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Arts for Learning Maryland Welcomes Six New Board Members
Arts for Learning Maryland has elected six new members to its board of directors: LaWanda Edwards, Paul Wolman, Mark Paul Lehman, Rodrick Johnson, Dr. Jason Morgan, and Ariel Martin.
LaWanda Edwards is an experienced communicator and organizer who is currently Program Manager with the Maryland Health Care Commission. Previously, she held staff positions in the Maryland State Senate and the Harford County Government. LaWanda explains, “I strongly believe in Arts for Learning Maryland’s mission and am eager to work with an organization that understands the importance of using art to help children reach their highest potential.”
Paul Wolman brings extensive leadership and creativity to the A4L board. He was the founder of FEATS, the nationally-known events company, is a consultant to businesses and leaders through WolmanEdge, has served organizations including Teach for America Baltimore, NAF and The Leadership, is a trustee of Baltimore Community Foundation and founder of Heart of the Schools and the Educator Support Collaborative. Said Paul, “As a lifelong student of the live experience, and one who feels incredibly fortunate to have performed in front of audiences at an early age, I’m especially excited about Arts for Learning’s full integration approach to learning, and life.”
Mark Paul Lehman, Senior Counsel, Vice President of Howden USA Company, adds his strong legal background and creative mindset to the board. He has served on the board of Movable Feast and Everyman Theatre. “I was blessed to be involved in the arts as a child and I know I greatly benefited from the experiences,” said Mark. “I believe exposure to the arts nourishes the soul of every individual, including children. Arts for Learning provides services that are critical to a vital urban area, and the excellence of services makes it an organization that stands out.”
Rodrick Johnson knows first-hand the power of arts integration and Arts for Learning Maryland’s approach to student learning. A former City Schools educator and current City Schools literacy coach, he knows how true student engagement can change learning. He even served as a site director at our Summer Arts for Learning Academy! As he put it, “students deserve an experience and something that captivates them! Arts and education in one setting allow students access that some need to feel successful. When I was introduced to this organization, I was guaranteed that students would get this every time there was a program, and it has been consistent. I want to participate and join in providing equity, arts, learning, and experiences for all students.”
Dr. Jason Morgan works every day surrounded by the arts, as the Associate Vice President of Undergraduate Admission at the Maryland Institute College of Art. His strong experience with budgeting and with government relations will enhance the wide ranging talent of our board. “I personally and professionally connect with the mission of Art for Learning Maryland,” said Dr. Morgan. “The arts can empower MD students to excel in areas of learning that they perceive as difficult. Through its partnerships, programs, and development programs, the organization’s work is vital to MD students.”
Ariel Martin, working as a Senior Associate at The Common Application and previously in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, brings a strong legal expertise to Arts for Learning Maryland. “I choose to dedicate my time to Arts for Learning Maryland because I strongly believe in its mission and I am inspired by the work the organization does to enrich education through the arts,” explained Ariel.
Welcome, LaWanda, Ariel, Paul, Mark, Rodrick, and Jason!
Arts for Learning Maryland Elects New Officers to its Board of Directors
Arts for Learning Maryland is delighted to announce the new officers on its Board of Directors. At its October meeting, the following long-time Arts for Learning board members were elected officers:
Chair: Sheelagh Allston, Vice President, Senior Real Estate Counsel, Wexford Science + Technology. Sheelagh has been on the Arts For Learning Board for 15 years, serving as Vice Chair and chairing the Risk Management and COVID Health and Safety Advisory committees. She succeeds Alan Hoff as Chair of the board.
Said Sheelagh, “I believe in the importance of the arts in education and think every child should have opportunities to experience the arts. Arts for Learning is working hard to make this a reality. I look forward to Arts for Learning continuing to grow and serving as many children as possible.”
Vice Chair: Chris Wallace, Retired Speech-Language Pathologist
Vice Chair: Bill Buckner, Director, Learning and Capacity Building, The Annie E. Casey Foundation
Secretary: Nancy Kass, JHU Phoebe R. Berman Professor of Bioethics and Public Health & Deputy Director, Berman Institute of Bioethics
“Our new officers are assuming their new roles at an exciting time for Arts for Learning Maryland,” said Stacie Sanders Evans, Arts for Learning’s President and CEO. “They bring the commitment, vision, and energy that will propel our growth and success as we reach more students throughout Maryland and create opportunities for more teaching artists.”
