The Greenwich Arts Council’s Youth@Art Committee is designed to reach out to all children in our community but especially those who don’t have ready access to an arts program or arts experience. To that end, the GAC has created in school and after school artist-led workshops for participating schools, building upon what may be taught in the classroom, in an effort to expand and enhance each child’s experience and perspective on life using the arts as a tool for this purpose.
A key aspect of the GAC after-school workshops is the development of an arts workshop program that can be carried out in other schools. The programs stress the value of guiding young people in an appreciation and understanding of all the arts disciplines. The workshops, which give youngsters hands-on experience in developing their artistic ideas, are carried out on both a scheduled and informal basis and have produced exciting results for the children involved and their instructors. Whenever applicable, the workshops are coordinated with the The Bendheim Gallery’s exhibition schedule, often with the participation of the artists represented.
In 2004, the GAC, under the guidance of GAC volunteers Dr. Carol Sarabun, recently retired principal at Hamilton Avenue School, and Lynda james Carroll, artist and art teacher at Greenwich High School and co-designer of a similar docent program at the Aldrich Museum, created the GAC Student Docent Program which enables young people to gain increased knowledge of and appreciation for the visual and performing arts through thought-provoking guided experiences with current exhibits and performances, while meeting selected program goals and requirements of the Board of Educations. Dr. Sarabun and Ms. Carroll, along with Janet Clausi, GAC board advisor and chair of the Youth@Art Committee, as well as members of that same committee chose to pursue this project mainly because it continues to help fill the needs of an underserved community.
An exciting new initiative of the Youth@Art Program is MINDS IN MOTION. Based on Dr. Howard Gardner’s theory of “multiple intelligences” and different ways of learning, elementary students are taught math skill through dance, movement, and music. Thanks to a $25,000 grant from the Greenwich Alliance for Education “Reaching Out Grants Program,” the GAC will offer four 8-week sessions of MINDS IN MOTION (2 in the fall of ‘07, 2 in the spring of ‘08) at the Hamilton Avenue Magnet School and Glenville School.
Youth@Art does a caulk mural at Morgan Manhattan Moving
For more information about or to participate in the GAC’s Youth@Art/Student Docent Program, please contact the GAC office at 203-622-3998.
Youth@Art/Student Docent Program and Workshops
