Message from Lawrence University ArtsBridge
Dear Lawrence University ArtsBridge Community,
I write with an update on Lawrence University’s ArtsBridge program, including exciting plans for next academic year. As you know, with the departure of ArtsBridge’s local coordinator in March of this year, the administration of the local program moved to the Office of the President. This relocation is evidence of Lawrence’s commitment to ArtsBridge programming, and of the dedication of President Jill Beck, the founder and creative force of ArtsBridge, to its continuation and enhancement locally. Coincident with the relocation of the local program administration to the President’s Office, the ArtsBridge national office moved back in April to its former home, the University of California-Irvine.
Despite a very competitive funding environment, plans are currently underway for next academic year. Through a generous gift from the Dana Foundation, President Jill Beck will direct a World Dance curriculum in partnership with Melee, Lawrence University’s student dance organization. Throughout the fall, Melee dancers will learn selected world dances, and research the historical, cultural, and philosophical concepts behind them. In the winter and spring, five Melee dancer/scholars will be chosen to teach these dances and their history in pre-designated local classrooms.
Throughout the summer, we will continue to seek funding opportunities for additional programming and continue to be in touch as opportunities develop, particularly in the area of arts and literacy. If you are interested in being an ArtsBridge scholar, or having an ArtsBridge scholar in your school or classroom during the next academic year, please send me an e-mail. All inquiries will be placed on a waiting list, which we will attempt to fill throughout next year as funding allows. In the meantime, should you have questions, I hope that you will not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Cynthia Roberts
Chief of Staff
ArtsBridge Interim Program Manager
ArtsBridge is the arts education and outreach program of Lawrence University. The ArtsBridge program creates university and K-12 school collaborations by partnering Lawrence students (ArtsBridge scholars) with a K-12 supervising host teacher to introduce interdisciplinary arts instruction through ArtsBridge projects.
Over the course of a semester, ArtsBridge scholars spend 2-3 hours a week in the classroom integrating music, dance, theatre and visual arts linked to individual classroom curricular needs. Under the guidance of a Lawrence faculty mentor, scholars work collaboratively with their host teacher to create lesson plans that integrate arts instruction with the core-curriculum, so that visual and performing arts are linked to math science, social studies and language arts. For teachers without without specialization in the arts, this support can awaken teachers' appreciation for the value of arts in education. For specialists, these passionate young artists can supplement and expand existing arts instruction.
ArtsBridge is also a means for university students to provide creative service to their communities while learning the value of social activism and developing long-term commitments to help the disadvantaged. Through hands-on projects that link the arts to daily curriculum, ArtsBridge scholars bring the arts alive with an energy and passion that makes learning through the arts meaningful to each pupil.
ArtsBridge America is a national network of universities that work in partnership with schools in their communities in support of arts and learning. With national headquarters at Lawrence University, ArtsBridge America is a network of 22 universities in 13 states and Northern Ireland, and their surrounding schools that confronts the problem of the elimination of the arts from K-12 schools. ArtsBridge America works with hundreds of public K-12 schools throughout the nation to return arts education to many thousands of school children through hands-on interdisciplinary arts projects introduced by undergraduate and graduate students.
Through ArtsBridge projects, students have developed their creativity and imagination, improved their language skills, increased their motivation to succeed in academic learning, and reinforced their values of peace, community and diversity. The ArtsBridge America program demonstrates that having the arts in education is valuable, promoting interdisciplinary knowledge while enhancing students' appreciation of and contributions to culture.
"What’s exciting about ArtsBridge is the deep engagement of all involved – art students, faculty mentors, public school teachers and public school children – which results in a more lasting impact."
David Dynak, ArtsBridge Director, University of Utah, Salt Lake City
Lawrence University
P.O Box 599
Appleton, WI 54912
(920) 832-6523
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