Read more here about these thoughtful, passionate leaders and their commitment to Arts for Learning.
A Mural for Bruce-Monroe Elementary: Collaboration, Community, and Más Paz
A beautiful new mural celebrating mathematics, the Black Lives Matter movement, and Latinidad graces the entrance of Bruce-Monroe Elementary School in Washington DC. The mural’s colors and images glow like the sun shining through stained glass and radiate the joy of community–and they serve as a reminder of a wonderful summer spent creating the artwork.
It all happened during the 2023 Summer Arts for Learning Academy (SALA) when artist Federico Frum–known as MasPaz–worked with students to imagine the mural and bring it to life with support from the National Gallery of Art. SALA, the free, five-week program operated by Arts for Learning Maryland in partnership with District of Columbia Public Schools, brings arts-integrated learning and creative exploration to hundreds of students in ways that support their growth in math and literacy.
Last week, the Bruce-Monroe School community held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate their new mural in conjunction with their Latino Heritage Week celebration. “I used the center of the Mayan calendar to represent the ancient knowledge of numerology, while a person with a raised fist portrays the Black Lives Matter movement for social justice,'” Federico explained. “Throughout the mural, connections to Latin American ways of life are apparent–the earth and the land that we work on.”
Children, parents, teachers, and principals were on site to show their appreciation for not just the finished piece, but the experience with the artist. Federico explained that community being at the center of the mural is one of the reasons the work is so special. During SALA, students made decisions about color and even helped Federico paint! Ingrid Garcia, a teaching artist in SALA, coordinated the creation of individual student artworks–miniature canvases–installed along the base and up both sides of the mural.
One staff member said during the ceremony, “I have never seen children so happy in a summer program as they were at SALA.”
Arts for Learning Maryland’s Summer Arts for Learning Academy (SALA) in Washington DC is a free, full-day summer program for PreK–4th grade students. The program provides students with a fun summer packed with creative exploration and arts-integrated learning from the best teachers and teaching artists in the region. Learn more at artsforlearningmd.org/programs/summer-arts-academy/dc.
Bloomberg Arts Internship: A Homecoming
Every year, alumni of the Bloomberg Arts Internship–an Arts for Learning Maryland-managed program for rising seniors in Baltimore City Public Schools that connects young people with Baltimore’s arts and cultural organizations and supports their college and career readiness–step into roles to work and stay involved in the program. These young people prepare slides and presentations about the program and host question-and-answer sessions to recruit new students. They return to be college mentors. They return to talk with interns about their journeys through college and what they’ve learned.
24 Bloomberg Arts Internship alumni returned to work in the program in the summer of 2023.
Alexandra (Alex) Miller, a 2021 graduate and current student at the Cleveland Institute of Art, returned as social media manager. She spent the past several months documenting and sharing stories from the program as well as using her marketing and graphic design skills to create digital content for recruitment.
Before the summer even started, Alex collaborated with other alumni to plan and create a recruitment video. She shot the footage, then whittled it down, stitched the clips together, created and inserted graphics, cleaned up and layered sound, and captioned the finished video. It was the first of many videos she created to get the word out about the program.
Once the program began, Alex was right there with the interns. “The most interesting thing is watching the interns do something I once did. Being a social media manager is like you are a fly on the wall,” said Alex. “I think it’s interesting that a lot of the time I stand quietly and simply observe and photograph the interns in this program. As I watch them grow closer throughout the weeks, learn new skills, complete their tasks, and better themselves within the program, I remember being in their shoes.”
She shared these moments through the program’s Instagram account–a place where current and past interns can stay up to date with what’s happening in the program, read alumni news, and get notice of cool events and get-togethers planned just for them! “I really enjoyed partaking in the trips and going to the office,” said Alex. “My cohort was in 2021 and many of our experiences were virtual. It is a pleasure to be able to see everyone’s faces in person and see their excitement for this program.”
