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Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth Announces 2007 Picasso Grants

Posted on: Thursday, 18 January 2007, 15:00 CST

PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY) today awarded its 2007 Picasso Project grants to a pre-K program and four elementary schools. The announcement was made at a ceremony held at the opening of an exhibition at the African American Museum in Philadelphia. The Picasso Project provides stipends to city public schools which have no regular instruction in music or any of the arts. This year's winning schools received cash awards ranging from $2,200 to $5,000. The winning programs were selected by the Picasso Project Advisory Committee from applications submitted by schools throughout the city.

The Picasso Project was launched during the 2002-2003 school year, with the goal of supporting music, art, dance and drama instruction in Philadelphia public schools - -- particularly those which do not include art or music in the curriculum. Since its inception, and including today's awards, the Picasso Project has made grants totaling $146,449 to 44 programs, reaching approximately 11,000 students in city public schools.

''We're pleased to fund five very creative and promising arts initiatives --- and we wish we could do much, much more,'' said Gretchen Elise Iversen, who began work as the Picasso Project's first full-time coordinator recently. ''In a city with such a rich array of cultural and artistic assets, we want to send the message to all Philadelphians that the arts and music are essential components of a quality education.

''Funding instruction in art, music, drama and dance in our schools is an investment in Philadelphia's future -- - because today's students are tomorrow's audiences at the Museum of Art, the Clef Club, the Kimmel Center, and scores of other wonderful arts venues in Philadelphia.''

''We aim to raise more money to fund more projects -- - but our most important goal is to build awareness that art and music are integral to every child's development and should be fully funded as a standard part of the School District curriculum,'' said Shelly Yanoff, executive director of Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth. She noted that many studies document the strong relationship between learning in the arts and the fundamental cognitive skills used in mastering other school subjects, including reading, writing and mathematics.

Under new Picasso Project guidelines, grants are made only to the 65 elementary, middle and high schools in Philadelphia that currently have neither art nor music teachers on their full-time faculty. Another 121 city schools have art or music teachers -- - but not both.

Inadequate funding for art and music instruction in Philadelphia schools is the result of decades of inequitable distribution of public resources in public education in Pennsylvania. Faced with perennial funding shortfalls, under-resourced rural districts and urban districts like Philadelphia have gradually cut the arts in order to support basic academic subjects.

The mandate to achieve annual yearly progress or AYP goals in the ''No Child Left Behind'' Act has intensified this trend. Schools struggle to meet performance targets in reading, math and science -- - to avoid sanctions and

restructuring. According to ''Academic Atrophy: The Condition of the Liberal Arts in America's Public Schools,'' a research report from the Washington- based Council for Basic Education, large numbers of minority students particularly have been affected by cutbacks in arts education - -- a troubling development in light of studies that suggest the arts can help black and Hispanic children close the achievement gap with whites and Asians. [The full report is available at http://downloads.ncss.org/legislative/AcademicAtrophy.pdf.]

Major 2006-2007 contributors to the Picasso Project include Advanta Corporation; The Annenberg Foundation; Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation; The Hess Foundation; the Lindback Foundation; The Ludwick Family Foundation; The Puffin Foundation Ltd.; Target stores; Wachovia Foundation; and many individuals throughout the Philadelphia region.

The winning projects will be executed during winter and spring of 2007 - - beginning in January and wrapping up in June. A description of each project is attached, with contact information for the project coordinators at each school. For assistance in setting up interviews or photos at Picasso sites, please contact Gretchen Elise Iversen at PCCY.

The Picasso Project is a program of Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth, which is now celebrating its 25th anniversary. PCCY is the region's leading advocacy and public policy organization focused on improving the lives and life chances of children in our area. PCCY is an independent, non-profit organization.

