing play, movement, and drama to Public Schools in NYC. She’s worked as a theater & movement teaching artist for the Public Theater, Hunts Point Shakespeare Ensemble, LeAp NYC, Arts Ignite (formerly ASTEP), Redbull Theater Company, Completely Ridiculous Conservatory, and more!

She is one half of Nu Words, whose engaging performances of storytelling, poetry, drumming, and movement dazzle audiences and young people worldwide.

Sarah Marcus (she/her) Sarah is a Northampton-based theater artist and educator who has been creating and teaching drama programs to children of all ages since 2002. She attended Tufts University, where she was a member of the children’s theater troupe Traveling Treasure Trunk, and she received her M.F.A. in Acting from The Theatre School at DePaul University. She is the co-founder of Play Incubation Collective (PIC) and the director of the Youth Performance Festival, at the Northampton Center for the Arts. From 2016-2019, she ran Valley Performance Playground summer camps with Felicia Sloin, and from 2010-15, she ran the 6th–9th grade drama program at The Bement School in Deerfield. She has also run theater programs at the Smith College Campus School, Greenfield Public Schools, Girls Leadership Institute, Enchanted Circle Theater, and at schools throughout the boroughs of New York City.

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Brianna Sloane is a director, actor, teacher, and maker based in Huntington MA. Brianna has worked as a teaching artist in all sorts of ways and places - camps and schools with young children; teaching, coaching, and directing high school-aged students; offering theater classes for older adults at community centers; working as a visiting professor at colleges; and teaching master-level workshops for professional actors.

Brianna has an extensive background in physical comedy, mask, and the Italian Commedia dell'Arte and loves working on movement for theater. She is co-founder of TheatreTruck, a mother-owned company crafting mobile & site-specific performance and making new work in Western Ma. In Chicago, Brianna served as Education Outreach Director for Piccolo Theatre as well as working artistically with companies around the city for over a decade.

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Fairy Tale Mash Up!

Growl and Groove

Soundscapes and Sorcery

Theatrical Clown

Make 'em Laugh

Five Day Play

PIC Kids Ensemble: Our Dreams!

Rachel F. Hirsch (she/her) Rachel has found a creative home in the Pioneer Valley where her passion for new play and musical development lead her to co-found Play Incubation Collective. She is also a voice-over artist and musician. In 2016, Rachel started the music and storytelling outfit-Golden Bird- which engages the youngest kiddos in their own creative storytelling through picture books, imaginative adventures, and folk and jazz inspired original tunes. As a performer, Rachel has appeared locally with PIC projects, in commercials, Northampton 24 hr Theater, Double Take Fringe, and Youth Performance Festivals, and virtually with Chester and Silverthorne Theatre Companies. Previously, Rachel worked on new theatrical works in DC, NYC, and around the country and as a teaching artist with Spellbound Theater Company in Brooklyn.

Sarah Marcus (she/her) Sarah is a Northampton-based theater artist and educator who has been creating and teaching drama programs to children of all ages since 2002. She attended Tufts University, where she was a member of the children’s theater troupe Traveling Treasure Trunk, and she received her M.F.A. in Acting from The Theatre School at DePaul University. She is the co-founder of Play Incubation Collective (PIC) and the director of the Youth Performance Festival, at the Northampton Center for the Arts. From 2016-2019, she ran Valley Performance Playground summer camps with Felicia Sloin, and from 2010-15, she ran the 6th–9th grade drama program at The Bement School in Deerfield. She has also run theater programs at the Smith College Campus School, Greenfield Public Schools, Girls Leadership Institute, Enchanted Circle Theater, and at schools throughout the boroughs of New York City.

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The Youth Performance Festival (YPF), a collaboration between Play Incubation Collective and the Northampton Center for the Arts at 33 Hawley, is a FREE opportunity for youth artists ages 8-18 to create original performance pieces under the guidance of mentor artists in the fields of music, dance, theater, poetry/spoken word, and video. YPF centers the creative agency of young artists, and is committed to supporting them as they discover their own creative processes. We were thrilled to to partner with Make-It Springfield for YPF 2024 to create a Springfield-based youth cohort. More info on YPF 2025 coming this fall.

PIC’s annual All-Ages Salon is a celebration of the artistic process. In 2023 it marked day one in the two day PIC Kids Fall Fest event. This sharing of new, original works created and performed by youth and adult artists is always a big hit with the whole family!

Scholarship Fund

Annual Youth Programs

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