Teaching Literacy While Instilling Empathy in Students

Troubles, Worries, Work

Moving day. It always scared me to death.
Troubles, worries, work.
It includes everything to make me crazy. Some people
like it, but not me. There is always some
hope but what are hopes? Hopes bring
troubles, worries, work,
and they include everything to make me crazy. Some people
like it, but not me. I would like not to move.
I would like to stay, because actually days
are not moving. There are no moving days.
Time stays. We move. I would like to stay
not to move.

-- Madmax

Stumbled upon a great resource called Teaching Tolerance, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center. One particular project drew me in-- teachers use poetry by homeless people to teach literacy. Students read and understand a poem, write a poem based on their feelings about home, learn to understand why some people are homeless, and empathize with other homeless children. This method of teaching has such multiplying benefits. While attempting to reach a singular of teaching literacy, teachers can affect students' emotional maturity, give a social studies lesson, and encourage students to express themselves in artistic ways.

The poem above is from a writing workshop at the Clergy Coalition Shelter for the Homeless in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Greensboro's Interactive Resource Center a Model for Community Arts Programming

Even though the Interactive Resource Center is a new nonprofit in Greensboro, they seem to be old pros at utilizing local artists to contribute to its mission. Upon visiting the website for the IRC, one immediately realizes that two stories on its homepage involve artists.

To give some background, the IRC is a day center for the homeless population in Greensboro. The center runs a number of services from providing lunch to connecting the homeless to needed resources to giving access to shower and laundry facilities. Below are short summaries of the project, however anyone interested in the project should really visit the links below, which have great in-depth videos and summaries of the projects.

Community Arts Story Number One:

Artist John Martin will work with citizens who visit the IRC to create a piece of public art. Clients will carve designs out of foam, and Martin will cast the foam in aluminum. In this way, the users of the center will also be responsible for enhancements to the building grounds.

Community Arts Story Number Two:
In celebration of a global event titled Help-Portrait, local photographers set up a temporary studio at the IRC to supply clients at the center with professional photographs.

Greensboro photographers contribute to global event, Help Portrait.

Getting Neighborhoods Talking

Here is a wonderful example of involving a neighborhood in the process of activating the spaces where we interact through art.

Learn more about the installation by Mitch Cope and Gina Reichert at the Detroit Institute for the Arts.

Social Innovation Fund: Matching Grants

The Social Innovation Fund, a new public-private collaboration created by the 2009 Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, is designed to create new knowledge about how to solve social challenges in the areas of economic opportunity, youth development and school support, and healthy futures, and to improve our nation’s problem-solving infrastructure in low-income communities.

Community organizations will receive financial support from intermediaries on the order of no less than $100,000 per year for three to five years, as well as strategic support in areas such as management, and evaluation. Community organizations must also provide a 1:1 cash match for the total amount—Federal and private dollars—they receive from the intermediaries.

The Notice of Funds Available is scheduled to release in February 2010.

What an excellent opportunity to venture into a well-funded project that solves community issues through the arts. Not too many details are available right now on the Corporation for National & Community Service website, but be sure to check back in February.

Local Triad Artist William Mangum on NBC Nightly News for Holiday Honor Card Program

Local blog Triad Watch recently made note of an artist from the Piedmont community who was featured on NBC Nightly News for using his skills to benefit local nonprofits. Click on the following link to view this story:

Local Triad Artist William Mangum on the NBC Nightly News about His Holiday Honor Card Program

Music Kitchen: Musicians and Homeless Men Exchange Thoughts on Classical Music

Journalist Daniel J. Wakin recently reported in the New York Times on a violinist named Kelly Hall-Tompkins who, along with other well-accomplished musicians, offers performances to homeless men through a program she started called Music Kitchen.

Read the article here.

Violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins

ACCORD Grant Concept Proposals Due in Mid-November

What is the ACCORD Initiative?

ACCORD is an acronym for Artists Contributing to Civic-Oriented and Responsive Democracy. It is a project of the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts, which, according to Kenan Institute materials, "sparks dialogue about the essential role of the arts and civic-minded artists within a thriving democracy.

It is an effort to encourage collaboration between nonprofits, community organizations, charitable groups, and governmental agencies with local college students to create arts-based projects that address community needs and/or social issues.

Organizations can apply for grants for up to $2,5oo to complete this type of local, collaborative project. Concept proposals are due November 19, 2009. The most important thing is for organizations to identify the social issue they would like to address.

Please e-mail Amanda Balwah at amandab@kenanarts.org for more information on guidelines. Training workshops are available for organizations who would like assistance in writing their grant proposals.