Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation’s Current Education Programs
Rush seeks to address a number of issues that all affect minority and economically disadvantaged populations’ access to arts institutions and arts experiences. Our three program areas - education programs, exhibitions and community grants - work together in a seamless way to open up the arts to audiences facing hurdles to the joy and benefits of expressing themselves creatively. Rush currently brings the highest quality direct programming in contemporary visual art to over 1,800 disadvantaged urban students from 5-21 years old.
RUSH EDUCATION PROGRAMS:
Rush Kids/Rush Teens is our free, year-round education program that immerses children and teens in the study and practice of contemporary art. Programs are offered on Saturday morning, after-school and during the summer, and are held in Rush Gallery spaces, in partnership schools and in the field. Students are selected to participate in these programs from Rush Gallery in the School program (we also identify young people from the local communities who are brought to our attention by teachers and others). In all cases, students are selected based on individual achievement as well as their potential to grow with a deeper level of instruction. Art concepts and cognitive skills are developed progressively throughout the program. Students learn about contemporary visual art, design and media arts by looking at works on display at our galleries, through visits with guest artists and on field trips to artists’ studios and other arts institutions. Two years ago Rush added green programs that are designed to take advantage of, and create greater awareness of, the natural environment. To date, students have participated in a tree-carving project in which they created giant chess pieces of tree stumps in a local park as well as plein air (open air) painting in East New York’s green spaces.
Rush Gallery in the School is our program of year-long residencies in which teams of Rush Teaching Artists - trained art educators and full-time visual artists - work with students to create on-site art galleries in participating schools. Current Rush Gallery in the School residencies operate at PS 165, an elementary school in Harlem: Frederick Douglas Academy in East New York; 371K in Sunset Park, a year-round school serving special needs students from all five boroughs of New York City; and Lyons Community School, a new, liberal arts community school in Bushwick serving grades 6-12. Partnerships generally involve the entire school community: students, teachers, staff and parents. Because our partner schools are located in buildings that house more than one school, an even larger community is impacted by our work. Our gallery is a public venue for viewing art, and is a natural bridge to the other schools housed in the same building. All students and staff are invited to receptions and programs, and may even request student-led individual or class tours. Rush assigns between two and six artists to each individual school, supported by an onsite supervisor.
Rush also operates D-Stress Programs for Incarcerated and Recently Incarcerated Youth. D-Stress is designed to provide visual arts along with literacy, yoga and meditation for young people who have been involved with the criminal justice system. Our partner for this program is Passages Academy at Crossroads Juvenile Detention Center in East New York, Brooklyn.
Classes are team taught by two Rush teaching artists; a lead teacher who is present for all sessions, co-teaching and facilitating classes with a presenting teaching artist. Presenting teaching artists conceive of lessons based in some aspect of their own studio practice. For example, they might teach a specific painting or photography technique or develop lesson plans based on their political, social or cultural interests. Rush teaching artists are primarily persons of color in order to provide role models for the youth we work with who are also primarily minorities. In addition, using teaching artists of color supports our mission to give emerging artists and underrepresented artists access to the art world and ultimately exhibition opportunities.
We also work on special Rush Kids/Teens residencies and exchange programs. Our 2008/09 exchange partners are the Museum of African Diaspora in San Francisco and the North Pole, Alaska Public Elementary School. We will be exchanging artwork and student writing on the topic of water in our environment, supporting our Education Program theme for the year New York Archipelago: All Things Nautical.
The work created in all Rush Education Programs will be on display concurrently in both Rush Galleries June 6-20, 2009.
Director of Education
Meridith McNeal
Education Coordinator
David Camacho
Rush Teaching Artists
Sameeh Alderazi, Naomi Blum, Ebon Brown, Millie Burns, Cecile Chong, Boyce Cummings, Maureen Cummins, Isabel Foley, Charlotte Gapp, Scott Greenfields, Jocelyn Gordon, Valerie Hegarty, Jana Kennedy, Franklin Morano, Jenny McGowan (AKA Miss Saturn), Gabriel Pacheco, Willie Paredes, Christina Pearce, Scott Pfaffman, Ed Rath, Geryll Robinson, Marie A. Roberts, Duhirwe Rushemeza, Jamel Shabazz, Deborah Simon, Alexandria Smith, and Adam Suerta
Rush Education Volunteers and Interns
Juliet Adams, Jennifer Dodson, Danielle Dujon, Victoria Foulds, Ica Morales, Lionel Ouellette, Jacob Rath, Neil Sealey