For more information about the impact of arts instruction on student academic and social development visit the following websites:

* http://www.artsusa.org/services/arts_education/arts_education_001.asp -- Americans for the Arts, a national organization which advocates for policy developments that increase the visibility and stability of arts education. * http://www.aep-arts.org/ -- "Critical Links: Learning in the Arts and Student Academic and Social Development,'' a review of 62 studies of the impact of the arts on learning, Arts Education Partnership. * http://www.menc.org/information/advocate/facts.html -- "Music Education Facts & Figures,'' The Music Education Association. 2007 PICASSO PROJECT GRANT WINNERS

Picasso Project Coordinator: Gretchen Elise Iversen, 215-563-5848 x 22 / gretchenelise@pccy.org

The Hair Wiz and Other Hair Stories $5,000 Grant -- Pennypacker School 1858 E. Washington Lane / Philadelphia, PA 19138 Contact: Dr. Edona Alexandria, 215-276-5271

This intergenerational project involves drama, dance, music, performance, quilting, and the cultural roots of African American hair care. Students in grades K-6 will write a script based on the stories found in the book Tenderheaded: A Comb-bending Collection of Hair Stories by Juliette Harris and Pamela Johnson, then produce and perform their work for the community in similar fashion to ''The Wiz,'' a Broadway musical. Project leaders at Pennypacker, skilled in dance, drama, and music, will be supported by quilting artist Julia Taylor, Master Drummer Tyrone Davis, and fine artist Morris Jones. Local beauty shop technicians will also give workshops to students on Black Natural Hair Care and hair artistry. Pictures of the students will be burned onto T-Shirts and made into a "Hair Quilt" that will tell the story of the Roots of Black Hair in America. The project seeks to make African American girls feel more beautiful by teaching them about self-esteem through art.

Crescendo Music Program $5,000 Grant -- Trinity Head Start Program 19 West Queen Lane / Philadelphia, PA 19144 Contact: Marilyn Khan 215-951-4140

The Academy of Community Music will provide certified music therapists to teach 40 pre-K children from January 2007 though May 2007. The Crescendo Music Program is a family-focused, therapeutic and educational outreach program that uses music to facilitate the development of young children at Head Start and Early Intervention centers. Crescendo at Trinity Head Start involves music, take-home activity CDs and books for each family, and a performance celebration on May 23, 2007 at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. The program will support children's development in the following areas: increased attention span; cognitive and motor skills; socialization skills; communication skills; and self-confidence.

Walls that Talk: A Gallery of Artistic Expressions at Waring $4,550 Grant -- Laura W. Waring Elementary School 1801 Green St./ Philadelphia, PA 19130 Contact: Carol Martin, 215-684-5073

Students from pre-K to 8th grade will create an audiovisual school gallery experience, where the viewer can take audio tours while viewing student work based on the techniques of famous visual artists. Some of the artists to be researched include Jacob Lawrence, Henri Matisse, Faith Reingold, Pablo Picasso, and M.C. Escher. Students will work with resident artists Dawn Flowers and Mike Storm to create pieces that demonstrate a variety of mediums. These include paper cut-outs, story quilts, and printmaking. The school will collaborate with the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the City of Philadelphia Walking Audio Tour Department to create the gallery.

The Shakespeare Project $3,450 Grant -- E.M. Stanton Elementary School 1700 Christian Street / Philadelphia, PA 19146 Contact: Susan K. Kettell, 215-875-3185

The Shakespeare Project will function as part of the Cultural Arts Program at E. M Stanton School, a model for integrating the arts into the overall educational curriculum. Students at E.M. Stanton will acquire skills in language, voice and movement through the study of Shakespeare. Students from grades 3-7 will work with a professional actor, Catherine Slusar, to learn acting techniques. They will also see a performance of a play. This trip will be enhanced by meetings with the actors on the set. Parents and special guests will be invited to a closing session at which students will share what they have learned during this project.

Art, Culture and Society Past to Present $2,200 Sheridan West Academy 3701 Frankford Ave/ Philadelphia, PA 19124 Contact: Michelle Reed, 215-537-2920

Students in grades 5-7 will participate in an arts integrated project exploring African American artists and their specific contributions to African American history. Students will visit the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and a Museum representative will train teachers in integrating arts with the social studies, language arts, and math curricula. In collaboration with a Cheltenham Arts Center resident artist, students will create African American face jugs and lap quilts. The culminating project will be an art fair that displays the students' work, incorporating families and communities.

Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth

CONTACT: Gretchen Elise Iversen, +1-215-563-5848 ext. 22, or LindaWright Moore, +1-215-563-5848 ext. 23 or +1-215-370-1888 (mobile), both of thePhiladelphia Citizens for Children and Youth

Web site: http://downloads.ncss.org/legislative/AcademicAtrophy.pdfhttp://www.artsusa.org/http://www.aep-arts.org/http://www.menc.org/information/advocate/facts.html

Source: PRNewswire-USNewswire

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