Artist-in-Residence AGNS Yarmouth Anselm Kiefer - Art Gallery of ...

Partners in Early Art Education
It is not simply enough to tell families and
child care centres that we believe early art
experiences are important; we must lead
by example to show how valuable these
experiences are by actively supporting the
youngest members of our community
during their first steps in art. forming partnerships
and working collaboratively with
other organizations have proved to be an
extremely positive way to provide such
early art experiences. our popular Baby
art Workshop program at AGNS gave rise
to a new relationship with a local centre for
young mothers. we began with a vision of
providing a time of art based discovery for
babies and caregivers off site, to a group
who might find accessing the program at
the Gallery a challenge for various reasons.
The workshop was an immense success, and
the babies’ comfort with one another and
familiarity with the space led to a particularly
joyous and unreserved experience for all. As
part of our relationship with the centre, we
were also able to offer a creative time just for
the mothers, while the centre provided child
care for the babies. Plans are underway for
the group to come for the first time in the
near future to the Gallery for a guided tour.
This year autism arts, a partnership between
AGNS and the Provincial Autism Centre
(PAC), has continued to grow and emerge
based on continued reflection of the program.
with an already flourishing slate of
Saturday art classes for children and youth,
AGNS and PAC jointly identified a need for
art experiences for younger children made
available throughout the province. with the
very generous support of the Craig foundation
and the Halifax Infant foundation, a
new pilot program was launched in January
2009. using the same model as the art
classes at AGNS, an occupational therapist
and artist/art educator work together to
offer an inspiring and rich learning environment
for children ages 4 and 5, to enjoy and
experience the visual arts. As a recreational
experience, these workshops allow children
to explore new means of expression and
participate with materials in their own
unique way. The workshops take place in a
variety of locations, in order to better accommodate
the needs of the families.
we look forward to our continued work
together in expanding program options for
children and youth with autism who live in
Nova Scotia. �
Dale Sheppard
Curator of education
ArtsSmarts Nova Scotia Goes Even Greener!
Public Programming
Here is an exciting partnership project that is being developed through ArtsSmarts Nova
Scotia and evergreen. ArtsSmarts inspires collaboration among arts, education and community
agencies, and invests in creative learning at the local, regional, provincial and
national levels to build capacity for arts and education. Projects capture the imagination
and create an enthusiastic atmosphere of active learning among students, teachers, and
artists. evergreen is a not-for-profit organization that makes cities more livable. Its mission
is to deepen the connection between people and nature and empower Canadians to take
a hands-on approach to their urban environments.
evergreen and ArtsSmarts Nova Scotia are supporting an art and environment project at
John MacNeil elementary School in Dartmouth. The school receives $3,000 for their project
to contribute towards both artist fees and material costs. Kris webster, ArtsSmarts Nova
Scotia Co-ordinator and Rhea Mahar, the School Ground Greening Consultant for evergreen
are overseeing this innovative and important school project. Projects are being supported
by evergreen and other partner ArtsSmarts organizations in Vancouver, winnipeg, Toronto,
ottawa, and Montreal.
thank you to all of our supporters for believing in
ART GALLERY OF NOVA SCOTIA
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