Friendly Inn/Dance Afrika Dance
Site Coordinator: Akil Marshall, executive director, Dance Afrika Dance
Artist/Teachers:
Theater: Saidah Mitchell, actress
Visual Art: Krista Kohut
Music: Jamal Marshall
Talise Campbell
Olugbala Manns
Akilah Ashraf
Larry McBee
Here’s what happened this summer:
Students used the arts to explore the principles of Ujoma: Team, Family, Unity, Personal Responsibility and Respect, and also learned how to “walk in your royalty” as a way of understanding how to succeed in life. Dance, theater, visual arts and music were combined into a musical theater performance for the community called “SMARTCITY USA,” which tells a story of the group’s vision for its future. Students created the artwork used in the play and also created personalized “throne” sculptures as symbols of the royalty of their better natures.
WSCH/Young Audiences
Site Coordinator: Susan Koziol, teacher and athletic director, Lincoln West High School
Artist/Teachers
Team Leader: Annie McNally-Dienes, Associate Director of Education, Young Audiences
Theater: Robin Pease
Visual Art: Wendy Mahon
Dance: Desmond Davis
Music: Dave Young
Here’s what happened this summer:
The group theme of “putting it together” was used to explore the many choices children must make in putting together their individual life stories. At the start, the group created a “constitution” that outlined its commitment to work together over the summer. Children and teachers signed with inked thumbprints. The myth of Jason and the Argonauts formed the basis for a student-written play, “The Luck of the Gem,” that was offered at the community celebration event. All costumes, dances and music for the play were created by the students with guidance from their artist-teachers. The large audience that enjoyed the final performance included many of the neighborhood’s elderly who use the community center on a daily basis, as well as the Cleveland councilman for this ward, Jay Westbrook.
St. Mel/Great Lakes Theater Festival
Site Coordinator: Gary Galaszewski, teacher, John Marshall High School
Artist/Teachers
Team Leaders: Daniel Hahn, actor, playwright, education director, Great Lakes Theater Festival; Sheffia Dooley
Creative Writing: David Hansen, actor, playwright
Visual Art: Jodi Kirk
Theater: Tim Pringpuangkeo, actor
Music: Robert Williams
What happened this summer:
Children explored the theme of conflict resolution through works of classic literature, African tales, Greek legends and modern plays such as “Raisin in the Sun” and “The Diary of Anne Frank.” Dance classes focused on body awareness and movement to relieve stress and generate positive creative movement. Song lyrics, poetry, stories and mask-making linked writing with music and the visual arts. The community celebration included performances of scenes from classic plays, scenes children had written themselves and an art exhibit.
Boys and Girls Club-Broadway/Cleveland Play House
Site Coordinator: Chuck Dancy, teacher, James Ford Rhodes High School
Artist/Teachers
Team Leader: Cathy Hartenstein, director of education, Cleveland Play House
Visual Art: Jeff Willis
Dance: Tracey McKee
Music: Gustavo Aguilar
Theater: Nya Stevens
Here’s what happened this summer:
Throughout the five-week program, students kept dream journals about dreams they have for themselves and for their world. Multicultural myths and music were explored, and the dream journals formed the basis of a play the children wrote that told the story of Dreamlantis, a community that lost its way and its protector – a benevolent dragon that lived on the dreams of the community – by not pursuing its dreams. Dance, music and student artwork supported the presentation of the play at the community celebration.
Case Western Reserve University Art Studio
Site Coordinator: Michelle Shuckerow, former Cleveland Metropolitgan art teacher
Artist/Teachers
Visual Art: Tim Shuckerow, Director, CWRU Art Studio
Music: Adele Karam, professional opera singer, vocal coach
Digital Art: Jared Bendis, creative director of new media, CWRU
Theater: Gilbert Doho, director, ethnic studies program, CWRU faculty
Visual Art, Dance, Music: Jill Yanik, CWRU Art Studio graduate assistant
Technology, Music: Cory Sampliner, CWRU Art Studio graduate assistant
Here’s what happened this summer:
The community celebration at the end of the five-week SmART in the City program showcased the Afro-centric focus of the curriculum at this site, with an emphasis on both the past and present influence of African culture on American art forms. Students performed speeches by historical figures who have influenced American history, including Abraham Lincoln and Barack Obama. They performed choral arrangements of blues standards and spirituals, and staged a fully realized adaptation of a West African children’s story, “Osa’s Pride,” which became “Foolish Pride.” The children’s artwork was also exhibited in the art studio’s gallery. More than 100 parents and friends attended the culminating ceremony.
