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Free Family-Friendly Art Series in Hampton

July 7, 2024 By Cindy Sherwood

  • Utpalasia
  • Taikoza
  • Katherine Willet helps children with take-home art.
  • Curtis Blues
  • Storyteller Via Goode
  • Stephanie Lask's Take-Home Poems workshop
  • Nathan Richardson as Frederick Douglass
  • Art Song Duo
  • Rainbow Puppet Productions
  • Storyteller Dylan Pritchard
  • Rita Cohen
  • Harold Wood
  • Storyteller and actor Valerie Davis

It’s almost time for our favorite family art series, designed especially for the summer! A Splash of the Arts kicks off this Saturday, July 13 from 10am to 4pm at the Hampton History Museum. Admission is free! And this Saturday is just the start—you can enjoy “Splash” on July 20 and July 27 too. With no-repeat programming, be sure to visit all three Saturdays when you’ll have the chance to interact with Arts for Learning’s professional performing and teaching artists.

“Each year Splash of the Arts is the highlight of our summer,” says Aisha Noel, Arts for Learning’s Programs and Community Engagement Manager. “It’s a great way for the community to come together to enjoy learning for the whole family, engage in interactive programs from our artists, and leave with a feeling of togetherness.”

This is the third year Hampton City Schools Fine Arts Department has sponsored A Splash of the Arts, school-age programming that showcases summer learning by Arts for Learning’s musicians, dancers, storytellers, and visual artists.

“A Splash of the Arts is an extension of our elementary arts and literacy program,” says Kelly Dee, Hampton City School’s Visual and Performing Arts Curriculum Leader. “We bring Arts for Learning into the schools every year for performances that our students may not have the opportunity to see and hear, and it was a natural growth of what we do in the schools to extend it into summer learning and invite the community to come out and see performances during the summer.”

In addition to being free family entertainment, the educational aspect of “Splash” is paramount.

Arts for Learning is the premier partner to bring in high quality arts performances for our students,” Dee says. “The connections to all areas of learning—math, language arts, social studies, even science—are always present in any performance that we either bring in the school or do in the summer as well.”

So don’t miss this year’s outstanding lineup of artists—as Dee says, “The performances keep on getting better and better and better!”

Here’s a week-by-week breakdown of what you’ll see:

July 13: Move to the Filipino “Dance of the Duck;” celebrate African American history with Frederick Douglass; listen to instruments from around the world; learn the hidden meanings of traditional slave tales; experience spoken word poetry combined with live music; be awed by colorful Rainbow Puppets; or make your own puppets to take home.

July 20: Experience the thunderous rhythms of Japanese taiko drums; listen to classic stories from Mark Twain; sail the Caribbean Sea on the waves of steel drums; step into the world of improvisational theater; explore the impact of music on mental health; dance, sing, and clap to musical stories about friendship; and write and illustrate your own poems to take home.

July 27: Fall under the spell of a tricky magician; explore the legends of Mount Everest through dance and music; laugh out loud to multicultural folktales; be inspired by a powerful story of escape to freedom; get up and dance across the continents; and create your own take-home bookmark or mixed media work of art.

“We’re excited to bring 24 different performances and hands-on workshops by professional artists at no cost to attendees,” Noel says. “We can’t wait for the community to experience different cultures, create take home artwork, and enjoy some good family fun. See you soon at the Hampton History Museum.” 

Check out the full schedule of activities and performances here: https://sites.google.com/hampton.k12.va.us/familyarts/home

The Hampton History Museum is located at 120 Old Hampton Lane in Downtown Hampton. There’s free parking in the garage across the street from the museum and there’s no admission fee to the museum during Splash. Snacks will be available in the Great Hall for children and teens 18 and under, while supplies last.

Filed Under: Artist Spotlight, ArtsEd, News, Public Performance, Summer Programs Tagged With: 757 arts, 757 nonprofit, Arts Ed, arts education, Arts for Learning, Arts for Learning Virginia, arts-in-education, dance, family-friendly programs, free, Hampton City Schools, music, music education, performing artists, public performances, public workshops, storytelling, summer enrichment, summer entertainment, summer programs, teaching artists

The Sights and Sounds of A4L’s Summer Camps

August 7, 2020 By Cindy Sherwood

SSCA visual arts camp SSCA visual arts camp SSCA visual arts campSSCA visual arts campSSCA visual arts campEven though the pandemic and Tropical Storm Isaias aren’t making it easy at times, kids are learning and creating and having tons of fun at summer camps where our performing and teaching artists are working. Check out some of the scenes from the Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts’s visual arts camp, which wrapped up last week. Thanks to Carly Holmes for taking these wonderful pictures. This week’s stormy weather has pushed theater camp to next week.

SSCA visual arts camp-COVID-19 precautions

With all of our in-person camps, we’re observing strict safety protocols to keep campers, artists, and staff members safe.

A4L's Harold Wood entertains at the ASYMCA Operation Hero campOver at Operation Hero’s Armed Services YMCA camp, Harold Wood showed off his magic to a wowed crowd.

Teaching artist Beverly Taylor and an ASYMCA camper Creating at the ASYMCA camp

Creating at the ASYMCA campAnd in teaching artist Beverly Taylor’s class,  campers learned about different musical instruments and made their own while joining in a song with some great advice for us all. Click here to listen and enjoy!

 

Filed Under: ArtsEd, Summer camps Tagged With: Armed Services YMCA, arts integration, Beverly Taylor, Harold Wood, Suffolk Center, summer camp, summer enrichment, teaching artists, United Way of South Hampton Roads

One Book, Two Book, Red Book, Blue Book

July 29, 2020 By Cindy Sherwood

You can bet there are some big smiles hiding behind the masks—children at Virginia Beach’s Armed Services YMCA camp are the proud owners of some brand new picture books, thanks to a Women United book group who donated them to the United Way of South Hampton Roads (UWSHR). UWSHR is underwriting Arts for Learning’s residencies at the camp which is reserved for sons and daughters of members of the military.

