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Messy Hands, Growing Minds:
Brain Building and the Arts
This past April, the Children's Art Centre received a grant from the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care to conduct an art workshop during a state-wide Brain Building Week. "Messy Hands, Growing Minds: Brain Building and the Arts," facilitated by CAC early childhood art educator Helen Schroeder, included a presentation to parents and teachers on the role the arts can play in brain development and promotion of school readiness skills. After the presentation, parents had the opportunity to engage in a variety of art projects with their children while learning the developmental objectives behind each activity. Part of the workshop focused on ideas for using non-traditional art materials in process-based, exploratory projects. See our list below for engaging materials to add to your family's art supplies! |
Examples of non-traditional art materials for young children
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- Natural materials (leaves, rocks, twigs, pinecones, straw, flowers) and magnifying glasses
- Contact paper, graph paper, tin foil, plastic wrap, bubble wrap, coffee filters
- Turkey basters, droppers, spray bottles, plastic tweezers, rolling pins, plastic pizza cutters, garlic press, plastic scissors
- Recycled materials and LOTS of masking tape
- Home made sensory materials: play dough, flubber, oobleck, and finger paint
- Cooked spaghetti + paint, colored water, dried rice + beans
- Plastic eggs, Q-tips, sponges, fly swatters, funnels
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Other topics discussed included the role of art in physical, cognitive, and social-emotional development, open-ended projects vs. coloring books, and the role of the arts in building early literacy skills. Want to learn more? Read the whole presentation by downloading it here. To learn more about the Brain Building in Action campaign, click here. Many thanks to the Massachusetts Dept. of Early Education and Care for making this workshop possible! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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| The Art of Community:
The USES-Museum of Fine Arts Partnership
For the last several years, United South End Settlements has been fortunate to participate in a dynamic partnership with the Museum of Fine Arts through their Community Arts Initiative (CAI). Through this partnership, Afterschool Program youth participate in museum visits, art making workshops with CAI Liaison Jeremiah Stevenson, and an annual collaboration with a working artist, called The Artist Project.
For this year's Artist Project, called Fresh Eyes, youth from Group 4 of USES' Afterschool Program worked with artist Hannah Burr to respond to works from the MFA's encyclopedic collection. Through the students' drawings, audio recordings, and transcriptions, Fresh Eyes demonstrates how personal and infinitely varied responses to a work of art can be. Hannah Burr will present the students' theories, questions, declarations, descriptions, and questions in a layered, dynamic system of color-coded, visually delightful patterns made to draw in visitors, who are invited to look with fresh eyes at what they may not have noticed otherwise. Student's work is on view from April 21st to September 16th in the Edward H. Linde Gallery of the MFA. Follow this link for more information.
Congratulations to our Group 4 youth, and thanks to the MFA for their continued support!
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Save the Date
June 2 | 11:30am-2pm
Family Fun on Rutland
Join us for our annual Family Fun on Rutland Day! The event will feature a youth art exhibit and performance, BBQ lunch, art activities for the whole family, and a youth programs open house.
June 25 | 8am
Summer Arts Program Begins
Spaces are still available in this dynamic full-day arts program for children ages 4.5-12. Register for two week sessions or join us for the whole summer! Follow this link to learn more and register!
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Thank you, Spring Interns and Volunteers!  | |
Service-Learning volunteer Taylor Williams working with a student from USES' Early Childhood Education Program
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The Children's Art Centre has once again been lucky to serve as a host site for a variety of interns and volunteers this spring. Our interns come to us with a variety of majors and backgrounds, but all share an interest in working at the intersection of children, arts, and learning. These individuals bring their time, knowledge, and passion to the Children's Art Centre each week, and we would not be able to offer many of our programs without their support. Many thanks to the following students - you will be missed! Sarah Spiezio| Lesley University Jaime Peck | Lesley University Dana Taglin | Northeastern University Judy Chhim | Northeastern University Taylor Williams | Northeastern University Kelly Dwyer | Northeastern University |
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From the Archives...
The CAC Wall - Then and Now
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The Wall of the Children's Art Centre circa 1950, and after complete restoration, 2012.
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The Children's Art Centre gateway and courtyard wall, a century-old landmark of our space on Rutland Street, had begun to show its age in recent years. Time and gravity had slowly weakened the structural integrity of the wall's foundation, forcing the iconic gateway to be locked. This spring, thanks to generous support from the Henderson Fund, the wall and gateway underwent a complete rebuild. Restoration experts painstaking used new and reused materials to restore the wall's structural integrity while maintaining its historic look. We are hoping this new wall will take the Art Centre through its next hundred years and beyond! |
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