In December 2011 the first in a seven month Family Art Series funded through the generosity of Variety The Children’s Charity of New York took place at the Gary Crooks Community Center located in the PT Barnum Housing Project in Bridgeport CT. Hip Hop Dimensions, the hip hop dance team on the Arts For Learning CT roster, brought families from PT together to learn and create new dance moves , share in a community meal cooked and served by “Build On!” the student leadership group from Bassick High School, and to take some time to come together as a community. One night each month for the following six months art activities including a night of storytelling and family literacy with Eshu Bumpus, Capoeira with Ginga Brasileira, visual art sessions with Susan Rosano and Maura O’Shea, and a family weaving project with weaver Sarah Haskell met with great responses from the participants.
The success of these programs inspired Kate Kelly, Director of Resident Services for Bridgeport Housing, to find funding for a five week salsa dance workshop at the Trumbull Gardens Housing Project with dance teacher/percussionist Richard Hill, and a five week rap poetry workshop for teens at the Marina Village Housing Project with Khaiim Kelly, the RapOet. While all these programs were slow to build but very successful by completion, parents from the community stated, “Why are these programs only once a month? Our children want to work more with the same artists for longer sessions. How can we do this?” They clearly were expressing the need for sequential learning programs in the arts.
To satisfy this request, again thanks to Variety, a tile mosaic mural community public art project which will involve 13 sessions of community members designing and creating a large mural representative of the community will be completed and hung on the outside of the Gary Crooks Center as a visual representation of the impact of art on a community. Alberto, a nine year old boy came to the first session of the mural project and proclaimed, “I’ll be here every session! I love doing art!” Alberto’s first experience with art at the Crooks Center was at the Maura O’Shea workshop in the earlier Family Arts Series. He came back the following month for the Family Weaving. He is excited about being a creator in the tile mosaic mural project. Again, Bridgeport Housing Resident Services Director, Kate Kelly found more funding to have Richard Hill return to teach an 8 week session on drumming for children from 2nd-6th grade which will include a performance at the Bridgeport Housing Annual Meeting on Dec. 12. What began as a very simple Family Arts series has taken on a life that has impacted a community, is being built by the community, and symbolizes the desires and needs of that community. Arts For Learning is becoming a reality in Bridgeport thanks to Variety The Children’s Charity.