Posted on Wednesday, September 9th, 2020 at 9:18 pm Written by Arts Corps
Realizar un programa para después de la escuela es muy gratificante cuando uno tiene la oportunidad de trabajar con los chicos en persona, tengo haciendo este trabajo durante casi 20 años y nunca nos habíamos enfrentado a una situación como la que estamos viviendo ahora debido esta pandemia. Una parte importante de nuestro programa son nuestro colegas de otras agencias que nos ayudan a proporcionar diferentes actividades durante nuestro programa. Uno de nuestros grandes colegas es Arts Corps, normalmente ellos vendrían a nuestro sitio a realizar sus diferentes actividades, pero como lo mencione anteriormente ahora tenemos que adaptarnos a esta nueva realidad. Cuando la directora de programas me hablo de una actividad que se llevaría a cabo en nuestro sitio donde viven las familias, mi primera reacción fue escéptica, los maestros del arte vendrían a hacer dos presentaciones para los estudiantes y sus familias. Honestamente no pensé que esto funcionaria debido a que teníamos que tener en consideración toda la logística para llevar a cabo dicha actividad. Además, que no estaba segura de que tanto las familias participarían.
Fue muy grato darme cuenta de que estaba equivocada, las dos actividades que los maestros presentaron, no solo fueron hermosas, sino que además trajeron a las familias mucha alegría. Fue maravilloso ver a los chicos asomándose a la ventana, cantando, bailando, tomando fotos y videos y disfrutando de las canciones que una de la maestra presento. La actividad de la segunda semana fue increíble ya que estaba relacionada con la cultura de las familias con las cuales trabajamos, yo pude inmediatamente darme cuenta de que ofrecerles algo culturalmente relevante para ellos es muy importante. Mi corazón se alegro mucho al ver a los padres bailando en su balcón y a los chicos salir de su apartamento a bailar. En estos momentos de angustia y soledad poder proporcionar un poco de alegría a las familias es maravilloso.
Gracias Arts Corps por su gran trabajo, es un placer trabajar con ustedes.
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-fundedHighline 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
Posted on Tuesday, July 2nd, 2019 at 9:57 pm Written by Arts Corps
“The really exciting thing about emerging tech is that it’s constantly changing, and that means that anybody could shape it. And it means that students of color could shape it.” – Netsanet Tjirongo, filmmaker, LIT teaching artist
This year I’ve had the privilege of documenting a revolutionary new program at Arts Corps, in partnership with Reel Grrls, called LIT!
Fabian is scanned so he can be turned into a virtual 360 model.
LIT, which stands for Learning Immersive Technology, engaged students from Big Picture High School in Virtual Reality game development, audio production, and 360 filmmaking in order to develop as artists, technology innovators, and to prepare them for 21st Century Careers in the emerging arts and tech industries. The students were able to explore all three types of technology with expert teaching artists and then dove into one area for their final projects, collaborating between departments as they would in a real-world production environment.
Noel works with Matt to create original music in Logic.
When talking with Noel, one of the students focusing on music production, he showed me the four tracks he had created for another student, Fabian’s VR experience. He also mentioned that he really liked music production and that he wanted to continue coming to the studio to make music at Totem Star – one of our partner organizations that runs the recording studio that the students used during LIT – even after the program was over.
Chatting with Vanessa – whom you’ll meet in this short video – I learned that she not only produced music for her friend Faith’s 360 film, but also enjoyed the process so much that she produced music to pair with various paintings that she was creating for a school project on Chicano art murals and the Chicano movement to fight for the rights of farmworkers.
Yet another student, Azariah, recalled how she had been interested in writing screenplays since she was five years old, and through the LIT program, she learned how to professionally format a script. She now sees herself turning her vision into something that people would enjoy watching on screen.
Eli helps an Arts Corps staff member adjust the headset to view his VR experience.
It’s clear that the students in the program gained much more than the ability to model a virtual world, capture a 360 scene, or put sounds together to make a song. At the culmination, all of the students were finding applications for these new skills in their everyday lives. They were able to talk confidently about the technology, talk about their work, and represent themselves proudly at public presentations in front of friends, family, and industry experts.
This video is a window into these students’ experiences, and it is only a preview. The extended feature will be released later this year.
The extended version of this film will give more context to the landscape of immersive technology outside of just the LIT program. It will explore the possibilities of what the industry could look like if young people who have historically been denied access to emerging technology, are at the forefront of shaping its’ future.
Posted on Wednesday, June 19th, 2019 at 10:38 pm Written by Arts Corps
In this residency, Arts Corps teaching artist Meredith Arena integrated monologue writing and performance with the Westward Expansion curriculum. Students learned basic performance skills and used their imagination to write from the perspective of someone in a different historical time, considering both the personal and political lives of their characters. Students considered many perspectives on Westward Expansion. The collaborating teachers challenged themselves to help students understand the perspectives that get ignored in this area of study, the Native Americans whose land was being stolen and the slaves who accompanied the white colonizers on their journey.