By shadowing interns, Alex used her photography and video skills to capture joyful and meaningful moments. “I noticed that the one thing that never fails to excite interns is the amount of opportunities they learn about by going on these trips,” said Alex. “They got to go to places like artist studios, tour murals in the city, tour different colleges in Baltimore and Philadelphia, see the Station North Tool Library, and so much more. The people they meet tell them stories that inspire them to be better artists, present them with jobs or volunteer work, and offer opportunities to practice their crafts in a public or private space. The interns also get a chance to introduce themselves, not only by talking to new people directly but by handing out business cards they created. This gives them a chance to put their name out there and talk to new people about something they love doing, or something they are interested in, which helps them achieve their goals as young adults. When I was an intern that was always my favorite part.”
24 Bloomberg Arts Internship graduates returned to work in the program in the summer of 2023. Six of the 24 joined the Advisory Council and provided guidance and support in the planning, training, and documentation of the 2023 program in order to ensure that youth voices are guiding decision-making and that the program continues to evolve and improve. Five returned to be youth ambassadors. They facilitated information sessions at Baltimore City Public Schools, supported peers in completing the Bloomberg Arts Internship application, helped interview internship applicants, and served on the Alumni Panel. Two joined the Bloomberg Philanthropies Alumni Network Chairs to work with partner cities and Bloomberg Philanthropies to recruit for the Alumni Network and design alumni events. Four were hired to be Adobe apps assistants and worked with 2023 interns to expand their knowledge of Adobe applications. One graduate served as a program assistant. Five were college mentors and worked one-to-one with interns to support their college research and build their portfolios. And one–Alexandra Miller–was the social media manager.
You can find photographs from 2023 on our Flickr page and read student reflections from over the years on the Bloomberg Arts Internship blog. Learn more about the program on our website at artsforlearningmd.org/bloomberg-arts-internship.
All About Community: Arts for Learning Serving as a Community Schools Lead Agency
We know that schools are anchors of the community. They are where our children learn and play and where our neighbors gather for information, for friendship, and to participate in civic engagement. Community schools are similar neighborhood hubs, but differ from traditional schools in that they also intentionally connect families with partners who provide in-school wrap-around services that address the needs, wishes, and concerns of the school community.
Beginning this school year, Arts for Learning Maryland will be the Community Schools Lead Agency for three Baltimore City public schools: Mount Royal Elementary Middle in Bolton Hill, Hazelwood Elementary Middle in Northeast Baltimore, and Green Street Academy in West Baltimore!
We’re happy to welcome Ketia Jamerson – Community School Coordinator at Mount Royal, Mikala Nuccio – Community School Coordinator at Green Street, Edward Pinder – Community School Coordinator at Hazelwood, and Cheryl Grayson – Community Schools Manager to Arts for Learning Maryland.
All year long, the community school coordinators at these sites will develop collaborative relationships that support the school community, ensuring more equitable access to integrated services, to resources like food and technology, to opportunities within health and mental wellness, and to academic and extracurricular activities including, for example, at-home learning or arts-infused experiences.
Please be sure to say hi to Ketia, Mikala, Edward, and Cheryl if you happen to see them during the school day, at Back-to-School night, at a community day, or at a PTO meeting this year! We know you will think they are as wonderful as we do!
Dr. Mark King Joins Arts for Learning Maryland as Chief Education Officer
We are thrilled to announce that Dr. Mark King, a career public school educator and leader, has joined Arts for Learning Maryland as our first Chief Education Officer.
Most recently, Dr. King was an Instructional Lead Education Director (ILED) with Baltimore City Public Schools, where he supervised 16 K-8 schools, including 12 priority schools identified by the Maryland State Department of Education. He was previously Deputy Chief of School Operations and Programs for the District of Columbia Public School System; in that role, he supervised and managed the directors of K-7 summer and after-school programs, operations, food service, and security.
For 11 years, Dr. King served as both principal and assistant principal at three public schools in Prince George’s County, Maryland.
Dr. King has proven how arts integration—academic learning through active arts experiences—is an effective strategy for student learning. As Assistant Principal at Hyattsville Middle School, he participated in the Maryland Artist and Teacher Institute (MATI) and used arts integration as a school turnaround strategy.
