LIVING ARTS BLOG
Meet Sicily McRaven: Detroit Wolf Trap Program Manager!
Meet Sicily McRaven! Some may know Sicily as a teaching artist, but for the past few months, Sicily has come on board as our Detroit Wolf Trap Program Manager!
Meet Sicily McRaven! Some may know Sicily as a teaching artist, but for the past few months, Sicily has come on board as our Detroit Wolf Trap Program Manager!
With expertise as an arts educator, Sicily also has a background in fine art as well as social sciences. She has been in community arts for the past ten years, as an advocate for creative communication and visual arts. In the search for this position, Sicily was a natural fit.
Join us in officially welcoming her to the team and read more about Sicily here!
Living Arts Launches Sofrito of Cultures with Penny Godboldo
This summer, Living Arts will launch a two-week dance intensive, Sofrito of Cultures. Lead by Master Teacher and Dance Artist Penny Godboldo and Living Arts’ Teaching Artist Miriyam Johnson, 12 participants will engage in five hours of daily training from July 22-August 2 in the Dunham Technique of dance, which blends European ballet, modern, jazz, and classical African movement.
Young dancers explore Afro-Latinx identity through dance and music
This summer, Living Arts will launch a two-week dance intensive, Sofrito of Cultures. Lead by Master Teacher and Dance Artist Penny Godboldo and Living Arts’ Teaching Artist Miriyam Johnson, 12 participants will engage in five hours of daily training from July 22-August 2 in the Dunham Technique of dance, which blends European ballet, modern, jazz, and classical African movement.
“Katherine Dunham founded this technique as a means of anthropological study asking ‘What is the function of the way people move? Why do we move differently than Europeans? What history is tied in the ways we move, sing, play an instrument’,” says Godboldo. “Rather than feeling inadequate, there is a body of movement ingrained in culture to define yourself and feel empowered.” Johnson, who has taught with Living Arts for the past three years, was attracted to the project as her work revolves around the concept of the body as an archive of movement. “We’re looking at the ways we move naturally and what these bodies carry into dance; in contrast to the upright form of European traditions of dance.”
Johnson’s role as protege to Godboldo as well as instructor to the students is part of the mentorship process. “We are also looking at the intercultural (black and Latinx) and intergenerational traditions of movement,” says Erika Villarreal Bunce, director of programs at Living Arts. Godboldo adds “there is a history of oral tradition in African and Caribbean culture. This project holds that tradition in the construct of music and movement, it is an accurate account of history — as opposed to the written tradition that has become skewed through the eyes of others.”
The project, supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, began with a master dance class in the summer of 2017 through the Teatro Chico program. Since then, the students and families of Living Arts have requested more culturally relevant programming that reflects their own history. “Living Arts’ commitment to respecting partnerships and youth drives our programming. When it comes to our artistic production, we take direction from our youth to create art that reflects their experience,” says Villarreal Bunce. The culmination of the intensive will be a community performance graciously hosted by the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History on August 8, 2019 6:00pm - 8:00pm.
Stay tuned for more information about the upcoming public performance!
Welcome Bianca to the Programs Team!
We’ve recently added an Out-of-School Arts Intern to our programs team: Bianca Cuevas! Bianca will be on site at the FREC during our Saturday classes this summer and helping with our metrics and statistics compilation.
We’ve recently added an Out-of-School Arts Intern to our programs team: Bianca Cuevas! Bianca will be on site at the FREC during our Saturday classes this summer and helping with our metrics and statistics compilation. Read more about Bianca below and please join us in welcoming Bianca to our team!
Bianca Cuevas born in Houston, Texas and raised in Southwest Detroit has been very involved in her community. Second generation from a Mexican-American family in the region of Los Altos Jalisco, Mexico she is fluent in Spanish. A graduate from the Arts Academy in the Woods with a theater major and continued education at Madonna University. Bianca is an educator and helped create a bilingual program for students in a K-12 charter school. She is an avid photographer and in her spare time she also teaches Quincenera dance choreography.
Closing Out the Season: 20th Annual Student Showcase
On a moderate Sunday afternoon, families, friends, and supporters gathered at Cass Technical High School for the Living Arts 20th Annual Student Showcase. The program opened with Program Manager, Zack Bissell, who welcomed the audience and thanked the event’s supporters.
A culmination of the 2018-2019 season of programming through the Out-of-School Arts (OSA) program, Showcase featured a mix of dance, visual arts, video animation, and music composition. The program featured a special guest performance by Ballet Folkórico de Detroit and an intermission performance by Mariachi Femeníl de Detroit.
