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Art in the Community
Art in the Community
- Details
- Category: Programs
- Published on Thursday, 15 May 2008 06:34
- Written by WAN Team
- Hits: 680
Art in the Community
This program is designed to provide art workshops to inner-city schools and community centers that lack the resources to have high quality and varied art programs integrated in their regular curriculum. The opportunity to receive arts education is central to the development and preservation of uniquely diverse cultures around the world, and there is no better place to start than home.
Case Statement
Even though the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act listed the arts as one of the "core academic subjects" of public education, its implementation together with the economic challenges and an ever-growing list of state mandates cramming the curriculum, has resulted in a narrowing of the art programs and arts education has struggled to remain in many schools across the country, with budgets significantly reduced, very few hours of instruction provided, and a limited exposure to mediums and art forms.
Involvement in the arts is associated with gains in math, reading, cognitive ability, critical thinking, and verbal skill and a decrease in drop-out rates. Unlike math and reading, when children create art they are always successful because there is no right or wrong in art. This gives students a sense of achievement and success, raising their academic self-confidence.
Art teaches children and young adults to build social and problem-solving skills, and helps them recognize and express their emotions. It focuses on transforming internal thoughts into external images, words or sounds creating a superior way for children and teenagers alike to learn to communicate effectively.
Our Solution
Education policies recognize the value of the arts almost universally. Keeping in mind the challenges listed above, our initiative is based on new findings in brain research and cognitive development, and embraces the approach of integrating the arts with other core subjects to encourage interdisciplinary learning and stimulate students' enthusiasm for the learning process as a whole. We work with volunteer artists from all art disciplines to create an environment rich in arts and culture.
This is a short list of some of the resources we have used in our development of this program, and we welcome you to read them and inform yourself on some of the science behind arts education:
Music Training Changes Brain Networks - Research by Ellen Winner, professor of psychology at Boston College; Gottfried Schlaug, professor of neurology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School; Michael Posner, professor emeritus at the University of Oregon; and Elizabeth Spelke, professor of psychology at Harvard University.
Linking Brain Research to Art - A brief narrative description of the journal article, document, or resource. Reviews recent brain research in education. Provides five implications for teaching in art: (1) use emotion; (2) use different sense; (3) promote student self-direction; (4) enable social learning; and (5) encourage pattern finding. Describes two sample art units demonstrating how the five implications and art instruction can be integrated. (CMK)
The Arts Will Help School Accountability - Comments by Mariale Hardiman, Assistant Dean, Urban School Partnerships, and Chair of the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies in Education at the John Hopkins University School of Education.
Learning, Arts, and the Brain - A conversation with Michael S. Gazzaniga, director of the University of California, Santa Barbara’s SAGE Center for the Study of the Mind and its Summer Institute in Cognitive Neuroscience.
A Portrait of the Visual Arts; Meeting the Challenges of a New Era - A report by the Rand Corporation that examines the state of the arts in America.
By working with volunteers who donate a few hours of their time, our program also helps to get people involved and change the way in which community members, teachers and families see the potential of youth. Working inside schools and community centers, our workshops give children a safe place to learn, grow and explore in an environment where children are treated with care, respect and understanding. Workshops use the mediums of painting, drawing, montage, sculpture, dance, singing/rap, theater, music, reading, writing, gardening and any other practices that allow for creation and self-expression.
We rely on the donation of art supplies for these programs, since we serve low-income areas where schools and centers do not have the capacity to provide art programs or supplies.
Click here to fill out our application form and become a volunteer today!