“I have seen how the arts can be instrumental in differentiating instruction and improving academic outcomes for children. Arts integration gives teachers the opportunity to learn from artists while the artist learns from the teacher. Together they can understand that there are different ways to teach concepts, expand their work, and reach students in a way that works for them.” —Mark King
This new position and Dr. King’s selection for it underscores Arts for Learning’s commitment to, and continued expansion of, evidence-based arts integration programs. These include Summer Arts for Learning Academy (at 11 schools in Baltimore and DC this past summer), After School Arts for Learning Academy (now offered at 5 Baltimore City Public Schools), and Arts for Learning Days (in-person and virtual experiences).
Said Stacie Sanders Evans, Arts for Learning Maryland President and CEO, “Arts for Learning will greatly benefit from Dr. King’s deep expertise of school systems and the K-12 landscape, both in- and out-of-school time. His belief in the power of the arts, the credibility and respect he has earned among multiple school district leadership communities, and his ability to lead and manage people will benefit students, families, and educators. When Dr. King felt the call to serve this community in a different capacity, we are fortunate that it led him to Arts for Learning!”
“I have seen how the arts can be instrumental in differentiating instruction and improving academic outcomes for children,” said Dr. King. “Arts integration gives teachers the opportunity to learn from artists while the artist learns from the teacher. Together they can understand that there are different ways to teach concepts, expand their work, and reach students in a way that works for them.”
Dr. King earned his Doctorate of Education, Educational Leadership degree from Bowie State University and his Master in Education, Secondary Education from Florida A&M University.
Welcome, Dr. King!
Check it out: Op-ed by SALA Educator Illustrates the Impact
We’ve said it for years: the arts-integrated approach found in our Summer Arts for Learning Academy (SALA) is transformative for student learning and for teachers. But don’t take our word for it—check out this wonderful commentary in the Baltimore Banner by SALA and City Schools educator Elaina Gomez-Alcala!
In this inspiring piece, Elaina shares her experience this past summer in SALA, and explains how the free program for thousands of City Schools students has enhanced her teaching. As she puts it, “I’ve realized that this spirit of creation nurtured through arts-based learning changes what school can be for students. In the process, it also changes teaching—not just in the summer, but for year-round learning.”
Summer Fun is Fuel for Fall!
It’s not just new school supplies that students carried with them into class for the first day of school this fall! Thanks to Arts for Learning Maryland’s engaging summer programs, thousands of students across Baltimore City and DC have new inspiration from compelling arts-based summer experiences, new curiosity about what’s possible through expression, new friends, and new skills to practice. This all makes for a great new school year! But don’t just take our word for it. Studies show that student engagement in arts-rich experiences leads to not just higher academic achievement, but more active and engaged citizens! What better way to head back to school?
Summer Arts for Learning Academy
Over 2,000 public school students in Baltimore City learned math vocabulary through rap, created patterns to multiply two-digit numbers, counted flower petals, and used self-portraits to practice symmetry and percentages at Summer Arts for Learning Academy (SALA). Over the past several weeks, these students told stories through all sorts of art forms including song, video production, and illustration. They asked themselves, “what if?” and rewrote and reimagined folktales from around the world.
They worked with clay and learned to form pots, and put on musical productions complete with costumes, actors, and musicians. Just imagine all the new ideas and excitement they are bringing with them into the new school year! Take a closer look and hear what teachers and students have to say about SALA in this WMAR-2 news segment!
Summer Arts for Learning Academy, Washington, DC
This year, Summer Arts for Learning Academy (SALA), our award-winning out-of-school time program for Baltimore City Public School students, expanded to Washington DC! The program served more than 400 students at two sites with arts-integrated, engaging learning experiences! Read our blog post on the expansion.
Summer Arts for Learning Academy at Goodnow
65 students in grades K-8 from Baltimore City Public Schools attended Summer Arts for Learning at Goodnow. The five-week arts enrichment program was held at East Baltimore’s Goodnow Community Center and is managed by Arts for Learning Maryland. They spent the summer engrossed in enriching activities like visiting museums, they made a TON of art, and they were even welcomed at the Ravens training camp!
Bloomberg Arts Internship
35 rising high school seniors gained hands-on, transformational experience working with arts and cultural institutions in Baltimore City while also receiving guidance and mentorship in their college application journeys during the Bloomberg Arts Internship. At the program’s culmination, interns presented portfolios outlining their experiences and spoke about all they learned and the tasks they accomplished at their worksites for seven weeks over the summer.
