Art programs for 3,500 in-need New York children

Arts for All is amidst a bustling and thrilling fall season! We kicked off the new school year with a fun and educational event for the children of Ms. Osorio’s fifth grade class from PS163. In collaboration with the Townley Arts Foundation, The Australian Travel Group and local artist Erick Sanchez, a group of 26 students participated in a workshop carried out by Sanchez and Arts for All teaching artist, Maya Suess. Assisting Maya and Erick were the student mentors from Kincoppal-Rose Bay School of the Sacred Heart in Sydney, Australia, whose mission is “to make the world a better place and to convince others of the power that lies within them to do the same.”

Through discussion and a demonstration, the children learned the basic concepts of perspective, horizon lines and mixing color using acrylic paint, before endeavoring to create their own landscapes. The group later received a tour of the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center where the event took place and were then provided with lunch. At the end of the occasion, the young artists from the Bronx were able to stand among their classmates to talk about their paintings, where their artistic decisions came from, and what they learned before taking their framed masterpieces home to share with friends and family.

The Artistic Residency Program is underway at Weeksville Elementary, PS163 and PS76. Teaching artist, Sarah Plotkin, is currently teaching two 4-week-long Drama Residencies at Weeksville Elementary School in Brooklyn. Earlier this semester at Weeksville, seasoned AFA teaching artist Mélissa Smith taught a four-week dance and drama workshop.

At PS163, Sarah Plotkin is teaching a 4-week Drama Residency. Also at PS163, we're providing two 6-week Visual Arts Residcenices, one for 3^rd grade and one for 5th grade, which will be instructed by veteran AFA teaching artist, Vidho Lorville. Vidho has been teaching with Arts For All for the past eight years.

December marks the return of the Video Creation Project with teaching artist Franklyn Strachan at Incarnation Children’s Center, Manhattan’s only skilled nursing facility providing specialized care for children and youth living with HIV/AIDS. In this 3-day intensive, youth living at ICC work with Franklyn to create a short documentary or narrative film. Through this program, participants learn all aspects of filmmaking and in the process build life skills such as teamwork, self-confidence, self-expression, creativity and resilience.

On Tuesday, October 27^th, Arts for All arranged a field trip for Ms. Marrero’s 4^th grade class from PS163 to Smart Design. Smart Design is a design and innovation consulting firm that works across the digital and physical to deliver empowering experiences and improve lives. The 18 participating students learned about creative problem solving and the basics of electricity before designing and creating their own flashlights to use on Halloween. With two to three Smart Design volunteers assigned to small groups of children, they worked together to embrace creativity and make their ideas become a reality. Using cardboard tubes, base flashlight parts such as a bulb and battery, and art supplies such as paper, clay and stickers, the students created designs that were impressive and imaginative. Some students made flashlights that fit snuggly on their head, arm or wrist, while others made lantern-like flashlights to carry. Smart Design promoted Arts for All’s core values of confidence and self-expression through the workshop with emphasis at the end when students were invited to stand in front of their peers and share and explain their designs. The highlight of the day was the sense of achievement and pride that the students exhibited when presenting their finished products.

We are currently preparing for our next field trip, our annual Day at the Met, on November 7^th, made possible through the generosity of corporate sponsors, Capgemini and Kohl’s. We will bring approximately 50 students to the Metropolitan Museum of Art where they will explore all the museum has to offer through guided tours with both official Met tour guides and Arts For All volunteers. Lunch will also be provided. We’re looking forward to hosting volunteers from both of our sponsors, Kohl’s and Capgemini, at the field trip to help engage our young students in the art they are experiencing and also to ensure the day runs smoothly.

Arts for All is grateful for your support which allows us to bring artistic opportunities such as the Artistic Residency Program and A Day at the Met to in-need children in New York City. We welcome your feedback and thank you for your continued belief in our mission.

On behalf of everyone at Arts For All, I hope you’re having a great summer! We’re gearing up for a busy fall. In September, Literacy Through the Arts will start back up again in grades K-2 at Hamilton Heights Elementary in Harlem and PS15 in the East Village. Literacy Through the Arts (LTA) builds students’ reading, writing and verbal expression skills through a multi-arts curriculum in theater, literature, music, visual arts and dance. Through art, K-2 students develop critical and creative thinking and a vocabulary to express ideas, stories and emotions. Literacy Through the Arts workshops were developed by teaching artists Lena Moy-Borgen and Shawn Shafner under the oversight of Arts For All Executive Director, Anna Roberts Ostroff, and prior PS15 Principal Thomas Staebell.

In addition to LTA, our Artistic Residency Program will be back up and running at several of our partnering schools including PS163 in the Bronx, PS69 on Staten Island and Weeksville Elementary in Brooklyn. Through the Artistic Residency Program, teaching artists teach music, theater, dance, visual art, poetry and film workshops to under-served children aged 4-19.

We’re excited to expand our Haiku Program to a new school this fall. We will be offering an 8-week Haiku and Music Program at PS76 in Queens. We co-created the Haiku Programs with our partner, Amy Losak, in 2013 to honor the legacy of Amy’s late mother, the published haiku poet, Sydell Rosenberg. In the Haiku and Visual Arts Program and the Haiku and Music Program, 2^nd graders explore Sydell Rosenberg’s haiku through the lens of either visual art or music. This program builds students’ literacy skills as well as the Arts For All Core Values: creativity, resilience, teamwork, self-expression, and self-esteem.

This November, we will be brining approximately 50 students from New Alternatives for Children and PS163 on a field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for our annual Day at the Met field trip. We are also planning a special field trip for students from PS163 to attend artist, Erick Sanchez’s studio on the Lower East Side. Along with a team of volunteers from a girl’s high school in Australia, Erick will lead the PS163 students in a painting workshop at his professional art studio. Students will each work with a high school student mentor, create their own painting and the field trip will culminate with lunch before the students head back to PS163 in the afternoon.

We are preparing for our annual Audience Project Tour. This year, we are thrilled to present “Voice Power!,” written and performed by poet/musician and AFA teaching artist, Darian Dauchan. We will bring this exciting production, free of charge, to approximately 2,500 under-served NYC children this fall, many of whom have never seen professional theater. Poet/musician Darian Dauchan guides young audiences on a vocal odyssey through rhymes, beat-boxing, & acapella melodies in search of one of civilization’s most valued treasures – the power of the voice!

Without your support, none of these engaging programs would be possible. Thank you for your continued belief in Arts For All’s mission.