News
DANA Foundation Funds Artist Training
Posted Mar 21, 03:59 PM
In early 2007, the Mississippi Alliance for Arts Education received a grant from the DANA Foundation. The purpose of the grant is to train artists to work with teachers in school settings so that students may benefit from authentic experiences in specific art forms. The goal of the series of workshops is to increase the number of artists included in the Mississippi Arts Commission’s Arts in Education Roster. Schools that engage artists routinely consult the roster for a description of an artist’s skills and a recommendation of the quality of their work in the arts and in education.
In each two-day workshop, participants will learn to plan arts experiences for students and how to lead professional development workshops for teachers. Artists will learn to make connections between their art form and what students must know and be able to do. Workshop presenters will be teaching artists from the Mississippi Arts Commission’s Arts in Education Roster and artist/educators affiliated with the Mississippi Alliance for Arts Education. A partnership with the Whole Schools Initiative has afforded valuable insight to participants concerning arts experiences within the classroom, current educational practice in arts integration and the opportunity to engage with school personnel involved in the initiative.
Teaching artist Althea Jerome discusses her enthusiastic last encounter with the workshop:
WOW! What an experience! You were SO MUCH FUN to spend two days with. After I got home and looked at the photos I took, I realized that you weren’t just fun, you are amazing. We had some great talent, great ideas, great potential professional development workshop proposals, etc., etc. I hope everybody has begun the process of reflecting about what went on, and thinking about the next steps. If you have trouble deciding what to do next, I recommend the Cubic Shuffle as an energizer and stimulus to applying for the MAC Arts Education roster before March 3rd. ;-)
Please let me know if I may be helpful to you as you contemplate how you will prepare to serve the K-12 students of Mississippi in the future.
With gratitude for the great work you’re all doing in Mississippi,
—Althea Jerome