While this closed out the internship for some students, others will continue their internships through April! These school-year interns will continue receiving support in general and with their college applications while working 5-8 hours per week at their worksites. How awesome is that?
Summer Arts for Learning Academy Expands to DC
SALA has expanded!
Starting this summer, more than 400 students in DC Public Schools are having the Summer Arts for Learning Academy (SALA) experience. The free, five-week program in partnership with the DC Public Schools System brings arts-integrated learning and creative exploration to students in ways that support their growth in math and literacy! In these arts-integrated classrooms, teachers and teaching artists partner to connect non-arts subjects with a particular art form, challenging students to express themselves and problem-solve in new and creative ways. Additionally, students work with professional artists and community leaders to design and paint a mural. SALA DC is running at two sites in DC this summer: Lawrence E. Boone Elementary School and Bruce-Monroe Elementary School.
In preparation for working with students in DC, Arts for Learning Maryland and DCPS identified the highest areas for impact. Over the course of a year of planning, A4L met with dozens of community leaders, artists, and educators in DC. The collaborative planning resulted in SALA DC employing more than 60% of its artists and staff who are based in DC or work for DC Public Schools.
Research shows that this award-winning program helps stem summer learning loss and stimulates student growth in the subsequent school year. SALA has been transforming summer learning for thousands of Baltimore City Public School students for more than eight years–supporting both their academic and their social & emotional growth. And now, students in SALA DC will also learn by doing, by creating, and by exploring through classroom instruction co-developed and co-led by teachers and professional teaching artists.
To learn more about SALA, visit artsforlearningmd.org/programs/summer-arts-academy.
Arts for Learning Maryland Is Now an Approved Community Schools Vendor for Baltimore County Public Schools
Arts for Learning Maryland announced a new partnership with Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS) to enhance the out-of-school time learning and arts experiences for thousands of students. Arts for Learning Maryland is now an approved vendor for BCPS’ 37 community schools and can provide engaging, inspiring, and impactful arts experiences as required of community schools by the district for Arts and World Cultures Out of School-Time programs.
Community schools in Baltimore County can now book Arts for Learning Maryland assemblies, residencies, workshops, and performances for before- and after-school, on weekends, and over the summer.
Arts for Learning’s programs reinforce Community Schools’ approach to learning by emphasizing connection. Schools connect their communities to neighborhoods, homes, families, and partners. Similarly, Arts for Learning’s programs–from artist-led workshops on painting or photography and assembly dance performances to in-depth sessions that explore music or poetry–bring us together, spark curiosity, and foster enthusiastic learning and discovery.
Community Schools interested in booking programs with Arts for Learning Maryland can contact Sean FitzPatrick at [email protected]. To learn more about Arts for Learning Maryland’s programs, click here.
Resilience
Statistics, English literature, ethics, chemistry, psychology, art history, dance, foreign language, chemistry, graphic design… the combination of coursework for students in their final year of high school runs the gamut. For some of last summer’s Bloomberg Arts Interns, it’s all that and an internship on top. A dozen students elected to continue their 2022 summer internships into the school year, getting a full year’s worth of experience working closely with an arts and cultural organization.
These school-year interns got more time to cultivate relationships, experience a greater variety of jobs, had more opportunities to grow and contribute to their worksite communities, and worked with supervisors to design capstone projects that would be both meaningful to their growth as well as to their organizations. Their projects took many forms ranging from filming and editing videos to jewelry fabrication and design. Some interns planned events while others planned classroom lessons.
Here is a peek into what interns did at their worksites:
- At the Baltimore Museum of Art, intern Adelyn Pierce made a website for the BMA’s Staff Art Show, A Work of Art. She also organized the submissions and helped install the exhibition.
- Ariel Gilliam worked at the Baltimore Jewelry Center while creating her own handmade jewelry line.
- Francine Tagaytay and Molly Brown worked at Blue Light Junction. There, Francine made a free-form crochet piece from yarn that she dyed with natural pigments: indigo and logwood.
- At Baltimore Rock Opera Society, Jem Mukherjee and Sean Cooper II created Baltimore Rock Opera Society’s Video Vault: an online archive/subscription service of show recordings going back a decade.
