Category: Arts Education

Arts Corps COVID-19 Art Kit Project

Posted on Sunday, June 21st, 2020 at 5:39 am
Written by Arts Corps

Does a freshly sharpened pencil make you want to write? Did your childhood imagination ignite when dipping a brush into an untouched oval of watercolor paint? Do you still get excited about a colorful stick of chalk that hasn’t yet been worn down or broken?

Brand-new art supplies inspire a unique sense of joy and possibility, among children and adults alike. And it’s these feelings that Arts Corps had in mind when we launched our COVID-19 Art Kit Project this spring, which ultimately resulted in the distribution of 1,321 free art kits to families in South King County.

The spring quarter is always busy for Arts Corps programming- it’s short and condensed- so when schools were forced to shift to distance learning, our Director of Arts Education and  program managers had to quickly work to narrow the arts education opportunity gap in our region. With the need for children to have opportunities for creative expression greater than ever, we needed to find an immediate solution. Distributing art kits for students to enjoy at home with their families became a key strategy for Arts Integration Program Manager, Sabrina Chacon-Barajas. 

Given our limited resources, we chose to focus most intensively on our relationship with Highline Public Schools (HPS). This was not only because we have long and deep relationships with the communities in Highline, but also because Arts Corps is a major funnel for arts education in the district. In certain communities within the district, we are the only funnel of access to arts education.

For several years now, Arts Corps has partnered with the City of Burien to help remedy this inequity by providing integrative work in Burien elementary schools. When it was clear that we needed to find a way to engage students in arts learning remotely, Heleya de Barros, Director of Arts Education, immediately reached out to Gina Kalman, Cultural Arts Supervisor for the City of Burien, to inquire about reallocating funds toward an art kit project. Her office agreed, and plans were made to use funds to support the design, assembly, and distribution of art kits centered on the themes of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math), community, gratitude, and healing.

Given the immense amounts of creativity and resourcefulness among Arts Corps’ teaching artists, the design aspect of the art kits was the easy part. The hard part was how to distribute the kits in a way that respected social distance guidelines and kept HPS families safe. Thankfully, the district connected us with Anne Baunach, Executive Director of Highline School Foundation, and with their help, we were able to distribute hundreds of art kits via their free meal sites in White Center, Burien, SeaTac, and Des Moines. Additionally, OST manager Olisa Enrico worked with our partners at Southwest Youth & Family Services and Mt. View Elementary to reach approximately 100 additional families.

The greatest number of kits were distributed to students at Hazel Valley Elementary (HVE), a school with which Arts Corps has worked very closely for several years, including on our Department of Education-funded Highline Creative Schools Initiative. With support from foundations who share our commitment to deepening family engagement in school communities (thereby increasing student sense of belonging), we were able to build an art kit for EVERY SINGLE STUDENT AT HVE. As a graduation present, 5th graders received extra special art supplies in their kits. Arts Corps Veteran Teaching Artist Carina del Rosario designed the kits and worked with HVE to have them passed out this week, the final week of HPS’ 2019-20 school year.

In the midst of a global pandemic and pronounced racial tension and injustice, we hope that these art kits provide a glimmer of hope and inspiration to the 1,321 families who received them. We’re so grateful to our teaching artists, funders, volunteers, school and community partners for helping make this innovative project happen so quickly. A special thanks to Laird Norton, Horton Foundation Fund, Discuren Foundation, 4Culture, Arts Fund, and the Ketcham Family for their support of this project.

Given the success of Arts Corps’ COVID-19 Art Kit Project this past spring, we hope to continue the project into the summer. Under the leadership of Meredith Arena, Arts Corps Veteran Teaching Artist, and Olisa Enrico, Arts Corps OST Manager, we plan to distribute approximately 300 additional art kits for summer learning at 4 sites  in partnership with Southwest Youth and Family Services. 

