Like The Wind
Greetings Friends!
I've been waiting for October with great anticipation and excitement! Not just for those cool crisp evenings by a fire or the witnessing the beautful foliage that surrounds us, but the opportunity to visit schools, connect with educators, and celebrate the release of an exciting project on October 16 - The Wisconsin Arts Celebration Project.
The project centers around a commissioned poem "Like The Wind" by Wisconsin Poet Lauereate, Dasha Kelly Hamilton (pictured to the right). Her poem speaks to the creative capacty we all have inside of us. In one section she states:
We breeze
and we storm
Strum electricity in the air
Scribble into the cosmos and seas
"Maybe" rustles comfort and through the leaves
"If" can uproot old and mighty trees
I LOVE the phrase "IF" can uproot old and mighty trees. Isn't that true? If only we gave ourselves and others to permission to imagine, dream, and to consider "what if..."? I can attest that the "Wisconsin Arts Celebration Project" began in that very fashion..."What if we created a project that would highlight our human capacity for creativity while celebrating all of the arts during this 50th Anniversary of the Wisconsin Arts Board?"
May your October be full of "what if..." moments as you continue your important work in education. Thank you for all you do!
Chris
Arts & Creativity Consultant Fall Tour
I am thrilled to be heading back out into Wisconsin to do classroom visits next week (Oct 2-5). Over 65 schools requested a visit. Unfortunately, I can't fit all those visits into one week. I WILL, however, do my best to make trips out yet this year. With that said, the DPI Ford Focus will take me to the following locations next week:
- Juda Middle School & High School - Alyssa Olson & Kristina Cozzens
- Janesville Adams Elementary School - Mandy Zdrale
- Evansville Levi Leonard Elementary School - Michelle Velasquez-Klopp & Shari Fettig
- New Glarus Middle & High School - Amy Doefer
- Slinger High School - Heather Peters & Graham Westley
- Fond du Lac Woodworth Middle School - Ashley Hietpas
- Neenah Middle School - Kathy Roney
- Wrightstown High School - Jill Bailey
- Oconto High School - Heather Rennie
- Oconto Falls Elementary School - Kelly Kokko-Ludmann
- Shawno Middle School - Melanie Curti
- Clintonville Middle & High School - Kristine Heyer
- CESA 11 Arts Workshop, Turtle Lake, WI (still time to join if interested!)
Many thanks to these arts educators for allowing me to stop by! I've asked these teachers/school to consider providing some feedback via this survey, however all are welcome to provide input!
Arts Board Marks 50 Years of Service to the People of Wisconsin Looking Back, Imagining Forward
This year the Wisconsin Arts Board celebrates its 50th Anniversary in service to the people of Wisconsin. Former Governor Patrick Lucey signed the biennial budget bill creating the Arts Board on August 2, 1973.
We will commemorate this 50th Anniversary year and celebrate the Arts Board and its work with activities throughout the next twelve months. The process of reconnecting with past board and staff members has already begun, evidenced by the 50th Anniversary logo mark which was designed by former board member Paul Meinke. For more information about the Wisconsin Arts Board and its 50th Anniversary, please go to wab50.com.
To Learn More Check Out These Links:
Arts Board Marks 50 Years of Service to the People of Wisconsin Looking Back, Imagining Forward
Video | Wisconsin Arts Board’s 50th Anniversary
Governor Evers’ Certificate of Commendation
The Arts Board’s new Instagram account.
Dance: Discovering New Boundaries Through Vulnerability
Ruth K. Arena writes in her blog post:
"Dancers strive to listen, respond, explore, and seek deeper understanding of the mysterious connection between the physical and mental/emotional/spiritual self. For most, this connection is porous, constantly fluctuating as self-knowledge increases. My cancer diagnosis presented new learning opportunities and forced me to delineate between body and mind in order to communicate with others: doctors, family, and friends who aren’t dancers or cancer patients."
Wisconsin Conservatory of Music seeks instrument donations to aid area students and schools
The Wisconsin Conservatory of Music is conducting an instrument drive aimed at providing underprivileged students and schools with refurbished musical instruments.
Needed instruments include brass, strings, guitars, wind instruments and percussion instruments, with new cases and cleaning supplies also accepted.