Students rehearse their monologues, gently closing their ears so they can focus on their tools of voice.Students perform for one another and provide peer feedback on their performance and writing.Students perform for one another and provide peer feedback on their performance and writing.Students watch a performance and participate in group peer feedback.Class edits their monologue scripts together.Read More
Posted on Wednesday, November 15th, 2017 at 10:33 pm Written by Arts Corps
The youth in Meredith Arena’s poetry class at Spruce Street produced a plethora of poetry last school year. Their collective words have been assembled into a book, which you can download and read below.
Arts Corps has a long-standing partnership with Spruce Street Inn, which provides safe residential services for youth who are in crisis. This class was taught by Meredith Arena and supported by Ludin Mejia.
Here is a sampling of the voices in the book:
Yeah he’s black, but he’s my EQUAL
Yeah he’s Mexican, but we’re the SAME
Yeah he’s Asian, but we’re one TOGETHER
WE ARE EQUAL
-Rich
Personal Growth
With no one to aspire to
and no one to lean on,
I created my own path,
free of hatred and con.
A stretched out journey
with no simple short cuts.
I soon realized every experience is an opportunity for learning.
Posted on Thursday, June 29th, 2017 at 7:47 pm Written by Arts Corps
By Angela Brown
White Center Heights Elementary 6th graders celebrate the end of two years of Arts Corps’ Highline Creative Schools Initiative as they prepare to head to middle school this fall.
Arts Corps’ Creative Schools Initiative (CSI) just wrapped another year of arts integrated instruction in Highline Public Schools! Almost 600 students in 5th and 6th grade SW King County elementary schools experienced Language Arts classes embedded with theater and visual arts. This marks the end of the second year of instruction for our Department of Education funded research program Highline Creative Schools.
In collaboration with classroom teachers, Arts Corps teaching artists are supporting social-emotional skill development through arts-integrated instruction and a focus on helping students develop growth mindsets. Through this arts education program we are observing how pre-middle school students learn and what inspires them.
White Center Heights 6th graders Annie, Sahra, and Lydia rehearse group performance.
Focused on building community in the classroom, CSI activities challenge students to speak their truth and engage with their own learning processes. Students work to develop a sense of belonging, make effort to persevere, self-regulate, collaborate, and empathize with one another.
Kylah, a 6th grader at Gregory Heights, shared that during Arts Corps lessons students are interactive with each other, one big group, and helpful towards each other. White Center Heights Elementary held an impromptu poetry slam to wrap up 6th grade theater writing projects. Teaching artist Jéhan Òsanyìn has been working with 5th and 6th grade classrooms at White Center Heights and Mount View Elementary since Fall of 2015. During a focus group with program evaluators one 6th grader said during Arts Corps’ integrated classes, “We can express ourselves more, we have more confidence, we can challenge ourselves more.”
Almost one hundred 6th graders gathered in a tightly packed classroom last month to witness-the-litness of these bold 6th grade voices. In theater integration, students performed a character-based literary monologue they had written or performed a persuasive spoken word poem responding to a social issue. Student generated topics at the slam included speeches about immigration, deportation, racism, injustice, discrimination, equal rights, civil rights for LGBTQAI+, same sex marriage, police brutality, war, violence, colonization, President Trump, the U.S. travel ban, border control policy, gender, sexual assault, social anxiety, low wages, workers’ rights, animal rights, and pollution.
Before the slam begins, students gather in chairs placed in a theater style around the stage and Jéhan explains what a poetry slam is, what to expect, and how the student audience can encourage performers with soft hands or snapping fingers. Students bravely rose, group by group, to perform their speeches in front of peers and teachers, some poets performing solo or with teacher partners.
White Center Heights Elementary 6th grade students perform collaborative spoken word during theater arts integrated instruction. Featuring classroom teacher Tien Vo and students Amini, Jonathan, Jason, and Charlie.
Adding to students’ embedded theatrical instruction with Jéhan, the students had an equal number of sessions of visual arts integrated instruction with visual teaching artists Nate Herth and Sabrina Chacon-Barajas. Both worked with students on personal narrative writing and persuasive essays. 6th grade students wrote character-based literary essays leading to a character portrait and wrote a persuasive essay that was then expressed through a 3-dimensional advocacy pop-up poster.
Hazel Valley Elementary 6th grade students Esmeralda, Ana, and Trevontay prepare a performance about climate change and polar bears in Lauren’s theater integration class.
In the next 6-week session, 5th graders used drawing and printmaking to become artist-
Mount View 5th grader in dual language class works on persuasive argument poster.
activist for an issue. Visual arts teaching artist, Carina del Rosario, and theatre teaching artist, Lauren Appel, lead sessions at Gregory Heights and Hazel Valley Elementary schools, respectively. In theater integration 5th graders used personal narrative to perform a collaborative spoken word piece or they performed a scene to argue their stance on a current issue. 5th grade visual arts integration work included reading a graphic novel and writing a personal narrative expressing their story as a comic.
Coming in fall 2017, Highline public middle schools can expect a cohort of powerful 7th graders to arrive – ready to put art and growth mindsets on the middle school agenda. They will join a community of 8th grade Creative School alums who have experienced the joy of learning through the arts. Arts Corps looks forward to this fall and the return of a fresh crew of young artists and writers.
Angela Brown is Arts Corps’ Highline Creative Schools Initiative’s Digital Media and Evaluation Manager. She is a writer, photographer, and botanical hydrologist living in White Center with her partner and semi-famous cocker spaniel.
