- Name:
- Andrew Murrell
- Subject:
- Oz Teaching Artists continued
- Date:
- 25 Mar 2006
- Time:
- 10:51:07 AM -0500
Blog
Discussion Room
Contents | Search | Post | Reply | Next | Previous | Up ]
oz teaching artist
From: andrew murrell
Email: andrewmurrell@teachingartist.com
Date: 25 Mar 2006
Time: 10:36:37
Remote Name: 70.18.62.41
Comments
More on my study tour: I thought I would quickly run through my schedule and then some conclusions from what I have learnt so far - that would be the best use of this space and give the most scope for response and discussion. Most of the people I have met so far are on the staff of the education arm of the body they represent. 20th March: Met Kajsa Thuresson-Frary, McCallum Theatre Institute, Palm Desert, CA. Lincoln Institute member. Then met Elizabeth Tobias of Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum of Topanga, CA. Shakespeare and Elizabethan Theatre is their focus. 21st March met Susan Cambigue-Tracy, David Prather (TA), Leslie Thompson, Roslyn Rhee of The Music Center, LA. Broad program of shows and TA work. Met Eileen Brown at Orange County PAC - mostly shows on site with TA work around them. NYC from 23rd March. Met Dr Carol Fineberg at her home (very kind). Most informative and in touch with the Aesthetic Ed situation in NYC. New Victory Theatre, then and met with Edie Demas, saw a show and witnessed kids in audience. On to Chelsea High School and Epic Theatre's extensive work with them. Melissa Friedman very helpful and witnessed end of first read through of shortened Hamlet in after school elective. 24th March Missed seeing Periwinkle Theatre in action but will catch up a little later, met Madeline Cohen of Symphony Space and heard about her curriculum based arts program. Then met Carol Rice of Arts Connection at an after school program and heard about her rigourous program of partner schools and TAs. From here I go to Washington to speak with speak with Anita Maynard-Losh at ARena Theatre, a workshop at Kennedy Center that is PD for teachers, Michael Bigley at Washington Performing Arts Society, David Markey at Imagination Stage, and witness an incursion with Folger Shakespeare Library. From there, I go to the TAMP conference in Buffalo and so, to home. I hope to meet more Arts folks there and learn again. As to my conclusions so far, several themes emerge: 1. While there is an obvious difference in magnitude between Australia and USA in terms of population and, hence, in amount of activity, the parallels in clientele, aims, rigour and methods are obvious. 2. The cyclical nature of the penetration of arts into our schools is very similar and years of involvement and progress can be undone in a moment by a) the departure of a key staff member from the school, especially an enthusiastic principal and b) the loss of key funding. Entire school generations have been lost in some of our places due to these factors. The implications of this are scary as these students grow into the leaders of tomorrow and see no reason to apply arts in the schools of the future. They were fine without the Arts so why should they fund Arts education when they are on power? The uniform nature of content and delivery appears to be another area of confluence. We are all, Oz and USA, and probably elsewhere, trying to raise standards, improve intellectual rigour and find ways of making what we do an integral part of the curriculum. Kids are the same where ever you go. Walk into any class in the eithere country and the structure, dynamic, personel will be similar as will the responses to our work and methods of engaement of the students. In more disadvataged schools, this structure may be hidden but it is still there. The Arts can still change the life of a student very quickly for the better and so often it is the 'difficult' student about whom we are warned before hand by the classroom teacher who turns out to be the one who takes to what we do like a duck to water. The relationship between the Arts and funding remains the same: when funding is tight, the Arts are the first to go. My trip continues tomorrow. Meanwhile I have a day in NYC to explore. More to follow.
Last changed: March 25, 2006
- Name:
- Andrew Murrell
- Subject:
- TA from OZ
- Date:
- 24 Mar 2006
- Time:
- 10:17:49 AM -0500
BlogI am a Teaching ARtist from the Victorian Arts Centre, Melbourne Australia. I won a grant to attend the TAMP conference in Buffalo, NY later this month and was asked to add value to the trip by finding a course of study. I chose to visit as many arts bodies in the USA as I could and see how they designa and deliver their Aesthetic Ed.
Many emails and searches later, I got on a plane on the 19th March, in Melbourne, got to LA on the 19th at 8am, hired a car and proceeded to the serious business of getting lost in the city of freeways as often as I could. But I survived and visited with 4 centers in LA in 2 days. Here is what I found:
McCallum Institute, Palm Desert. Lincoln Center model used here and a member of the institute. Kajsa Thuresson-Frary, in charge of Education, kindly outlined their program. 1) Field Trips to center for free shows for school groups. 19,500 come through last year. Workshops attached to these at times held in the school. 2) Summer Camp - day camp held for all ages in performing arts. Not held this year due to renovations. 3) Choreography festival - local and international groups, professional and amateur compete in large, popular festival in various categories. 4) Touring - specially designed show touring schools. 5) Amateur talent show in the areas of Classical Ballet, Classical instrumental, Voice, Music Theatre. They have trouble finding TA's at times and operate with 12 at the moment and are adding to this. Strong community involvement and support. Great centre and theatre.
Ran out of time for the moment. I'll post and continue later. |
This months Teaching Artists' blog
is supplied to us by Andrew Murrell
