Grant Proposal Assingment
Julie VW
SMU
Fund Development AA 626
October 6, 2003
INTRODUCTION
Young Audiences of Minnesota (YAMN) was founded in 1963 as an education project of WAMSO – the Minnesota Orchestra Volunteer Association. In 1993, due to the continued growth of the project and the changing needs of schools, YAMN incorporated and became its own 501(c)3 in 1993. YAMN is an independent chapter of Young Audiences Inc., a network of 32 arts-in-education providers around the United States. Each chapter is separately incorporated and responsible for its own budget and programming. In 2000 3M recognized Real Art + Real Kids, our exhibit program with the Award for Innovation in the Arts. In April 2001 YAMN received the National Young Audiences Chapter Achievement Award, the highest honor available to individual chapters. The 2002 Best Practice Award was given to YAMN for a classical initiatives project conducted with the Minneapolis Public Schools.
The mission of Young Audiences is to inspire learning by making the arts an essential part of every child’s education and development. We accomplish this by involving children, youth, and their families in arts experiences that:
• Foster creativity and self-expression
• Teach in and through the arts
• Transform the environment for learning
• Provide a better understanding of the world outside the classroom
• Encourage a life-long association with the arts.
Young Audiences accomplishes this mission by bringing the arts to kids and linking the arts to learning. Our arts programming provides student-centered activities and links to other learning needed to help a school meet its curriculum goals.
In and of itself, art is a valuable tool. At YAMN we take it a step further. We promote more than art for art’s sake. We provide art for learning’s sake. Our programs aren’t designed to give teachers one more thing to teach, but rather to help them teach what is already in the curriculum. Teachers do not have to work our programs into their schedule, our programs work into theirs.
YAMN programming provides enrichment and development for youth in five areas.
Performances are designed to be age-appropriate and provide a stimulating blend of performance, demonstration, and interaction.
Classroom Workshops give students and their teachers the opportunity to work closely with artists, learning about the craft as well as the history, origins, influences of the art form and culture.
Arts Residencies are designed to integrate art with specific curriculum goals or standards.
Real Art + Real Kids is a unique program bringing original museum quality art into the schools to help students develop visual literacy and acquire an understanding of the rich cultural contexts represented in the exhibition.
Educator In-Services are available for groups of teachers, curriculum teams to offer continuing education for teachers.
DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM,
GOALS, AND ACTIVITIES
Barry Kleider, a professional photographer, arts educator, and YAMN roster artist developed a residency program titled Picturing Community. In this program, KLEIDER incorporates digital photographic technology into 4th – 8th grade classrooms with the goal of creating a photo essay that engages students in mathematics, writing, and social studies.
A photo essay is a combination of photographs and text that tells a story, recreates an experience, or explores a common theme. Short captions or longer essays accompany the photos, but pictures tell the story. During the residency, students will study famous photo essays, such as The Country Doctor by W. Eugene Smith.
Active student involvement is a major component of the YAMN philosophy and programming. Simply learning about a topic does not replace experiencing the topic. To ensure quality involvement with the art form, YAMN will provide a digital camera for each student to use during this residency. Participating schools are responsible for the cameras checked out to their students and will be billed for any repair or replacement costs associated with damaged equipment. Kleider begins the residency with instruction on the basic care, security, and operation of the digital cameras. Students immediately put their new found photographic “skills” to practice with an assignment to take pictures of their family, friends, and bedrooms.
At the second meeting, Kleider teaches students how to download their cameras, and invites them to share their work. Elements of visual art (such as balance, composition, lighting, point of view) are discussed and students learn how to improve their skills as digital photographers. The student “show and tell” of friends and family photographs naturally leads to discussions about community. Kleider and the classroom teacher weave discussions about the definition of the word “community” into the class session. Over a series of class sessions, students work with classroom teachers to describe their community in words, while Kleider works with students to describe the stories of their community with photographs. Students are challenged to notice the things they like and dislike in the communities, and think about ways to strengthen good things and improve on the negative.
In the final class sessions students combine photographs and writings into a photo essay of their community. The work is mounted on display boards and presented in a common area of the school building.
PROJECT BENEFITS
As a facilitator to arts in learning, YAMN strives to address the underlying causes of academic underachievement, by providing experiences to learn through and in the arts. National studies have shown that students who participate in arts consistently outperform their peers in academic skills such as math and critical thinking.
Students learn more when they are actively engaged in a subject. Picturing Community literally connects the classroom to a student’s immediate community allowing them to engross themselves in practical application of academic skills.
KEY STAFF
J.R. Executive Director of YAMN, has more than 20 years experience in the arts, as a theatre director, college professor, and writer / scholar. Barry Kleider began studying photography at age 9 when he discovered his family’s subscription to Life Magazine. Barry’s images have been exhibited around the country including the Oakland Museum of California, The Hayward Area Historical Society, and the University of Massachusetts. Kleider has led arts education experiences, community education classes, and coordinated drop-in center programs for 25 years.
DESCRIPTION OF
PARTNERSHIPS LEVERAGED
YAMN regularly works with the Museum of Asmat Art, The Wisemen Art Museum, and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts to present the Real Art + Real Kids program to schools. Minnesota Public Radio and YAMN formed a partnership with Parkview Elementary school in 2002 to create a project in the style of the radio show From the Top. YAMN maintains active partnership with the Minneapolis Public Schools, St. Joesph’s Home for Children, and the Minneapolis Learning Center. The Guthrie Theater and YAMN’s executive director are currently planning a collaboration beginning in 2004.
GEOGRAPHIC AREA SERVED
In FY 03 YAMN served over 120,000 students throughout Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Approximately 80% of the programs occur in the seven county metro area, and 25% of our programs are presented in schools with high poverty rates.
IMPLEMENTAION PLAN
AND TIMELINE
Picturing Community has been accepted to the YAMN roster and is now available for any school at anytime. The expense of providing digital cameras, however, makes the residency cost prohibitive for schools interested in using Kleider’s expertise. YAMN is actively seeking funders to purchase a set of cameras for schools to check out during this residency and hopes to have a set of cameras available for the 2003-04 academic year.
EVALUATION METHODOLOGY
Every YAMN staff member observes and evaluates roster artists on a regular basis. Teachers and students also receive forms to evaluate and provide feedback on their experience with YAMN. Finally, graduate students that the Humphrey Institute are developing an assessment tool for YAMN that will objectively measure the impact of our program on student’s academic performance, engagement with the curriculum, and overall self-esteem.
OTHER FUNDING
In 2003, YAMN began an aggressive development program which includes ongoing solicitation of corporate, foundation, and government grants, and expanding the base of individual donors. The board is currently working with a development consultant to identify and cull lapsed and new donors for the organization. The launch of a Friend’s Organization will bring additional visibility and volunteer manpower to YAMN.
YAMN has approached Kodak and Citigroup for support of the Barry Kleider residency.