St Jerome/Opera Cleveland
Site Coordinator: Ruth Lee Cunningham, teacher, Collinwood High School
Artist/Teachers
Team Leader: Maidie Rosengarden, director of education, Opera Cleveland
Other Opera Cleveland staff support:
Cliff Wilson, artistic administrator
Angela Simonetti, public relations
Lisa Kish, technical director
Music: Nicole Bailey, professional musician, percussionist, member of BATTU Ensemble
Music: Janet Pemberton, professional musician, percussionist, member of several local orchestras
Visual Art: Patricia Fantroy, Cleveland Metropolitan School District art specialist, photographer, visual artist
Dance: Michael Medcalf, dancer, chorographer, former artistic director for the Cleveland Contemporary Dance Ensemble
Theater: Lisa Siciliano, professional actor, director
Here’s what happened this summer:
Each child made a personalized “passport” with “souvenirs” created as tokens of their past and future journeys. The group explored the cultures of South America, Asia and Native Americans, learning about their music, dance and visual art forms. An exhibit of artwork inspired by these cultures was part of the final community celebration, and students performed dances, music and theatrical skits based on their multicultural learning over the summer.
Old Brooklyn/CPT
Site Coordinator: Marquita Lee, teacher, Collinwood High School
Artist/Teachers
Team Leader: Raymond Bobgan, executive director, Cleveland Public Theatre
Theatre: Brett Keyser, actor, director, artist-in-residence at the American Philosophical Society
Artist/Teacher: Kora Radella
Visual Arts: Alexis Hedderson
Music: J.Scott Franklin, Cleveland Metropolitan School Disrtict music teacher
Dance: Faye Hargate
Theatre: Sean Booker, actor
Here’s what happened this summer:
Students’ art projects were inspired by scientific, geographic and personal expedition into the world around them, exploring new territories inside and outside of themselves. The students’ expedition journals formed the basis of a fantasy play offered for the community celebration. The play chronicled a journey of loss, discovery, strange encounters, gaining new perspectives and coming home. Dance and music were integral parts of the play, with students singing songs of their own creation and performing accompaniment on recorders and drums. Art classes focused on printmaking, and students created invitations and programs for the play and expedition maps as background for the play’s scenes.
Spanish American Daycare/Progressive Arts Alliance
Site Coordinator: Evelyn Rivera, PhD, Latino outreach coordinator for NAMI, Greater Cleveland
Artist/Teachers
Team Leader: Santina Protopapa, executive director, Progressive Arts Alliance
Web Design: Laura Einsel, multimedia artist and program coordinator, Progressive Arts Alliance
Electronic Music: Doc Harrill, turntablist, local DJ and musician
Animation/Filmmaking: Robert Banks, local filmmaker whose work has been shown at the Sundance Film Festival
Interns: Melissa Agriesti (visual art), Tyler Drummer, Connor Musarra, Robert O’Neil, Antwan Phillips, Wayne Smith III
Here’s what happened this summer:
This was a media- and technology-centered program. Students worked with professional equipment loaned to the program by Progressive Arts Alliance, including digital cameras, Apple computers, professional turntables, microphones and video cameras. Students learned how to express themselves through a variety of media arts forms, including claymation (stop-motion animation videos using clay figures sculpted by the children), and flip-book animated drawings. Students learned digital photography, created their own websites and wrote a daily blog. They learned how to be creative DJ’s, manipulating sound on turntables to create solo and ensemble performances. DJ “etiquette” was an important part of this class. DJ performances by three different DJ teams were part of the community celebration at the end of the program, and the audience was treated to the students’ claymation videos. Parents could also view student websites, read their blogs and see other artwork produced over the five-week program.