Healdsburg Center for the Arts - Youth Programs

Harvey Brody, Educational Director at the Healdsburg Center for the Arts, presented a program on art in the community and its central role in creating a society that is smarter, happier, and more creative because of its connection with art.

 

Harvey has been the Educational Director at the Healdsburg Center for the Arts for the past 3 years. Prior to that he was a self-employed artist with an extensive background in ceramics. He describes his life as relatively isolated. He has always been aware of the transformative power of art and had been involved with educational programs for youth over many years. Since becoming the Educational Director, he has become a very strong activist for educating children in the arts. He began his presentation with a discussion of AWE. Awe provokes the. sensation that there is something beyond our own narrow self interest that can be shared and appreciated by a larger group, a group to which we all belong. Awe humbles us and gives us a greater sense of community and belonging. Awe inspires a sense of connection to other people, places and ideas. He believes that our culture is awe- deprived at the present time, and this results in isolation of individuals and lack of satisfaction and enjoyment of life. Being able to experience awe allows us to be in tune with a common humanity.

 

He cited a 2nd study showing that education in the arts, over a four-year period of study in high school increased the score on the SAT by 90 points, spread equally over mathematics and science along with humanities. Exposure to the arts led to increased creativity, innovation and the positive attitude towards problem-solving. Studying only the stem disciplines (Science Technology Engineering Math) actually held back the creative and innovative aspects of the students.

 

The Healdsburg Center for the Arts is a 501(c)(3) corporation and provides juried exhibits, educational programs, and community service. A successful program has been the Young artists program for teachers from the schools in the Healdsburg area to have their students display their artwork at the Center for the Arts. This is a very popular show held each year in the spring. They also have an emerging artist program, focusing on young artists (18-30 years) encouraging students to develop artistic skills and have them be displayed at the center.

 

The Youth Education program started several years ago. Currently they are part of the City of Healdsburg Community Center after school program. They provide art classes for the students that are funded by grants. The classes are free. The cenTer is also part of the mentoring program for junior students at Healdsburg High School where they learn about studio art as well as work with commercial graphic artists for a six-week period of time to develop an interest and knowledge of this field.

 

One of the programs that is currently being developed is called Community Mapping Through Children's Eyes. The program integrates children in the community through their exploration of community and expressions of this exploration with their art and writings. In the process they develop a higher sense of self-esteem, understand themselves better and develop a sense of connection between themselves, the community and the world at large. The art produced in the program is displayed publicly were children can see that they are part of the community and the community can see that children are vital to its survival.

 

The center also provides summer camps, now there are 12 classes in the summer and they usually involve between 12 to 60 kids throughout the classes. Scholarships are available for some other classes.

 

The annual fundraiser for the Center for the Arts will be held on 5 August 2015 at Madrona Manor. Members of the Club are encouraged to visit the Center for the Arts to find out more details about this fund raising event, as well as about the programs in general.