Creative Arts in Learning Division Partnerships

Current Partnerships

National Arts & Learning Collaborative (NALC) & Boston Public Schools Initiative

• Professional development for teachers (Initiated in 2000)

This is a two-year project with NALC, NEA and the Marshall and Sumner Schools in Dorchester. The program consists of a series of professional development workshops to support the integration of the arts across the curriculum, and to work with teachers in a study group to develop a curriculum resource guide sharing arts integrated curriculum developed by teachers.

Mission

To strengthen the role of the arts throughout the two elementary schools in order to facilitate student learning in and through the arts and to promote student literacy skills and engagement in learning.

Partners

• Lesley University (LU) http://web.lesley.edu/
• Boston Public Schools (BPS) http://boston.k12.ma.us/
• Walnut Hill School http://www.walnuthillarts.org/
• Brimmer and May School http://www.brimmerandmay.org/

Goals

• Develop a replicable Arts & Learning Collaborative model in the Boston Public Schools that brings community and arts education organizations together with public elementary schools, arts-rich high schools, and institutions of higher education to support an instructional focus on learning in and through the arts.
• Enable public schools to support their Whole School Improvement Plans and to comply with district, state, and national standards for arts education.
• Provide 3rd - 5th grade students with an arts and literacy mentorship program focused on learning in and through the arts.
• Provide educators with integrated arts professional development opportunities to utilize the arts as teaching tools to improve student engagement in learning.
• Enable educators to share best practices through the creation and dissemination of an Arts in Education Curriculum Resource Guide based on lessons implemented and created within the collaborative and supporting the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks.
• Enhance student learning in the arts and other subjects through the implementation of arts integrated curriculum.

Funding

• Edvesters
• Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC)
• National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)

New England Consortium of Artist Educator Professionals (NECAP) Teaching Artist Institute in Partnership with NECAP

• Artist's Teacher Certificate Institute Initiated in (2006)

Four day institute on arts integration designed to enhance teaching artists' knowledge of an artistic "anchor work" and to enhance his/her curriculum development, assessment and evaluation knowledge and skills. Specifically designed for artists seeking to work in schools. The week concludes with the annual NECAP conference. More...

Mission

To transform schools by providing students with opportunities to learn in and through the arts by developing community-based partnerships among schools, artists, arts and cultural organizations, and institutions of higher learning. In addition, the Teacher Institute is committed to establishing the arts as part of the core curriculum, committing to long-term collaborations, and develop the leadership capacities of teachers and school administrators through professional development and support.

Partners

• Lesley University, Creative Arts and Learning Division (CAL)
• Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC)
• New England Consortium of Artist-Educator Professionals (NECAP)

Goals

• Enhance the knowledge and skills of teaching artists in the areas of student assessment, curriculum development, child development, and school culture
• Engage artists in a deeper exploration of a particular area of interest
• Document and share the explorations of each seminar and providing access to the information and realizations at a wider level
• Additional workshops will address assessment of arts learning and project evaluation, crossing cultural borders, and early childhood education.

Funding

• Anonymous gift

Files for download
Teaching Artists: Cultivating the Educator Within 2006 Program [pdf]
Teaching Artists: Creating Opportunities for Learning In, With, and Through the Arts 2007 Program
New England Teaching Artist Skill Set [doc]
Teaching Artist Institute (TAI) Post Institute Survey [pdf]
Barr Project Summary [doc]

Attleboro 1ABC - Pathways to Arts and Literacy (PAL) (funded by funded by Lloyd G. Balfour Foundation, Bank of America, Trustee; and National Endowment for the Arts Big Read)

• Arts and Literacy program for middle school youth (Initiated in 2007)

The Attleboro 1 ABC committee has developed a targeted outreach program for Attleboro's middle school kids. Bringing together community partners, the Attleboro Public School System, and Lesley University, over 1000 kids will experience an arts and literacy program built on the themes of the title selected for the 1ABC project (Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury).

