The South Arkansas Arts Center has been chosen as one of seven locations to host three fine arts workshops from the program “Taking it to the Schools III: Community Experiences in Fine Arts.”
Workshops will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 14-15 and June 29. This program is presented by the Arkansas Department of Education and in partnership with the Arkansas Arts Council (AAC) and Arkansans for the Arts.
Teachers, teaching artists and community arts participants are invited to attend the one-day training sessions which focus on the potential collaborations between school arts programs and community arts organizations. Participants will take away a series of instructional modules developed by the team of trainers. These modules will provide arts educators with rich resources that are specific to the artistic discipline they teach and aligned to the Arkansas Fine Arts Academic Standards.
While the program provides teaching techniques for current arts educators, the workshop is open to community arts participants in order to gain a deeper understanding of arts education. By attending the workshop, non-arts educators can have a hands-on experience of what students in local schools learn in their arts classrooms.
Community members can register at https://goo.gl/forms/FvelRVPMg6sCJOFn2
The three workshops take place over three days, each with different instructors and disciplines.
Each workshop is led by a classroom teacher and a teaching artist. On June 14, Wyatt Hamilton of Bauxite Public Schools and Stephanie Thibeault of AAC ARTS in Education and UALR will lead instruction on theatre and dance. Participants will examine the difference between character and caricature, experiment with related movement and dance, and tie the study of character into important discussions about diversity.
On June 15, former El Dorado arts instructor Shelton Harden, currently of AAC Arts in Education, and Patty Oeste of Conway Public Schools will tailor their workshop towards music in education. The team will create and use an “escape room” as a formative or summative assessment related to the study of the elements of music.
On June 29, visual arts instructors Joy Schultz of Episcopal Collegiate and Jeri Hillis of AAC Arts in Education will focus on the art of collage. The team will combine a look at collage artists and making collage art with a discussion of choice-based art.
Teachers can receive professional development hours for attending these workshops. Registration for teachers can be found in accounts through escWorks.
For more detailed information concerning the workshops, instructors or registration, contact Lana Hallmark, fine arts program adviser with the Arkansas Department of Education at 501-682-7590 or [email protected].
The workshops will be held at South Arkansas Arts Center, 110 E. 5th St., El Dorado. The SAAC office can be reached at 870-862-5474.