News
Arts Ignite in the conversation
March and April were exciting months for Arts Ignite as we were invited to share at two conferences in New York City – the Whole Girl Education National Conference and the Arts In Education Roundtable’s Face 2 Face Conference! We are committed to the advancement of arts education in our communities and grateful to continue conversations on how we can best support young people’s growth through the arts. Whether you’re an educator, supporter, or admirer of the arts, we hope you’ll find this information helpful and insightful.
Arts Ignite’s session, “The Art of Connection: Building Connected Communities Through Creativity” at the Whole Girl Education National Conference was an interactive and informative presentation for educators and school leaders on the power of creativity as a tool for strengthening community.
The Arts Ignite programs team and Teaching Artist Taylor Symone Jackson exemplified how our Program Standards and core values – creative capacity, community, and courage – can be integrated into any classroom, opening the door for students to build a strong community with their peers. Examples centered on our year-long Let’s Dance! Residency at The Young Women’s Leadership School of Staten Island (TYWLS SI), one of the schools in the Whole Girl Education network. Similar to students at TYWLS SI, session attendees learned dance vocabulary, worked in small and large groups, and explored creative collaboration through jazz dance.
Thank you Whole Girl National Education Conference for having us!
Arts Ignite’s Deputy Executive Director for Programs and Operations, Lindsay Roberts Greene was joined by three speakers at the Arts Ignite Face 2 Face session, “Building Community for Newcomer Youth Through the Arts.” Dr. Simona Florentina Boroianu from our Waterloo partnership, Teaching Artist Quynn Johnson, and our Curriculum and Instruction Specialist, Dr. Chanelle Wilson shared approaches to building community in classrooms through the arts with English Language Learners and Newcomer Youth. These methods and guidelines discussed with all three panelists align closely with Arts Ignite’s Program Standards and are incredibly important within our programs like Newcomer Youth Summer Academy (NYSA) and Arts Ignite Waterloo!, both of which support ELL and Newcomer Youth with the arts.
Dr. Simona Florentina Boroianu demonstrated the importance of taking the extra step to ensure Newcomer Youth and ELL students are set up for success in the classroom by using creative and inclusive communication approaches like imagery, hand gestures, and allowing for group work.
Teaching Artist Quynn Johnson got the audience on their feet to demonstrate arts integrated strategies to support literacy through the power and joy of tap!
Dr. Chanelle Wilson discussed how educators can build art lessons in any art form to support culturally responsive teaching.
It was an honor to present at Face 2 Face, thank you for having us!