On a moderate Sunday afternoon, families, friends, and supporters gathered at Cass Technical High School for the Living Arts 20th Annual Student Showcase. The program opened with Program Manager, Zack Bissell, who welcomed the audience and thanked the event’s supporters.
A culmination of the 2018-2019 season of programming through the Out-of-School Arts (OSA) program, Showcase featured a mix of dance, visual arts, video animation, and music composition. The program featured a special guest performance by Ballet Folkórico de Detroit and an intermission performance by Mariachi Femeníl de Detroit.
In total, there were 26 performances featuring over 100 dancers in jazz, tap, modern, ballet, hip hop, house, ballet folkórico, tumbling, and karate. Just outside the theater was an art exhibition featuring sculpture, painting, and other 2D and 3D artwork by students. Students rage from ages 0-18 in the OSA program, so Sunday’s roster included work from toddlers through young adults.
With the guidance of professional artists, musicians, dancers, and choreographers, it is no wonder the caliber of talent featured at Showcase!
Closing remarks by Dance Program Director, Marianne Brass included a special thanks to Living Arts’ Co-founder Christine Allen-Carson as well as special recognition to graduating seniors Carolina Anaya, Diamond Davis, Alexis Harris, Andrea Hinojosa, Jeimy Lopez, and Xalma Palomino. A final acknowledgement given to all the teaching artists, parents and caregivers, families, and supporters closed out the evening.
Congratulations to all participants in the 2018-2019 season!
Before You Take the Stage: A Chat with Living Arts' Senior Artists
In the 45 minutes window between school and rehearsal, I met with 5 young women at the FREC-Mercado. In preparation for their upcoming 20th Annual Student Showcase, we sat down to talk about their history with Living Arts, and the role the organization has played in their lives.
In the 45 minutes window between school and rehearsal, I met with 5 young women at the FREC-Mercado. In preparation for their upcoming 20th Annual Student Showcase, we sat down to talk about their history with Living Arts, and the role the organization has played in their lives.
“I came to Living Arts when I was 5 or 6,” stated 18-year-old Xalma Palomino. “The studio was right around my house, so my mom just signed my sister and I up for a ballet class once a week”. 18-year-old dancers Carolina Anaya and Andrea Hinojosa also began in ballet. “Xalma introduced me to dance because we’ve been friends for many, many years. My mom signed me up and I took every class they took,” says Anaya. Alexis Harris, 18, began dancing when she was 3 years old, and was introduced to Living Arts by her grandmother at 8 years old. Alexis in turn introduced Tanykia “Diamond” Davis to Living Arts when the girls were in the 8th grade.
On Sunday, June 9th, Xalma and Carolina, along with fellow senior dancers Alexis and Andrea, will be performing in their last Showcase. The recital will be held at Cass Technical HS, where most of the young woman attend. The performance will be bittersweet for the girls as they are also graduating from high school and moving on to different things in life. “It’s sad because we’re leaving now. We became like a family, we all grew up with each other like sisters,” stated Xalma. Andrea added, “We really became close to each other and not seeing them every day is going to be weird.” What started as a fun activity as children has become a passion for these young artists.
Dedicating so many years to their craft, has not come easy. “We’ve had to choose between school activities and rehearsals or performances at times. I even missed my mom’s graduation,” said Alexis. But the sacrifice is worth it. When Diamond and I spoke on the phone, she talked about the feeling of creating. “Every time I get in the studio to dance or I’m making art at the SPOT, it’s a chance to be the best dancer or artist I can be. It helps my mind expand and open up.”
There’s a consensus among all the young women that their craft has given them a sense of freedom. Jeimy Lopez, 18 ,shared, “Making art, especially painting, gives me an outlet for stress. I can channel that I have into making something beautiful.” Jeimy began as a dancer as well, but realized she didn’t have the same love of dance as visual art. She’s passionate about the open-studio model of the SPOT and has previously presented on the approach at conferences. She continued, “For teenagers who are just trying to see what art has to offer for them, it’s better to have a research-based approach in the studio, where the mentor is there to guide along the way. It helped me to discover art as an outlet.”
Through the arts, each of the young women have found an identity that is all their own. “I’m more outspoken now and not afraid to express what I want,” said Carolina. “So many kids feel like they’re going to be judged for what they do or say, and I feel like through dance, I’ve gained so much confidence.” Each expressed they’ve faced criticism for not being “enough” (whether their art was something that didn’t speak to others or their bodies didn’t scream ‘dancer’), but they all site persistence and the support of their fellow artists as their motivation to do what they do.