The drive, scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 7, invites community members to donate gently used instruments at four collection centers in the Milwaukee area. Instruments can be dropped off between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Wisconsin Art Education Association Wins National Award
Congratulations to the Wisconsin Youth Art Month Program for winning the Claire Flanagan Grand Award, the highest YAM award! Click HERE to see a full list of award winners!
'Creature Carnival': Oshkosh Public Library hopes to encourage imagination
The Oshkosh Public Library is giving children a chance to put their imagination and creativity on display through its Creature Carnival contest. The library encourages entrants to imagine, construct, and write a brief backstory for an original creature, for a chance to win gift cards and have their creation displayed in the library.
Pulaski High School's award-winning music programs prepare for national competitions
Pulaski High School's Arts programs are back at practice as area districts are headed back to school. The school year doesn't stop rehearsals and performances for the Red Raiders Band, which has been marching in parades and showcasing its skills throughout the warmer months. Most recently, the band attended the Suring Labor Day Celebration to recognize our country's hard workers. The nationally-renowned, award-winning program knows a great deal about hard work as they are now preparing for their attendance at the Tournament of Roses.
Has Arts Education Failed BIPOC Communities?
In 2015, I took a job fresh out of grad school as the inaugural director of ASO Sympatico, the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra’s El Sistema-inspired music education program. I anticipated being responsible for overseeing music educators, developing branding, building ensembles, managing enrollment, booking performances and seeking funding. Those tasks certainly proved true. What I didn’t expect was the central role of racial, classed, religious, language and gender diversity in my work.
11 Things We Learned About Virtual Learning, Digital Literacy, And Technology Integration In Arts Learning
From May - August 2023, the State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education (SEADAE) and Creative Generation collaborated to conduct an organizational reflection process to document and aggregate the strong practices in virtual arts learning uncovered throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Through this project, the two organizations produced a reflection to: aggregate learnings from members of SEADAE; synthesize ideas to guide members and respective stakeholders when designing virtual arts learning opportunities, considering technology and virtual integration in the standards review process, and developing standards-based assessments; and identify future inquiries.
A Talk with Emmett Phillips
“I would say hip-hop is their language. It's definitely a language that they understand. It's dynamic; it has space for very different personalities. If I named off five of my favorite rappers, they're all very different minds, different voices, different tones, and I think that that reflects what diversity is. That reflects what a classroom might look like.”
In this podcast, Emmett Phillips—hip-hop artist, actor, poet, and teaching artist based in Des Moines, Iowa—shares his journey from his early days in hip-hop through his time in the military to becoming a teaching artist who empowers youth through the arts, specifically hip-hop.
Toolkit on Careers in the Arts for People with Disabilities
Developed in partnership with Art Beyond Sight, this online toolkit empowers individuals with disabilities to explore arts careers and access resources to support their success. The toolkit provides resources in four tailored sections, recognizing the critical role that arts employers, curators, presenters, educators, and grantmakers play in fostering disability equity and inclusion in the arts. The toolkit also features profiles of artists who have found career success, offers first-hand advice to aspiring artists for advancing their own careers, and describes ways arts employers, educators, and funders can support individuals with disabilities in their arts career path.
You can find the toolkit on the NEA’s website at www.arts.gov/ArtsCareersToolkit.
Connected Arts Networks (Due Oct 16)
If you are interested in furthering your instructional capacity, serving each unique student's needs, and leveraging the arts in your school for greater impact, please consider applying to join Connected Arts Networks (CAN), as a teacher participant.
CAN is a multi-year grant initiative, funded by the US Department of Education to create nationwide virtual Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) with educators in visual arts, music, theater, dance and media arts. The purpose of CAN is to build a sustainable model of professional learning for arts educators in public schools and public charters to strengthen their pedagogy, instruction, and leadership skills in order to better serve students. This project is a partnership between the National Art Education Association (NAEA), National Dance Education Organization (NDEO), Educational Theatre Association (EdTA), the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), and New York City's Office of Arts and Special Projects.
In Fall 2023, NAEA, NDEO, EdTA, and NAfME are recruiting 150 educators per artform (600 total) to serve as PLC participants! These PLCs will meet virtually each month of the school year starting in January 2024 through June 2026 and will focus on professional learning in the areas of equity, diversity and inclusion; social emotional learning; and teacher leadership through an arts education lens.
