CNY Schools Receive $17,430 in Grants for Art Partnerships – art$TART Helps Children Learn Through the Arts

(Syracuse, NY, January 17, 2006) – Onondaga, Madison, Chenango, and Cortland County schools have received art$TART arts in education grants of up to $2500 each. Administered by Syracuse-based Partners for Arts Education (PAE), the grants help students meet New York State learning standards by having teachers partner with local artists and use the arts to strengthen classroom learning.

The arts in education projects will happen during the spring semester of 2006. This year’s partnerships include:
Onondaga County:
Cicero-North Syracuse High School 11th graders with Onondaga Historical Association, Vanessa Johnson, storytelling, Quraysh Ali Lansana, poetry

Morgan Road Elementary 5th and 6th graders with Ginger Dunlap-Dietz, ceramic arts
The New School K – 6th graders with Tom Huff, sculpture

Nottingham High School 10 – 12 graders with Syracuse Stage, Lauren Unbekant, theater arts, Ann Clarke, fiber arts

Nottingham High School 10th graders with NYS Early Music Association, Peter Hedrick, music

Madison County:
Hamilton Central School 12th graders with Glenn McClure, music

Chenango County:
Norwich High School 10th – 12th graders with Bonnie Gale, basketmaking

Cortland County:
McGraw Elementary 3rd graders with Nancy Preston, puppet theater

A unique aspect of the art$TART program is that it places practicing artists and cultural organization professionals in the classroom for an extended period of time. The artists meet with students several times over a school year or semester. Academic teachers are trained by PAE on how to best utilize the partnership and are provided models of how to integrate New York State Educational Standards and the arts.

Over the past five years, 90 schools in 9 CNY counties have been funded with a total of over $142,000. The New York State Council on the Arts provides funds for art$TART.

Further information is available by contacting Sue Stonecash at Partners for Arts Education, (315) 234-9911, or on the PAE web site.


Project Profiles:
Cicero-North Syracuse HS - "Struggles" is an interdisciplinary project which pairs Regents Honors students taking 11th grade English with average and below average Regents students taking 11th grade United States History & Government. The project integrates 19th- and 20th-century African-American literature and poetry with the history of African-Americans through four phases in 19th- and 20th-century United States history: Abolition, Reconstruction, the Harlem Renaissance and the Civil Rights Movement. Students will work in collaborative groups to produce reflection logs and original poems as they work with two visiting artists to gain knowledge, awareness, and empathy for the struggles of African-Americans. The project helps students meet NYS Standards in visual, dramatic, and literary arts, English language arts, and social studies.

Morgan Road Elementary (Liverpool CSD) - "Creating Community Through the Arts" builds on poetry created in a residency with Rachel Guido DeVries prior to this project. It integrates poetry, visual arts and music via commonalities of imagery, rhythm, pattern, form, and texture. Artist Ginger Dunlap-Dietz partners with 5th- grade, 6th-grade, Art, and Music teachers to help students translate poetic elements into a ceramic wall mural that will represent the school community and its commitment to Character Education. The project helps students meet NYS Standards in visual, musical, and literary arts, and English language arts.

The New School (private) - "ArtStoneWorks" introduces K-6 students to Native American art, culture, and history through Seneca-Cayuga sculptor Tom Huff's instruction in soapstone carving and presentation of his own work, other Native artists' 3-dimensional pieces, slides and artifacts, and personal narrative on Native American cultures. Students choose an animal, and develop a visual and writing portfolio including photos, drawings, myth stories, and their carvings. They explore the use and power of symbols and art to make cultural ideas tangible and to transmit culture. The project helps students meet NYS Standards in visual arts, English language arts, and social studies.

Nottingham HS (Syracuse CSD) - In "The Layering Project," students in Advanced Art and English will explore the meshing of text and image and its connection to Syracuse Stage's production of Intimate Apparell. After reading the script, students kinesthetically analyze scenes, focusing on the cultural context of the work. They do improvisations exploring culture, status and metaphor, and create written performance pieces. They then work with the fiber artist to create visual interpretations of their texts. Art work will be installed in the Syracuse Stage lobby during the play's run. This project is a model for the Creative Arts Academy at Nottingham HS. The project helps students meet NYS Standards in visual, musical, and literary arts, and English language arts.

Nottingham HS (Syracuse CSD) - In the hands of Baroque monarchs and their governments, the arts became symbols of power and vehicles for propaganda. Students explore the connection between those symbols and those of our own time in "Interactive Sessions on Baroque Culture." As part of the English curriculum, students read 17th- and 18th-century plays, then get on stage, making connections to the social norms and political realities of the time. Nottingham band students rehearse period pieces with NYS Baroque musicians, and core students attend a concert. The project helps students meet NYS Standards in visual, musical, dramatic, and literary arts, English language arts, social studies, and languages other than English.

Hamilton CS - In "Galileo's Universe," Math 12/Pre-Calculus students recreate several of Galileo's experiments, using measurements and calculations like his. Exploring connections between numbers, ratios, variables, etc. and musical sound to convey mathematical ideas through music, they work with composer Glenn McClure to convert calculations into a musical composition. They present the music to the community in a concert in May. The project helps students meet NYS Standards in visual, musical, and digital media arts, English language arts, social studies, and math.

Norwich HS - In "Willow to Charcoal - Phase 1" high school students establish a permanent willow bed on previously unused land. They use mathematical and scientific concepts in its design, including the study of soil, climate, botany, and surveying, and study historical and modern aspects of the willow industry. In later phases, students will construct a kiln and burn the willow to make drawing charcoal for classroom use throughout the school. The project helps students meet NYS Standards in visual art, English language arts, social studies, math, science, and physical education.

McGraw Elementary - Using fairy tales, puppetry, dance, music, masks and mime, students in " Fee Fi Fo Fum: Giant Steps Forward for Genre " explore how genre influences the way we look at and think about the messages we receive from literature. Students see a professional puppet production, then choose one fairy tale from several they have read to adapt into an original puppet production. They construct puppets, sets, and costumes, and perform the play in school and at a local gallery. The project helps students meet NYS Standards in dramatic, musical, and literary arts, English language arts, social studies, and math.

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Partners for Arts Education inspires learning and leadership for arts in education in Central New York and throughout New York State. We provide funding and support to deepen and enrich educational experiences in and through the arts for students, teachers and artists.

Partners for Arts Education
Delavan Center Suite 221  501 W. Fayette St.  Syracuse, NY  13202
315.234.9911  info@arts4ed.org  www.arts4ed.org

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