LIVING ARTS BLOG
Living Arts Joins the Detroit School of Arts Pathways Initiative
Living Arts is proud to be an arts partner with the DPSCD Detroit School of Arts (DSA) Pathways Initiative! “DSA Pathways is what collaboration in the arts can and should be…”
Executive Director, Alissa Novoselick with ISA Program Manager, Brent Smith and Program Director, Erika Villarreal Bunce along with fellow DSA Pathways Partners InsideOut Literary Arts attended this morning’s initiative launch.
Living Arts is proud to be an arts partner with the Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) Detroit School of Arts (DSA) Pathways Initiative! “DSA Pathways is what collaboration in the arts can and should be. We are so excited to work with our peers—and with a partner like DPSCD—to ensure that students are the beneficiaries of our arts-rich city. Utilizing organizational strengths we are able to come together for something that is larger and more intentional than any one of us could achieve alone,” stated Living Arts’ Executive Director, Alissa Novoselick. See the press release below for details on the exciting initiative that launched this morning! For more information on the DSA Pathways Initiative, visit DSA Pathways.
Adapting to New Curriculum: Expeditionary Learning in the Artist Residency
Living Arts has been working hard to train our teaching artist team in the suite of new curriculum offerings at Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD).
4th grade students at Schulze Academy use theater and writing to learn animal defense mechanisms in a residency led by Teaching Artists Karilú Forshee and Aja Dier. All photos by Karilú Forshee.
Living Arts has been working hard to train our teaching artist team in the suite of new curriculum offerings at Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD). This past summer in particular, our K-8 team went through training with an Expeditionary Learning Specialist, building on their long-term knowledge about arts integration and honing into the specific areas in the curriculum our work fits. In addition, our administrative team was trained by EL administrative staff. Lots of great conversation and learning happened!
Teaching Artists Karilú Forshee and Aja Dier led a residency in Ms. Swaby and Mrs. McGhee's 4th grade classrooms at Shulze Academy. The Module the teaching artists and teachers will be focusing on is ELA G4:M2, Units 1-3, Researching to Build Knowledge and Teach Others: Animal Defense Mechanisms, with the guiding questions being: 1. How do animals' bodies and behaviors help them survive? 2. How can writers use knowledge from their research to inform and entertain? The students task is a choose-your-own adventure animal defense mechanism narrative.
A reflection from Teaching Artist Aja Dier:
Karilú and I have worked together onstage and it was so exciting to team up with her in the classroom to facilitate a five week ELA/Drama Arts Integration residency at Schulze Elementary. This five week residency began with a poetry workshop to wrap up the 4th grade poetry unit in Ms. Swaby’s class. I performed some of my original poetry as well as “My Garden” by Thomas Edward Brown, where we discussed examples of metaphor and “Alphabet City” from the play Slanguage by Universes where the students learned about alliteration.
We were excited to dive into the next module: Animal Defense Mechanisms. We worked with animals discussed in the text. Before we got to the material, each class began with the “Hello Song” led by Karilú and a I would lead a physical and vocal warm-up. The students embodied the movements and sounds of monarch butterflies, springboks, ostriches, armadillos, red robins, chickadees and Florida scrub jays. We then discussed their natural predators such as rodents, cheetahs, hawks, bobcats and mice.
Karilú and I wanted the students to have a hand in creating their own theater piece. The 4th graders worked together in groups to write a first person narrative about the animals and their predators. Karilú and I then took their writings and turned them into scripts where some students were predators and some students were prey. We rehearsed each scene, and made revisions to the script. On the last week of the residency, we brought in costumes for the final performance. The students not only had a strong grasp of the material, but they fully embodied these animals. We were blown away by their commitment and excited to see that they were having so much fun!
We've hired a New In-School Arts Program Manager!
Brent is an educator, recording artist, and event producer. Deeply rooted in community building, Brent makes connections between artists, schools, foundations, and businesses.
Meet Brent Smith!
Photo credit: Chauncia VanLowe
Brent is an educator, recording artist, and event producer. Deeply rooted in community building, Brent makes connections between artists, schools, foundations, and businesses. For the past six years, Brent has facilitated youth engagement: teaching media arts, youth entrepreneurship, and critical social thinking in K-12 schools across Detroit and Wayne County.
He loves designing musical experiences with audiences large and small, and believes that art and music are essential to student development.
Brent is excited to work and build with the Living Arts Detroit team!
We’re very excited to welcome Brent with all his Detroit K-12 experience and artistry to our team! Please join us in welcoming Brent Smith to the Living Arts family.
Updates from In-School Arts Residencies
It’s been a busy summer and start of the school year for our In-School Arts team. Here are just some of the amazing highlights!
It’s been a busy summer and start of the school year for our In-School Arts team. Here are just some of the amazing highlights!
Teaching Artist Randy Fisher leads students in a latin dance lesson.
July
We began a new partnership with the Boys and Girls Club of Southeastern Michigan. Providing step, latin dance, and jit at the Richard & Patricia Donahey Club in Belleville and the Fauver-Martin Club Highland Park. During the school year, we will be partnering with the Dick & Sandy Dauch Campus NFL/YET in Cody-Rouge this school year. Teaching Artists Miryam Johnson and Randy Fisher will teach step and latin dance respectively.
Speaking of jit, we also began a new partnership with House of Jit, a dance ensemble led-by dancer and Teaching Artist Mike Manson. Check out this awesome video of Mike in action:
August
We hosted a training for our drama-based teaching artists on the Expeditionary Learning curriculum, the first step in establishing a program track to serve K-8 students in DPSCD through Drama-ELA arts integration. Thanks to Powerhouse Productions for hosting us!