When asked what advice they wished they’d heard more of as children, and what advice they wanted to give to young artists, they shared encouraging words to keep making art. Diamond summed it up best when she said “You can do whatever you set your mind to as long as you keep at it. Anything you do can be a form of art. When you move your body, it’s a form of art, when you’re drawing, painting, it’s art, whatever it is, it will tell a story to someone. It might take some time, but don’t give up. It will get you somewhere in life.”
Click here for more information about Living Arts’ OSA program. And for tickets to the 20th Annual Student Showcase, click here.
Living Arts Receives $40,000 Commitment to Arts Access for Detroit Youth
Renewed partnership support comes from Vera and Joseph Dresner Foundation
Living Arts is proud to announce a $40,000 grant award from the Vera and Joseph Dresner Foundation. This partnership will provide 100 free enrollments for youth and children in Southwest Detroit to access Living Arts’ Out-of-School Arts program.
Students at our Out of School Arts animation class. Photo by J. Lindsey Photography.
Renewed partnership support comes from Vera and Joseph Dresner Foundation
Living Arts is proud to announce a $40,000 grant award from the Vera and Joseph Dresner Foundation. This partnership will provide 100 free enrollments for youth and children in Southwest Detroit to access Living Arts’ Out-of-School Arts program.
“This continued partnership with the Vera and Joseph Dresner Foundation will ensure that Detroit youth have access to high-quality arts experiences regardless of their family’s financial situation.” said Alissa Novoselick, Executive Director of Living Arts. “We’re proud to partner with an organization that supports the positive enrichment in the lives of our youth,” continued Novoselick.
Living Arts’ Out-of-School Arts program offers a wide array of class offerings after school and on weekends at the Ford Resource and Engagement Center. Instruction in multiple disciplines is offered, including video animation, songwriting and recording, visual arts, multimedia art, and dance. Classes are available for youth ages 3 months to 18 years old, and no one is ever turned away for inability to pay.
“These programs give students a place to be after school and the chance to try dance or animation or beat making without worrying if they can afford it or not,” stated Tanykia “Diamond” Davis, an 18 year-old participant in the Out-of-School Arts program. Davis recently spoke at a 20th anniversary celebration for Living Arts on her experience with the program. “Like me, a lot of the students at Living Arts have a scholarship to attend classes. Because of Living Arts, kids like me have the chance to try out something new and stick with something they love, and be around mentors that inspire them,” said Davis.
<<<THIS POSITION IS NOW CLOSED>>> Are you passionate about early learning in Detroit? Living Arts is Hiring a Program Manger!
<<<THIS POSITION IS NOW CLOSED>>> Living Arts is hiring a full-time Program Manager - Early Learning for our Detroit Wolf Trap (DWT) program. The Program Manager will work with the Living Arts Program Team to develop, implement, evaluate, and market relevant and exceptional arts education programs in Detroit early learning centers and community settings.
<<<THIS POSITION IS NOW CLOSED>>> Living Arts is hiring a full-time Program Manager - Early Learning for our Detroit Wolf Trap (DWT) program. The Program Manager will work with the Living Arts Program Team to develop, implement, evaluate, and market relevant and exceptional arts education programs in Detroit early learning centers and community settings.
Detroit Wolf Trap Teaching Artist, Alesha Brown, leads a baby Wolf Trap class at the FREC-Mercado.
The ideal candidate is a self-starter with 2 or more years experience working within arts or education, ideally with early learners, and interested in the following:
Social Emotional Learning
Creative Youth Development
Parents/Families as Primary Educators
Arts as Healing
Culturally Responsive and Critical Education
The Program Manager - Early Learning position will pay between $33,000 - $38,000 with benefits including healthcare and retirement.
If you believe this is the right position for you, we sincerely encourage you to apply by Friday, March 22! Details about specific responsibilities and ideal qualifications are listed in the job description here.
Our Voice, Our Power: An Evening with Las Cafeteras
On the evening of February 20 at the FREC-Mercado, we gathered cozily with our Out of School Arts parents and children, enjoying a meal together in the company of our new friends, the musicians of Las Cafeteras. We assembled in the Art Studio, buzzing about, discussing the details of our days as the sun gently set through the windows of the studio. Ready to begin, Las Cafeteras began strumming guitars, energizing us and inviting us into the experience. This familial and comforting space set the scene for our evening of writing songs together.
Thanks to Las Cafeteras andUMS staff for making this evening a powerful and special event.
