Dawn Marie remembers sharing information from her earliest recollections — at four going up to a stranger who was smoking, and telling him he shouldn’t because it was bad for him. She was trained as a high school educator, and taught English and Music for three years at a Catholic School in Wheaton, Il. After leaving formal high school teaching to pursue performance, she felt a pull to teach. As she broached the prospect, something became very real to her — she would have more of an impact if she helped artists teach than if she taught herself. It was a simple numbers reality: She could teach 10 kids at a time, but if she worked with 10 artists, a hundred could be reached. Many years later, these principles laid the foundation for Fine Arts for Kids of Logan Square.
Fine Arts for Kids of Logan Square is committed to fostering the creativity and imagination of both children and our collaborating artist/teachers. Fine Arts for Kids of Logan Square recruits professional artists in Art, Dance, Music, Theatre, and Photo/Film/Video and trains them to teach children creative process. Since 1999, this program has introduced many artistic disciplines and the possibility of artistic collaboration to hundreds of children in our community. Encouraging artists to teach children allows them the opportunity to experience creative freedom that they may have felt themselves as children; it links them with their own creative center, and focuses them on the essentials of their own artistic discipline.
Based on a neighborhood-organizing construct, Fine Arts for Kids of Logan Square goes to the places kids are. Thus, partnership with schools and youth organizations has been integral to the success of the program. Fine Arts for Kids of Logan Square enjoys widespread support in the East Logan Square neighborhood, including donated space and resources from partner organization, Nazareth United Church of Christ and on-going contracted programming at Logan Square Neighborhood Association's community learning centers.
Here’s just a sampling of the Fine Arts for Kids classes. In each of these classes, the voices of the children have been encouraged to come forth. They draw, film, write, photograph, direct, and perform their stories. Here’s a glimpse:
VIDEO POETRY • VIDEO PRODUCTION • CREATIVE PLAY • COLLAGE ART PHOTOGRAPHIC COLLAGE • CREATIVE MOVEMENT • DRAWING & PAINTING PINHOLE PHOTOGRAPHY • WRITING & PERFORMING FOLKTALES • CIRCUS ARTS • SHAKESPEARE & STAGE COMBAT • PHOTOGRAPHY & THEATRE • IMPROVISATION • STORY W/MUSIC • FOUND OBJECT SCULPTURE • SUNPRINTS: IMAGE & WORD • STORYTELLING: WRITING & PERFORMING GROUP STORIES • SOUND & MUSIC and more…!
| |
| |
• |
Provide quality fine arts education to Logan Square residents through partnerships regardless of their ability to pay |
| |
• |
Allow the arts to enhance the "I am" experience of each child |
|
• |
Introduce the arts as a vehicle to tell an individual or community’s story |
| |
• |
Foster creativity and imagination as a window of possibility |
| |
• |
Expose participants to professional art in action |
| |
• |
Connect artists with their creative center through teaching (and learning from) children |
|
• |
Provide professional, paid opportunities for artists to make and teach art |
| |
|
|
| |
| |
• |
All our artist/teachers are degreed in their discipline |
| |
• |
All our artist/teachers are trained in setting objectives, lesson planning and establishing effective classroom environments |
|
• |
Curriculum for each fall and spring session is developed based on the goals of the partner organization we serve, IL State Goals for the Arts, and the ideas of the artist |
| |
• |
Artist/teachers are given on-going feedback & guidance for weekly classes |
| |
• |
We maintain a 1:10 artist/student ratio in the classroom |
| |
• |
We group children by age level |
|
• |
A FAKLS supervisor is on-site whenever programming is occurring |