Arts Corps COVID-19 Art Kit Projects at a Glance:

  • Total art kits distributed = 1,321. 
  • Art kits distributed to 10 sites across South King County
  • Partnered with Highline School Foundation to distribute kits at meal sites in White Center, Burien, Des Moines
  • Each of the 475 students at Hazel Valley Elementary received art kits. 5th graders received special art kits to celebrate their graduation from elementary. Kits included a mixed media paper pad, micron pens, and either skin tone crayon set, maker set, or chalk set.
  • Teaching artists, classroom assistants, Arts Corps staff, and volunteers dedicated approximately 90 hours to construction of art kits 
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The Gift of Song

Posted on Monday, May 4th, 2020 at 1:32 am
Written by Arts Corps


Being Fat
by Erica Merritt, age 8

Being fat is an uncomfortable way

To live your life, day by day

You’re always insecure, about the way you look

You always feel like someone, took……. one too many glances at your body

Your clothes feel tighter, week after week

The scale number gets higher, below your feet

The diet’s get stricter, month after month

The food gets more tempting, mostly the junk

Until finally you’re at, right where you’ve started

Only this time you’ve gained more pounds to be charted

And, so I guess, that is that,

You see it’s all a part of being fat!!

By age 8, I realized that I was very different from those around me. I knew that my body was not what I wished it to be. Self-doubt and insecurity were a part of my reality. Then, I found healing and confidence through music. When I sang, one size truly fit all. I felt triumphant in my ability to transform words into lyrics, lyrics into songs. Music was my ticket to wonderland.

I could write and sing about my heart’s desire. When I sang, I didn’t mind when people stared at me. I was proud of what my body could do! I was “music to my own ears” as well as theirs. I took pride in knowing that I possessed a gift that was special and unique. It was a welcomed distraction to life’s hardships. Singing empowered me to define, and validate, my sense of self-worth. This is why I teach! I want to give a gift that keeps on giving, empowering youth to practice self-validation. In a world where image can often supersede one’s authentic self, the Gift Of Song can fill in the blanks.

Share your #MakeArtAnyway story to info@artscorps.org so we can spread love with the rest of the Arts Corps community.

— ERICA MERRITT, Teaching Artist

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An open letter in support of the arts:

Posted on Thursday, July 13th, 2017 at 5:55 pm
Written by Arts Corps

Imagine a future without the arts generating vibrant communities, shaping culture, and pushing boundaries. Is this the stuff of dystopian novels? Or is this what we’re becoming right now? The current administration’s budget plan eliminates the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and this could very well become a reality. Thousands of programs and projects could lose their funding, all of which bring art to rural and urban Americans, and many of which bring art to those who arguably need it the most – young people.

Arts Corps reaches over 2,500 K-12 students in South Seattle and South King County each year. Approximately 80% or our students are youth of color and 70% come from low-income families. Arts Corps is a force for justice in a region where race is greatest predictor of whether a young person has access to an arts education. Our programs are proven to foster creative and critical thinking skills as well as sense of belonging, connection and mindsets for learning. Evaluation also indicates that Arts Corps students are more engaged in school and test better in reading and math, an important contribution to closing the achievement gap.

In past years, Arts Corps has received NEA funding for our teen programs. These art classes and leadership trainings make space for the next generation of young artists to cultivate artistic skills while honing capacities for community leadership and cultural work. Our teen leaders agree that these programs develop their understanding of systems of oppression, help them create deeper connections to local social justice movements, and provide a safe and supportive community where they can authentically express themselves. Carlynn Newhouse, a teen artist and youth leader reflected on her experience with Arts Corps programs:

“At the age of fourteen I was so broken and sad with little direction in life. Arts Corps’ program Youth Speaks gave me the support system and tools to become a strong leader, organizer, artist, activist, and human being. This dynamic organization not only grows youth into artists, but into passionate change makers. They cultivate space for marginalized groups and individuals in need of safety and support. They are amazing employers, coworkers, and mentors, but most importantly I am very blessed to be able to call them my family. I give Arts Corps, Youth Speaks, and its staff credit not only for shaping me as an artist and activist, but for giving me a new found passion for life.”

Art isn’t a want for youth, it’s a need. Arts Corps is one of many youth arts organizations around the country that knows this and lives by it. It is a sad day when this country tells our young people that the arts don’t matter because it is telling them that what they need doesn’t matter, that what inspires their passion is not a priority. It tells them, in essence, that they don’t matter.

At Arts Corps, we believe that youth matter and that the arts have the power to give youth a deepened belief in their own capacity to learn, take risks, persist and achieve.

If you believe in the power of the arts, please write to your congress members to show your support.

In the spirit of creativity and community,
Arts Corps

 

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