- Jewel Oliver worked at Art with a Heart where she created products for the organization’s online HeARTwares Shop. She also created lesson plans to go along with each of the products.
- Jordan Thomas worked at Baltimore Clayworks.
- At Living Classroom’s Ascend Through Music program, Kaylee Eaton-Torres created the Sharpest Artists Program. She coordinated and planned meetings, created agendas, facilitated events, designed fliers, promoted the program, and partnered musicians with artists who designed and created album covers for their music. She also developed a “youth vendor” system–a platform for youth to market their own products or services. Imeah Curbean interviewed artists related to the Ascend through Music program and highlighted their work in a series of videos while also working to enhance the programming that was already happening.
- Ke’Ara Page worked as a teaching assistant at Single Carrot Theatre‘s after-school programs for third through fifth graders.
- At Central Baltimore Partnership, Summer Hubbard created a zine that served as a guide for the murals of Station North and a coloring book! She also created promotional art for YouthWorks.
Highlights and artifacts from the interns’ capstone projects were presented at Arts for Learning’s home on North Avenue in an interactive display called Resilience. As family, friends, worksite supervisors, and even future Bloomberg Arts interns visited each exhibit, school-year interns were there to explain the work that went into their projects and share the excitement of making lasting and significant contributions within their organizations.
Ty’ Candice Smith, a 2020 graduate of the Bloomberg Arts Internship, turned the school-year interns’ collective artist statement into poetry.
Wise words can come from anywhere
But from BAI interns during the 2022-2023 school year
Come on now I know you’re honored to hear
We expected many different things
That involved time management, college application help,
anxiousness, no fun, and procrastination
but I won’t say names
There was lots to love though
Like the freedom and creativity we were allowed to have
Making new interactions which will bring long-term connections
Embracing authenticity and being welcomed with gentleness
Clear communication and high vibrations
Good vibes and stepping into great music
I’m not sure if BAI could ever be useless
Truth is we got more connected to our city, self, and each other
From networking to doing the bird flu
Community work which was very influential
Visiting the art organizations in the city
Gaining more friends and family
While being in our own world #WELITTY
People should focus more on the positivity in our city
So when people look at us they won’t feel so much distaste or pity
We explore opportunities like the BAI program so we won’t fall
short of who we are destined to be
Now just like that you’ve had a sneak peek on what it was like to
be a part of an amazing team!
The projects these school-year interns dreamed and planned with their worksite supervisors were brought to life through diligence, patience, and fearless imagination. What an honor it is to experience the fruits of these partnerships and how exciting it will be to see how the seeds these school-year interns have planted will grow.
View photos from Resilience on Flickr. Learn more about the Bloomberg Arts Internship at artsforlearningmd.org/bloomberg-arts-internship.
Talbot County fourth and fifth graders-turned-screen-painters thrive with teaching artist John Iampieri
Maryland flags…Black-eyed Susans… blue herons… University of Maryland Terrapin basketballs, and more!
In late March at White Marsh Elementary in Talbot County, dozens of students set off on a creative journey with screen painter and Arts for Learning Maryland teaching artist John Iampieri. In a one-week residency, students designed and painted their own screens of Maryland state symbols–bringing their learning about the state in the classroom to life through the arts!
The Star Democrat was on hand to cover the experience! Read their coverage (and see photos!) here.
In the residency, students sketched their designs and then blew paint through a straw onto their screens to make their vision a reality. The hands-on, engaging residency was a perfect example of how creativity transforms learning. But don’t take it from us–hear what White Marsh Elementary School Principal Kimberly Seidel said:
“I personally believe that arts are very, very important. I have a passion for students being involved in art and arts residencies. It gives the students an opportunity to work on persevering for tasks and not necessarily getting everything right. Art doesn’t have to look the same. So there are many ways to approach art. A student who may not be successful reading, might be able to go in there and produce the visual. They could draw the beginning, the middle, and the end of a story so they are feeling some sort of success. There is a lot you could do with history, mathematical concepts, symmetry, and multiplication. There are so many connections to art. Our fourth and fifth-grade students have really enjoyed this screen painting.”
We couldn’t have said it better! To learn more about John Iampieri’s work, click here.