It's all about community and the arts!
Feb 15, 2023
"The resilience and creativity of California’s arts and cultural field in these last three years has been remarkable. We are proud to be able to support the great work that California’s artists, culture bearers, and cultural workers are doing within our communities as an indelible part of our state’s identity.” - California Arts Council Director, Jonathan Moscone
As we enter the second half of the current school year, we are delighted to share with you some of the work our talented teaching artists, arts education specialists, and arts education partners will be working on. Thanks to an unprecedented amount of support in four program areas from the California Arts Council, Young Audiences of Northern California will be reaching students with vital and meaningful opportunities through the following:
Impact Projects: This project explores how arts curriculum can provide balance and engagement in the post-Covid classroom by partnering with two Bay Area public schools: Tenderloin Community School in San Francisco and Wren Avenue Elementary School in Concord to conduct culturally responsive in-school residencies to help low-income students rebuild frayed connections to school and support their social-emotional development.
Partners: California Arts Council, San Francisco Unified School District, and Mount Diablo Unified Schools.
Artists in School: Over the next two years, a customized roster of teaching artists will partner with all Vallejo Elementary Schools to provide essential arts education, integrate arts learning into core curriculum, and fill the gap in arts access for their students. Each school site will be provided with 10-week residencies beginning this March and running through December 2024.
Partners: California Arts Council and Vallejo City Unified School District.
Arts Education Exposure: This project supports middle and high school students to attend art performances and exhibits to support their social-emotional well-being. Through a carefully curated list of cultural assembly artists who participated in our DEAI professional training, including 2 returning artists, will provide free live assembly performances to students through our I Am/We Are program. The program uses the power of the arts to promote tolerance, understanding, belonging, and acceptance.
Participating artists and groups are AXIS Dance Company (ADC), San Francisco’s Gay Men’s Chorus (SFGMC), Manolo Davila/Common Threads, SoVoSo (Soul to the Voice to the Song), Kultura Kapwa, and Hip Hop Fundamentals.
Partners: California Arts Council.
Statewide and Regional Networks: This project supports our network of over 40 teaching artists, arts integration specialists, and Arts Ed partner organizations, through a series of professional development opportunities to strengthen arts education practices in the Bay Area to support and expand student learning. This year we have expanded our initiative, ‘Artist Connect’ to the entire arts education community within the local Bay Area to share their real experiences, challenges, and successes found through their everyday work in the classrooms. Past topics included their work in DEAI, trauma-informed practices, and how we can align the four essential elements of Young Audiences' practices to the current school environment. An environment where teachers are facing critical burn-out, students are academically falling behind, and social-emotional well-being must remain a priority for classroom teachers and faculty.
Partners: California Arts Council and Arts Education Community.