We look forward to connecting you to arts educators around the country through a discipline-specific PLC. As we collaborate on curricula and support each other's growth, we will also create tools and resources from what we learn that will benefit arts educators around the country.
For more information on CAN and how to apply, please visit https://www.arteducators.org/promo/can. Applications are due Oct. 16, 2023!
Connect with colleagues nationwide through online Professional Learning Communities. Together through the arts, we CAN make a difference in student learning!
Sincerely,
Mario R. Rossero
Executive Director
National Art Education Association (NAEA)
Kohl Teacher Fellowship Program (Nominations Due Oct 3)
The Kohl Teacher Fellowship program recognizes and supports teaching excellence and innovation in the state of Wisconsin, USA. Our goal is to support Wisconsin teachers in the pursuit of their unrealized goals for their classrooms or professional development. The 100 Herb Kohl Fellowship recipients and the 100 Wisconsin schools of those teachers will each receive a $6,000 grant. Nominations for the Herb Kohl Fellowship are only using this website's online nomination form. Award cycle application period opens in August each year and closes in October. All nominations received after the previous award cycle closed are held until the next application cycle opens and the nominee is notified thereof.
Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge Returns for 2023
Washington, DC—The Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge, an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in partnership with the National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT), is now accepting submissions for the 2023-24 program, an opportunity for high school students to develop and showcase musical compositions that could be a part of a musical theater production. This year, even more resources and constructive critique opportunities will be available for participating students to cultivate their songwriting skills.
Join Crayola Creativity Week Jan 22-28, 2024
Kids are naturally curious. They ask why and how? They imagine. They create. When kids create, they solve problems and think up new solutions. Young creatives need to be nurtured, so that their originality shines. So their ideas can take shape and become real. When we celebrate their innate creative mindsets, children view the world with wonder. They embrace innovative thinking. They create possibilities. Join Crayola Creativity Week, and help children create the future.
The Bard's Tale: Google AI Tools in Education
I recently recorded a 1-hour webinar where I did a deep dive into Google's artificial intelligence tools. In the webinar we explore:
- 🏛️ Classic Google AI Tools
- 🚀 New Google AI Tools such as Bard, AI Search tools, Notebook LM, and Duet AI for Workspace
- 🔮 Upcoming Google AI Tools
See the link above to access the video and the session resource document with all the links and information.
Fabulous Features of Google Docs
- Recently I went through all the menus, settings, tools, and options in Docs to try to compile a list of some of my favorite features.
- I ended up with a list of 23 fabulous features of Google Docs.
- Check out my full list in the link above and be sure to let me know what features I have left off the list that you would recommend
Harvard Project Zero Thinking Routines
Welcome to Project Zero’s Thinking Routines Toolbox. This toolbox highlights thinking routines developed across a number of research projects at PZ. A thinking routine is a set of questions or a brief sequence of steps used to scaffold and support student thinking. PZ researchers designed thinking routines to deepen students’ thinking and to help make that thinking “visible.” Thinking routines help to reveal students’ thinking to the teacher and also help students themselves to notice and name particular “thinking moves,” making those moves more available and useful to them in other contexts. If you're new to thinking routines and PZ's research, please click here to explore more about thinking routines. For Tips for Using Thinking Routines Effectively, click here. For an overview of the Thinking Categories, click here. For an alphabetical list of thinking routines, click here.
Try This In Class
Explore the Masters of Tradition Story Map. Discover the rich diversity of cultures and artistic traditions that enliven our nation. Meet extraordinary artists from across the country who have received the National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship, the nation’s highest honor for excellence in the folk and traditional arts. Together they represent a remarkable portrait of America’s diverse cultural heritage.
This story map is an expanding resource as we continue to add more NEA Heritage Fellows. In December 2022, it was updated to include a total of 150 fellows.
Talking About Race
Talking about race, although hard, is necessary. We are here to provide tools and guidance to empower your journey and inspire conversation.
Arts ARE Education releases 2023-24 Welcome Back Arts Educators Letter
The Arts ARE Education initiative has released its annual Welcome Back Arts Educators Letter to kick off the 2023-24 school year. Endorsed by the leadership of seven national arts and arts education service organizations, the letter thanks arts educators for their work in the past and their continued commitment to their discipline and students as they begin the new school year. Welcome Back notes that, despite the challenges that all educators face in the post-pandemic era of education—teacher shortages, challenges to what can be taught and said, student and educator well-being, and more—arts educators in dance, media arts, music, theatre, and visual arts continue to demonstrate their professionalism.
