“Creating Community”

This project is supported in part by a grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment of the Arts.

Our Next Generation successfully competed for one of hundreds of matching grants from the Wisconsin Arts Board this year to implement the "Creating Community through the Arts" program, in partnership with Express Yourself Milwaukee.

Creating Community through the Arts is an eight-month artistic process, for 4th - 8th grade students that will build from session to session and help students create a deeper understanding of multidisciplinary art forms as a means of expression. They will engage in various visual and performing arts, including drum, dance and movement. The program is designed as a pathway toward students’ development of healthier self-identities and lifestyles.

The art workshops focus on developing self-confidence and self-responsibility while expanding students’ expressive, collaborative and problem-solving capacities through artistic exploration. They will learn, as part of the Express Yourself model, to envision non-violent, meaningful change in their lives.

The workshops will be hosted at two of Our Next Generation’s sites, including our main Neighborhood Center, 35th & Lisbon, and Westside Academy, 36th & Brown.  In addition, local studios will be used allowing the students to see opportunities within their own community.

This project will be led by a team of two Our Next Generation education program leaders and locally- and nationally-known artists, to name a few, Lori Vance, MS, LCSW, ATR, Executive Director / Artistic Coordinator, Jahmes Anthony Finlayson, BFA - Music/Drum, Muneer Bahauddein – Visual Arts, and Michelle Hatfield & Rashida Marjani – Movement & Dance.

The Wisconsin Arts Board is a state agency with a fiscal 2009 budget of $2,470,200 appropriated by the state legislature and $791,800 from National Endowment for the Arts partnership grant. With this investment of public funds, community-based organizations are able to reach new audiences, foster community development, provide the highest quality programming and develop models for integrating the arts into the curriculum.

The Arts Board also supports local arts councils in cities and towns across Wisconsin (spell check). These local councils present programs in their communities, ranging from festivals, exhibitions and performances, to educational programs for adults and children. Thanks to the state's investment, cultural resources like Our Next Generation and Express Yourself Milwaukee (and our amazing artists) are integral to the quality of life in Wisconsin.

Learn more at:

www.expressyourselfmilwaukee.org

www.artsboard.wisconsin.gov