The Bronx Council on the Arts presents Get It Together 2009, an Arts-in-Education round table symposium on Wednesday, May 6, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Longwood Art Gallery at Hostos Community College, 450 Grand Concourse at 149th Street.
In celebration of National Teacher’s Day, this annual county-wide Arts-in-Education round table provides the education and arts communities an opportunity to gather to raise and address pertinent issues while sharing best practices in the field. This round table will facilitate a panel presentation on specific resources available to promote increase in reading and proficiency in the language arts as well as a good hands-on workshop focusing on key ingredients for a well-planned and successful arts education residency. Furthermore, the symposium will afford participants the opportunity to network before and after the presentations.
The day will consist of the following:
Open Workshop: Solid Foundation Building: How to Make Your Residency Work From The Very Beginning. Session Description: Connecting teachers and teaching artists can be an immense undertaking for both teachers and teaching artists as well as for local school principals. Workshop facilitator Geri Hayes (Knowledge Management, Specialist for the Arts, Dept. of Education, Leadership Learning Support Organization) will provide a hands-on workshop that provides participants multi solutions for clear parameters. Ms. Hayes has extensive experience working in both the education community and the arts community in the Bronx.
Panel: Building Bridges: Using the NEA Big Read and Other Literary Resources to Reinforce Language Arts (English and Spanish). Session Description: The Big Read is an initiative designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. The Big Read answers a big need. Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America, a report by the National Endowment for the Arts, found that literary reading in America has declined rapidly among all groups and that the rate of decline has accelerated among the young. How can arts councils like BCA help? How can BCA assist in bringing resources (national or regional) to our local school and how can local schools tap and integrate The Big Read and other resources into their language arts curriculum. This panel will discuss program scope, present ideas, and raise these issues urging the participants to offer their solutions. This panel will be facilitated by Mary Ann Siano, Consultant and former Assistant Director of the Lehman College Art Gallery. Panelists include Maria Romano, Coordinator of The Big Read in the Bronx, Bronx Council on the Arts, Others TBD.
The round table will be followed by a closing reception celebrating the closing of our two current exhibitions: Dream Sequence and Outsiders: Contemporary Works of Immigrant Artisans. The reception begins with a gallery tour by BCA’s Longwood staff. Schools are urged to inquire about utilizing the gallery and integrating our visual artists into school curriculum.
For information and to RSVP, contact Americo Casiano Jr. at (718) 931-9500, ext. 19 or americo@bronxarts.org.