Welcome Back is being shared with the members and networks of the National Coalition for Arts Standards, ARE’s sponsoring organization.
The Letter is part of a larger Arts ARE Education refresh of its content that includes updates to its Advocacy Toolkit resources—newly focused Talking Points to support local, state, and federal advocacy; the Pledge to support arts education, open to all individuals; the Resolution urging district leaders to fund arts education programs; and a Dear Legislator letter that enables advocates to directly contact their member of Congress to ask them to support funding for arts education in the 2024 federal budget.
Arts ARE Education (ARE) is sponsored by the National Coalition for Arts Standards. ARE was launched in 2020, inspired by the Arts Education is Essential Statement that was issued by NCAS and originally endorsed by 111 national organizations. The statement, recast as the Arts ARE Education Statement, articulates how arts experiences support the social and emotional well-being of students and nurtures the creation of a welcoming school environment where all students can express themselves in a safe and positive way.
To learn more about the Arts ARE Education and to get involved visit https://www.artsareeducation.org
Arts Educators Save the World Live Recording Featuring Special Guests Toni Blackman and Purple Norris
Join us at WAIS to be a part of the Arts Educators Save the World podcast! This special episode will feature Hip Hop education trailblazers Toni Blackman and Purple Norris. Get ready to be inspired by how these educators empower young artists who change our worlds!
Additional workshops include:
- Art and Cultural Education: Experience traditional Mexican culture through Aztec music, song and dance; Henry Cervantes
- Artmaking and Adaptive Instruction; Jennie Mullins
- Filling the Empty Cup - Artmaking as a Care, Sustainability, & Reflection Practice; Emily Nott & Jalessa Bryant
- Fostering Connections and Collaboration through Improvisation; Lisa Barker
- Tapping into Immigrant/Refugee/Migrant Backgrounds: Arts-Based Storytelling for Belonging; Chundou Her & Alejandro Punguil Bravo
Visit the WAIS website for a full schedule and detailed workshop descriptions.
Offered in person at the beautiful MYArts, the 2023 Wisconsin Arts Integration Symposium will give participants strategies and activities to implement immediately in classrooms and learning communities.
We'd love you to join us as we play, experience, and connect together!
Registration Deadline: October 1
Where: MYArts Center | 1055 E. Mifflin St., Madison, WI 53703
When: October 7 | 9:00am - 4:00pm
Registration Fee: $25 full day | $15 morning only
Museum Educator Meet-Up at Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum’s Glass Box Studio
Wednesday, October 25, 2023
Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum’s Glass Box Studio
601 N. 12th St., Wausau, Wisconsin
12:00–4:00 p.m.
FREE
RSVP to visitorservices@lywam.org by October 10.
As a co-organizer of this gathering, the John Michael Kohler Arts Center invites all museum educators for an afternoon of both guided and casual conversations, camaraderie, and hands-on making at the Woodson Art Museum’s newly completed Glass Box Studio in Wausau, Wisconsin. The Woodson Art Museum’s October artist-in-residence, Milwaukee-based painter Ariana Vaeth, will lead an art-making activity and answer questions about her studio practice.
Lunch provided
Space is limited to 20 participants.
Join the Wisconsin Art Education Association for its annual conference Thursday and Friday, October 26 and 27, in Wisconsin Rapids. Find out more and register here.
Beat by Beat: A short sampler of hip-hop history and culture
Beat by Beat is a “cultural sampler” honoring the impact Hip Hop has on American culture, from social equity to fashion, music videos to local city pride, old school to trap through storytelling and multimedia assets shared by nine cultural organisations across the US.
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Chris Gleason
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
This publication and previous issues are available from: Division of Academic Excellence> Teaching and Learning Team> Arts and Creativity. https://dpi.wi.gov/fine-arts/newsletter
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, religion, creed, age, national origin, ancestry, pregnancy, marital status or parental status, sexual orientation, or ability.
Email: christopher.gleason@dpi.wi.gov
Website: https://dpi.wi.gov/fine-arts
Location: 125 South Webster Street, Madison, WI, USA
Phone: 608-264-9554