Creating social, economic, and educational change through the arts & technology

The session will begin by briefly sharing the historical roots of using the arts to create social change (60's era, Harlem Renaissance, etc.) and how the disenfranchised have risen out of oppression through the arts. Arts and technology provide innovative solutions - economically, educationally and socially - to meet the needs of the community. We will share research-based models that work, and how we are implementing these core concepts into a new alternative school, with arts and technology at the core, that we are developing with the Rochester City School District, community-based entrepreneurial and job training programs, and in- and out-of-school residencies. We will challenge ideas about ethnicity and cultural competance interactively and provide case study examples of hard-to-reach and "tough" youth.

Friday 11:00-12:30

Conference Strand: Education/Policy Reform

Educators: ideas on ways to teaching the standards using arts and technology; helping students to see the impact they can have on their community and practical ways to use their talents; ideas on working with hard-to-reach students

Artists: how to use your art form toward creating educational and social reform; challenges to the way you connect with others; practical ideas on connecting with the hardest-to-reach kids

Organizational Administrators: the effectiveness of the arts and technology and its impact on creating social change; challenges on cultural competance; new economic models

Educational Administrators: new ways to envision school set-up; reinvention of schools

Community/Parents: will come away being challenged to think about themselves in relation to others differently; will have their current perceptions challenged; will see the usefulness of the arts and technology in bringing about multi-level change

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Kristin Rapp is Founder and Executive Director of ArtPeace, Inc. which provides in- and out-of-school residencies, youth employment, entrepreneurial programs, and professional development with arts, recreation and technology at the core. Kristin is a therapist, social worker, and artist who has worked with a variety of populations, including developmentally disabled, chemically dependent, mentally ill, and gifted, as well as kids in foster care and the juvenile justice system. She wrote a model for an alternative school and a large scale Arts & Technology Center that are in development. Kris works with her husband, David, developing multimedia educational tools for TheMediaTribe.