On the evening of February 20 at the FREC-Mercado, we gathered cozily with our Out of School Arts parents and children, enjoying a meal together in the company of our new friends, the musicians of Las Cafeteras. We assembled in the Art Studio, buzzing about, discussing the details of our days as the sun gently set through the windows of the studio. Ready to begin, Las Cafeteras began strumming guitars, energizing us and inviting us into the experience. This familial and comforting space set the scene for our evening of writing songs together.
When I was approached by Emilio Rodriguez (former Living Arts teaching artist and current Community Programs Manager for UMS) about our hosting of a songwriting workshop for our youth, my instincts as a mom and daughter kicked in. Inspired by our Parent Advisory Council, I immediately felt the workshop needed to be centered around the bonds between our youth and their best advocates.
As a proud daughter of Mexican immigrants, as well as a parent myself, I value the opportunity for parents to express their important visions for their families. As a first generation American growing up in Chicago, I was aware of my parents’ desire for a better life for themselves and their children. I have benefited greatly from the intentions set forth by my parents and all those who came before me. It feels incredibly important to be able to share bravely these intentions and dreams we have for each other within our families, however we come to define what family means. Knowing that sometimes it’s difficult to share these emotional dreams for one another, it seemed that songwriting could support us here as a doorway.
With parents in one group and children in another,we all worked for the next 2 hours that evening, guided by the thoughtful and loving guidance from Las Cafeteras. In their normal art-making space, children busily got to work responding to prompts---I am from, I fear, My dream for you is--and so on. Parents did the same but in their own space in the atrium.
The energy in the space where parents were writing was quiet, reflective, and-- most importantly-- without children present. As I walked quietly into their space, I observed parents as I had not been able to see them before: as purely creative, focused, and relaxed. Together, they created an ambience of what felt like a calm and powerful sea, waves of thoughts ebbing and flowing visibly. The determination of their words was very present. They worked quietly and profoundly, not bound physically to their children, as parents normally are. They were individuals manifesting and creating, together. Next, they gathered in a cypher, excitedly and nervously, sharing their writing with one another. They enjoyed each other's’ support, hugged by the musical accompaniment.
Upon returning to the Art Studio, Las Cafateras invited everyone to share these newborn songs by playing a soft melody. Guided in the cypher, parents and children shared with one another first as a whisper, gradually raising volume until a cacophony of poetry and music filled the room. These intimate exchanges communicated directly, bravely, and softly. The words are power. All seem eager to share the fruits of creative labor and love. All seem grateful to receive the precious words, once unspoken, now out in the world.
The parents and children were then invited to share their words within the larger group, accompanied by the beautiful, live music, keeping the steady heartbeat of the entire experience. In this exchange parents and children manifested their origins, fears, beliefs, and their wishes for each other. Every person shared, emboldened by the energy of each other and sounds of encouragement from our new friends and their instruments. In this space, art is a portal -- connecting us as individuals to one another, as a community of individuals, and as a unit with all the potential of our togetherness. Here, art emboldened us to stand in relationship with each other, creating a pathway for connection and supporting the long-term journey of finding our power as people.
Check out the video below for a glimpse into our evening:
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.
Dhamaal 2019 Honors Youth Dance Ensemble
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: Zack Bissell, Tara Toumaala
Video: Tara ToumaalaOn 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.
"Dhamaal was in an old building, and it's a place where famous dancers have performed," remarked twelve year old, Jasmin Aleman. "I like how we were the honored guests and got to go perform.” Music Hall has featured esteemed performers including Fred Astaire, Etta James, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, and more.
The piece performed by the YDE was collaboratively choreographed by Dance Program Director Marianne Brass, teaching artist Rachel Herbert, and the young dancers. “We began working on the piece in the summer of 2018 and it was premiered in August at the Detroit City Festival. We asked the dancers to explore themes that relate to their current experiences and how their decisions play a role in the shaping of their identities,” stated Brass. After investigating these concepts, the dancers developed individual solos that were choreographed into the group work.
“I consider this dance a piece of living art because it’s continuously evolving as we dig deeper each week in rehearsal. Through guided discussion, reflection, and movement exploration, dancers are continuing to evolve this work of art in collaboration with their mentors.”
"It was a great experience; I was really happy to be there. I'd like to go there again,” said Aleman.
The Youth Dance Ensemble will be performing this collaborative work, along with other dances from their repertoire at our 20th Showcase in June 2019.
Detroit Dhamaal generously donated a portion of the proceeds from the evening to Living Arts. We are so thankful for their continued support and partnership.