By Jessie Kilguss | Development Director
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, 2nd 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.
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