Housed in the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Arts Greenhouse is a community-based arts and humanities program which engages over 300 Pittsburgh middle school students annually.
With a focus on equity, creative expression and academic growth, we expand access to the humanities through in-school workshops, after-school courses and summer programs, connecting CMU students and faculty directly with youth.
Arts Greenhouse Programming
Arts Greenhouse offers for-credit opportunities for Carnegie Mellon University students as well as free arts programming for elementary and middle school-aged students in the greater Pittsburgh area.
For Carnegie Mellon Students
CMU students can get involved in Arts Greenhouse through coursework, internships and volunteering:
- 76-254: Arts Greenhouse - Community Engagement with Local Middle School Students
- Internships
- Volunteer opportunities
Learn more about Arts Greenhouse coursework and other student opportunities
For Students in Grades 5 to 8
All Arts Greenhouse programming for secondary school students is free of charge through:
- In-school workshops
- Weekly after school workshops
- One- to two-week summer programs
- Media projects, including mural painting and podcasting (coming soon!)
Arts Greenhouse in Action: Community Mural Painting
In 2025, Arts Greenhouse youth, CMU students and over 20 Arts Greenhouse volunteers worked together at Allegheny Health Network Suburban General Hospital to paint ten 4’ x 5’ murals, the first in a set of pieces in an ongoing collaboration with Suburban General.
With guidance from AHN Suburban Leadership, CMU students enrolled in a Dietrich College Grand Challenge Seminar co-designed graphic novel narratives based on interviews with healthcare professionals, maintenance staff, school leaders, elected officials and AG middle school students to understand their views on resilience.
What Arts Greenhouse Participants Have to Say:
“This program, which is run in conjunction with Schiller's music classes, has given all of the 7th grade students in the school the space to feel creative and to experience joy in times when those attributes are desperately needed.”
-Shayne Stromberg,
Schiller STEAM Academy
Grades 6-8 Music,
Family & Community Engagement Coordinator
“Many of my previous courses have had us devise theoretical or hypothetical designs that would address some need or fill some gap in the community, but this course is the only one in which I was able to actually implement it in the Pittsburgh community.”
-Eva Guo,
Statistics & Machine Learning
Technical Writing
“I can whole-heartedly say that the Arts Greenhouse program has prepared me for a career outside of college, teaching related or not. Furthermore, it has given me much more confidence, especially in my teaching skills.”
-Abriana Bensch,
Social & Political History
Literature & Culture
“My favorite project that we did was storytelling. I learned how to see a lot more than is on the paper at Arts Greenhouse. We had a piece of paper with paint on it, then we gave it a face and arms. Then we told a story with what we made. It made us think about things and try to see what something could tell. Thank you for giving us this opportunity to create much more than we would normally.”
-Alora F., 7th Grade
Schiller STEAM Academy
“This course was a great opportunity to grow my skills in both creative arts and my communication skills, an opportunity that I wish I had more of. Teaching requires great communication skills, high awareness, flexibility, and a lot of planning – Arts Greenhouse was like a bootcamp for all of these skills.”
-Matthew Blankley,
Dramaturgy & Professional Writing
Arts Greenhouse News
Follow along with the exciting work being done by Arts Greenhouse staff, students and volunteers!