Arts for Learning weaves age-appropriate literacy concepts into its curriculum, so the book giveaway was a natural. In true A4L fashion, teaching artists Lenecia Porro and Gary Garlic made it a fun educational experience instead of kids just being handed a book. In Lenecia’s Artsploration class for five and six year olds, kids drew numbers from a toy cauldron and had to match the numbers with the correct book. In Gary’s Poetry and Percussion class for seven and eight year olds, kids had to identify musical instruments from clues that Gary shared.

No matter whether it’s Pete the Cat or Pop-Up Dizzy Dinosaurs that’s sparking kids’ imagination, hats off to these generous donors and the United Way (hats that may look a lot like the red and white striped one below!)

Filed Under: ArtsEd, Donor Spotlight, News, Summer camps Tagged With: 757 nonprofit, Armed Services YMCA, Arts Ed, arts integration, book giveaway, Dr. Seuss, summer camp, summer enrichment, teaching artists, United Way of South Hampton Roads

A Creative Collaboration: Suffolk Center Art and Theater Camps

July 23, 2020 By Cindy Sherwood

2018 SSCA Theater Camp

Get set for a rush of creativity flowing out of Suffolk starting next week. We’re thrilled to again collaborate with our partners at the Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts (SSCA) to offer in-person camps for children ages six to twelve, with Centers for Disease Control COVID-19 measures in place to keep everyone safe and healthy. The camps offer a chance for kids to interact with their peers while learning and having creative fun.

Our teaching artists have led the camps for the past seven years. At next week’s visual arts camp, teaching artists Jerilynn Ruger, Matt Harrison, and Joppa Whitehead will mentor campers on the fundamentals of drawing, painting, sculpture, and collage. At the theater camp, teaching artists Katherine Willet, Jerilynn Ruger, and Jennifer Gammill will share the fundamentals of theater, costume design, set design, improvisation, scene writing, and more. At each camp, students will have the opportunity to share their work with their families at the end of the week.

These photos from 2013 give a glimpse of the fun kids have at the camp. A4L’s longstanding partnership with the Suffolk Center began that summer and has strengthened ever since. In 2018, Arts for Learning named the Suffolk Center its “Partnership of the Year” for the unique summer camp collaboration.

“We partner with Arts for Learning because they have talented and brilliant instructors who spearhead a week of creative fun while weaving in the need for art, the history of art, and the execution of art in our everyday life,” says Gavin Harper, SSCA Program and Education Manager.

The visual arts camp starts this Monday, running from 8:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. through Friday, July 31. The theme is “Our Future.”

We had decided on the Our Future theme before COVID-19 hit,” Harper says, “so what an interesting and pertinent time for students to think about their future and how the world will be affected and how art can be a source of light in a dark time.”

Campers will work on pottery, graphic novels, Picasso shapes/Cubism, pop art, splatter painting, and paper mosaic, and will also learn how art is translated to dance. A final art show will cap off the week, with artwork also to be featured in a new virtual exhibition for family and friends to view.

The theater summer camp will run from August 3-August 7, with campers learning how to act, sing, and dance. Our teaching artists will work with students to write, rehearse, and produce a ten-minute musical that they’ll present on stage at the Center’s Birdsong Theater. The historic 530-seat auditorium offers plenty of space for family members to social distance while they enjoy the show. The Center may also offer a virtual option by live-streaming the performance on its Facebook page.

To make sure campers have a fun, safe week interacting with their peers, Suffolk Center camp staff members will proactively follow guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Campers will have their temperature taken upon arrival and will work in small groups. Hand sanitizers and wipes will be available to campers and surfaces will be sanitized before and during camp. Both camps will take place inside and outside to allow for ventilation. Please visit www.suffolkcenter.org for a complete list of safety guidelines or email Gavin Harper at gavin.harper@suffolkcenter.org for additional information.

Registration is available on-line at www.suffolkcenter.org/summercamps/ or you can reserve a spot for your child over the phone at 757-923-0003, ext. 103. We’re looking forward to a great couple of weeks.

Filed Under: News, Summer camps Tagged With: art camp, arts education, arts integration, Covid-19, SSCA, Suffolk Center, summer camp, summer enrichment, summer learning, theater camp

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Main Office
Arts for Learning
420 North Center Drive
Suite 239
Norfolk, Virginia 23502

Phone: 757-466-7555

Main Office

Arts for Learning
420 North Center Drive
Suite 239
Norfolk, Virginia 23502
Phone:
757-466-7555

Arts for Learning Virginia Names New CEO to Lead Arts-in-Education Nonprofit

The Board of Directors of Arts for Learning, the Virginia Affiliate of Young Audiences, voted at its annual meeting to name Anna Heywood Green as CEO of the organization. Heywood Green has served as Interim CEO since January 1, following the retirement of former CEO Christine Everly. Prior to January, Heywood Green worked as the organization’s […]

Join the A4L Mailing List!

Sign up to receive the latest news on arts integration from Arts for Learning! Thank you for supporting arts-in-education.

Select list(s) to subscribe to


By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: Arts for Learning Virginia. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact
At Arts for Learning Virginia, we’re proud to be part of the Virginia Commission for the Arts’ Passport Program. While Passport holders typically receive free admission and 50% off classes at participating organizations, all our programming is always free—no discount needed. To learn more about our public events, check out our calendar of events page here.

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