Mission

The Attleboro 1 ABC committee has developed a targeted outreach program for Attleboro's middle school kids. Bringing together community partners, the Attleboro Public School System, and Lesley University, over 1000 kids will experience an arts and literacy program built on the themes of the title selected for the 1ABC project (Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury).

Partners

• Attleboro 1ABC
• Attleboro Public Schools - Coelho, Wamsutta, and Brennan Middle Schools
• Attleboro Arts Museum

Goals

• Intensive teacher planning: Teachers from the three schools were involved in an intensive planning session that identified best strategies for implementing the project in their classrooms. They partnered with Lesley artist-faculty who served as mentors and coaches, throughout the duration of the project.
• Curriculum Development project: What are the themes of the chosen book that relate to the ideas and issues of contemporary culture? This inquiry led to an investigation of media, artists and educational approaches that formed a curriculum aimed at integrating arts and literacy in the middle school curriculum.
• Professional Development for Teachers: A two-day Arts and Literacy Institute was organized to introduce concepts of arts integration and literacy to teachers and to provide a framework for implementation of the four-week 1ABC arts and literacy middle school project.
• Artists-in-Residences in each school: Lesley artist-faculty served as artists-in-residence on site in the three schools during the project period. As artists in the schools, they created art with kids, and guided teachers in art-making activities, and provided overall support n the schools.
• Exhibition/ Community Arts: An exhibition of their work, dramatic performances, and an anthology of student poetry was distributed at a culminating event at the Attleboro Arts Museum.

Funding

• Lloyd G. Balfour Foundation
• Bank of America, Trustee
• National Endowment for the Arts Big Read

CyberArts: Night Vision Festival

• Four-day international CyberArts festival (Initiated in 2007)

The 2007 Night Vision Festival was a biennial event that delivered four evenings of diverse and dynamic video programs and media art to local audiences. The work represented an intersection of local and international artists producing politically charged, interactive formats, as well as a diverse collection of new images that run as night projections. Programs featured new readings on the fusion of art and technology. Overall Night Vision Festival was co-produced by Karen Frostig and Sam Smiley, core faculty in Lesley University's Creative Arts and Learning Division.

Night Visions runs as part of Boston's Cyberarts Festival:

...the first and largest collaboration of artists working in new technologies in all media in North America, encompassing visual arts, dance, music, electronic literature, web art, and public art. The 2007 Festival took place at more than 50 museums, galleries, theatres, universities, and public spaces in and around the Boston area. Cyberarts Festival Web Site http://bostoncyberarts.org/

Mission

Lesley University's 2007 Night Vision Festival was developed as a local media arts event in collaboration with the biennial Boston CyberArts Festival, founded in 1991. The 2007 Night Vision festival exemplified innovation and collaboration between local, regional, national and international cyberarts communities.

• 2009 Night Vision Festival Prospectus: Calls for Video, Digital Projections, and Performance Work. [doc]

2007 Partners

• Creative Arts and Learning at Lesley University http://web.lesley.edu/
• Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University http://web.lesley.edu/aib/
• Women's Caucus for Art (WCA) http://www.wcaboston.org/
• FemLink International Videoshttp://www.femlink.org/
• Cambridge Education Access Cable TV (CEA) http://www.cpsd.us/ceatv/
• Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School http://www.cpsd.us/crls/
• Lumen Eclipse http://www.lumeneclipse.com/
• Reel Vision http://www.newburyfilmseries.org/
• AstroDime Transit Authority http://www.virtualberet.net/ata/

Goals

• To enhance digital literacy while delivering an array of art and technology programming with the Lesley University community and the local/regional community.
• To create an inclusive exhibition environment where teen art, university student art, national artists and international artists present work side by side.
• To maximize the experimental nature of a festival event; explore new collaborations within the university while building new alliances between divisions, programs, and the surrounding community.
• To provide a hands-on learning environment for students and faculty wanting to elevate technology skills and/or learn about how to develop a short-term festival/symposia event.

Funding

• Graduate School of Arts and Social Sciences (GSASS)
• Creative Arts and Learning (CAL)