Archive for December, 2011
January a.r.t. Blog
Happy New Year, a.r.t.-ists! It’s time again to kick up our heels and toast to 2012.
Before we say “cheers”…
Let’s reflect on 2011.
Thanks to your support, a.r.t. was able to make a donation to A.W.E. (Artists Working in Education) for The Alliance School project. Alliance students are currently in the process of creating 6-word novels integrating music and video. Look for a video on the creative process in 2012. (A special thank you to Kiran Vee.)
We held our first ever a.r.t. teacher rummage sales in 2011. The two sales provided area educators with items for their classrooms at a low cost. Teachers helping teachers and teachers helping kids get more art. Beautiful. A special thank you to the staff at Richards Elementary School for their generous boxes (and boxes and boxes) of donated items. Ms. Tracy Mike, we couldn’t have done it without you.)
Also this year, a.r.t. …
collected art supplies for Arts@Large
Held the second annual a.r.t. benefit concert (The giving hearts who provided music: Char & Jim Guten/Delta Routine/Fresh Cut Collective. To The Hotel Foster for hosting the event… a HUGE thank you. What a party!)
Started the first ‘spread a.r.t. campaign’ to encourage collaboration among a.r.t.-ists and support area organizations and individuals providing arts opportunities to our youth
We also wish to thank the following supporters:
Milwaukee Art Museum
Alterra
Von Trier
Yield Bar
Summerfest
FRED boutique
Hotel Foster
Stages Photography
Educators Credit Union
Boswell Books
As we look to 2012, we see on the horizon more a.r.t. fundraising events to raise awareness, as well as money for arts programming. We will continue to bring you the scoop on arts education advocacy on the local, statewide, and national levels. In addition, we have more and more under 21 a.r.t.-ists on our roster recently. We welcome you to a.r.t.!
We always welcome new ideas and comments regarding our past and future projects. Feel free to contact us at art@artistsrallyingtogether.com.
Special kudos to a.r.t.’s event coordinator, Cassie King, and techie extraordinaire, Jon Strelecki. Jon is our website guru and Cassie will be organizing the 2012 a.r.t. happy hours. The happy hours are informal and small for those important collaborations to bloom among a.r.t.-ists.
Thank you to ALL a.r.t-ists for your ongoing support. Let us continue to share with our family and friends the importance of the arts for our youth in the community. We look forward to seeing you at a.r.t. events in 2012!
Dance and love,
Christina Ratatori
a.r.t. founding director
December a.r.t. Blog
It’s time to kick off the
spread a.r.t. campaign!
What is the
spread a.r.t. campaign?
spread a.r.t. is an opportunity to share with you groups/organizations/individuals who are taking positive actions to help young people become involved with the arts.
We are encouraging a.r.t.-ists to share our ‘spread a.r.t.’ posts via their own social media. This could lead to a.r.t.-ists connecting with other artists… it’s all about collaboration, right? Just a quick ‘copy-paste-click’ could lead to a very happy holiday for an artist.
www.ivaluethearts.org.uk/
There are wonderful things happening in arts education, and we would like to share these with you. Some are very small, grassroots initiatives, like the wonderful Soil with artsy-fartsy Kate and others are unique like the Gilbert gentlemen at H2O. They are inspiring young people to create their own music and lyrics.
Let’s spread some art around!
We will share with you different arts opportunities for 12 days. Check the a.r.t. facebook page and website often(twitter, too!).
More and more reports are coming out validating that the arts are essential to 21st century job skills. In addition, more research is stating arts education is necessary for addressing the whole child in our schools. The health & wellness of our young people directly connects with academic performance in the classroom. As we all know (and have experienced over and over), art is therapy, as well as a learning tool (aka arts integration).
Happy Holidays, a.r.t.-ists! We appreciate your ongoing support and wish you and your loved ones a Happy New Year.
Now… time to get back to drinking coffee with a little winter flare. (Have you ever tried java with eggnog and cinnamon & sugar sprinklings? Yum. It might even move you to create something new.)
Dance and love,
Christina M. Ratatori, a.r.t. founding director