September
We have a new partnership with GOAL Line—Get On And Learn— a bus line linking public and charter schools in Northwest Detroit with this after-school programming. This is a new and unique partnership between the City of Detroit, the Community Education Commission, DPSCD and charters, the YMCA and the Northwest Activities Center. We are one of just a handful of arts partners who will be bringing after school arts to over 300 students.
We are excited to launch this new year with the GOAL Line and so is Mayor Mike Duggan. At Friday’s GOAL Line Orientation, the Mayor stated “We have to have a space, a program [in the city of Detroit] as good as in any suburb.” He went on to say “We have to have first class providers for our kids. This is a really special initiative for me—I’m just so excited!”
Teaching Artists Maddy Rager and Morgan Hutson will lead creative movement and drama classes after school four days a week at the Northwest Activities Center.
Mayor Mike Duggan speaking at the GOAL Line orientation on Friday, September 20.
Creating Meaningful Partnerships: An Interview with Teaching Artist Katy Schoetzow
One of Living Arts’ core values is partnership. By cultivating relationships with schools, educators, families, and institutions, Living Arts creates collaborative and creative learning experiences for Detroit's youth. One such partnership is between Living Arts, Shulze Academy, and Teaching Artist Katy Schoetzow. As we enter the fifth year of this partnership, we interviewed Katy about her work and collaboration with her students and the Shulze faculty.
Teaching Artist Katy Schoetzow with her DHH students.
One of Living Arts’ core values is partnership. By cultivating relationships with schools, educators, families, and institutions, Living Arts creates collaborative and creative learning experiences for Detroit's youth. One such partnership is between Living Arts, Shulze Academy, and Teaching Artist Katy Schoetzow. As we enter the fifth year of this partnership, we interviewed Katy about her work and collaboration with her students and the Shulze faculty.
Krystle Cheirs-Roberts: How long have you worked as a Teaching Artist for Living Arts at Shulze Academy?
Katy Schoetzow: I started in 2015.
KCR: What population of students do you serve (ages/special needs) and why?
KS: The program has evolved a lot since I've been there. Now I work with deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) students ages 2-9 and emotionally impaired (EI) students in first through sixth grades. In our original residencies, these groups were mainstreamed with other classes which meant:
a) class sizes were very large and
b) the material was only modified to fit their needs instead of created intentionally for those needs
Now that I'm directly in the classroom it's much more focused and these kids are at the forefront of their experiences.
KCR: How did you get into working with this population of students?
KS: Before moving to Detroit I worked with VSA in Grand Rapids (now Artists Creating Together) as a Program Manager and Teaching Artist so I had previous experience with special needs populations. Also when you're looking at the social/emotional curriculum goals for DHH and EI students, communication is the main tenet and drama is a natural fit for that.
KCR: What inspires you about working with your students?
KS: I particularly enjoy working with the DHH kids because it's very much an environment of mutual learning. When we establish dialogue for a scene we're working on, they teach me the sign as they're learning their parts. We make choices and build our stories together which provides fantastic insight into their lives and personal experiences. It feels like a true collaboration.
KCR: What relationships have you built in your classrooms?
KS: I've been in these specific classrooms for two years now (and before that many of these students were in my mainstreamed groups) and the great thing about a special education program is that kids aren't shuffled around to new teachers every year. So there are a couple of kids I've had for four years now. We don't have to spend the first have of the residency establishing trust and building a foundation for the work we're doing. It's also great because there are always a mix of new and old faces each year and it gives the returning students an opportunity to become leaders and mentors for the new kids. The relationships with the teachers have also benefited from this. We know what to expect so when we start the new year we're both full of ideas right away.
KCR: Why is this work important to you?
KS: Consistency is incredibly important for children. Special programs that come in for a couple of weeks and teach something new are great, but a program that returns every year and builds off of the success of the previous year has so much more impact on the academic success and personal growth of these students. The kids know they can count on me to keep coming back so when I ask for contributions and commitments from them, they are more than willing and what we've been able to create is much more personal and brave because of that.
Dance Me a Story: Developing Early Literacy Skills through Movement and Creative Dance
On Saturday, February 2nd, the Living Arts Youth Dance Ensemble was invited to participate as honored guests at the Detroit Dhamaal 2019 Bollywood Fusion Competition.
Held at the historic Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts in Downtown Detroit, the competition featured Bollywood dance troupes from colleges across the nation. Board member Matthew Nahan spoke about the Living Arts programs and the value of teaching artists in the community. Nahan also introduced the Youth Dance Ensemble performance.
Photos: Erika Villarreal BunceAt the age of 9, Lorna Park started her work with young children. Ms. Park is proudly still in early childhood care as an educator at House of Joy Child Care in Detroit. Using her body artfully is important to Ms. Park "Nurturing a love of learning is a priority to me. The arts help us to get where we need to be mentally, physically, and spiritually to receive experiences. Movement helps us to follow the child".
In partnership with Help Me Grow Michigan, Living Arts hosted two professional development workshops for early childhood educators at the Detroit PAL on Friday, February 15th and Saturday, February 16th. Seventy educators, including Ms. Park, attended the workshops over the course of both days. The workshops, lead by Master Teaching Artist Kimberli Boyd, provided educators with methods to incorporate movement and dance in their work around early literacy.
Using chants, songs, stories, and props, Boyd demonstrated developmentally appropriate strategies to support literacy skills in the early childhood classroom. Beyond literacy, these strategies support social and emotional growth, as well as whole body awareness and fine and gross motor skill function.
Young children are able to gain understanding of the world around them by learning how they move through the world. “I believe that the Arts are powerful enough to cause transformation, and that dance is empowering enough to move hearts, minds, and bodies — and to revolutionize learning,” said Ms. Boyd. Participants of the workshop received certification for their time.