Professional Development in Arts Education for Early Childhood Education: A Creative Exchange Model

This paper reports a model for professional development for early childhood arts education. The research delivered a co-mentoring programme between early years teachers and artists, which applied a process of ‘creative exchange’, in which across a period of 2 years, 12 educators and two teaching artists participated. Common principles underpinning early childhood education and arts education include recognition of the critical role of early experiences and relationships and quality learning opportunities as foundations for positive child development. Using these common principles, early childhood educators and artists worked together as equals to provide an enriched early learning environment with improved use of space and materials in an atmosphere of “unhurried time”. Themes in the evaluation of the professional outcomes for educators and artists included increased engagement with the arts; changes in pedagogy; building relationships between artists and educators; and the importance of making time for reflection and planning. The creative exchange process led to positive changes in practice and strengthened understandings, for both educators and artists, of the capabilities of young children.

New discovery of ‘inspiration’ from the old treasure chest: An initial report on the Lexington Early Childhood Music Project

The Lexington Early Childhood Music Project aimed to improve the quality of musical experiences of young children living in Lexington, Kentucky, a mid-size US city. Classroom teachers collaborated with teaching artists, music therapists and music teachers on the development of a music programme that served thirty 3- and 4-year-old underprivileged children and their parents at the Family Care Center. The pedagogical approach of the project included: (1) helping children relate to an unfamiliar culture through music made familiar; (2) creating mediational tools for traditional songs and movements; (3) teaching children how to play musical instruments; and (4) attending participatory concerts. Collaborative efforts of the participants were found to enhance young children’s musical experiences. Shared inspiration played a critical role as the teachers and children voluntarily and creatively enriched their musical cultures.

Haugerudbekken: Community Improvement through Socially Engaged Art

Haugerudbekken is the collective title of a series of art projects where two local artists (the authors of this article) collaborate with pupils from local schools in Haugerud to create public art installations in the neighbourhood. Haugerudbekken may be considered a practical exploration guided by principles in the fields of socially engaged art (SEA), teaching artists (TA) and community artists (CA). The project is being undertaken within the broader context of a government run local improvement initiative in the Oslo suburbs of Haugerud and Trosterud. A growing demand for art entering a societal context (like urban development) calls for approaches emphasizing dialogue, communication and local affiliation. As this demand grows, so does the need for best-practice guidance for initiating artists as well as for policymakers and others inviting artists to contribute. Furthermore, our approach as independent artists working within a community setting might also benefit from clarification of theory and framework in this field. This article therefore aims to share knowledge gathered through our three years (and still ongoing) working on Haugerudbekken, pinpointing what we believe to be key success factors as well as challenges in our project. Findings are discussed in relation to existing theory and relevant practice in SEA, TA and CA informing existing guidelines as well as terminology.

Dance as Lifeline: Transforming Means for Engagement and Connection in Times of Social Isolation

Over the past 20 years, dance has emerged as a safe, effective, and evidence-based community intervention that helps thousands of people living with Parkinson’s disease around the globe maintain well-being and improve quality of life. From its initial emergence to the present, COVID-19 has posed fundamental challenges to people living with Parkinson’s, forcing them to balance the need and desire to stay active and socially connected with the requirement to adhere to strict shelter-at-home orders. As cities and towns worldwide began shutting down in early 2020, people living with Parkinson’s found themselves unable to access live dance activities that had provided consistent, reliable physical support; joyful cognitive stimulation; emotional connection; and social engagement. Government sanctioned closures and stay-at-home orders increased the potential for apathy, isolation, anxiety, and stress—factors that are already heightened in people with Parkinson’s. COVID-19 also exacerbated disparities based on race, language, socioeconomic background, and age, inequities already present in the Parkinson’s community and in Parkinson’s-focused dance programming. In this article, the authors provide a description and analysis of ways one dance for Parkinson’s program addressed multiples challenges through three key initiatives: online group classes in English and Spanish, telephone-based resources for people without internet access, and robust online training opportunities for teaching artists. The authors outline ways in which the pandemic has increased the inclusive nature of dance for Parkinson’s programming and suggest that changes implemented during the pandemic will permanently alter program delivery for the better when it is safe to restore group classes in community settings.

Therapeutic teaching artistry: Towards a wellness model for enhancing vitality in older adults

This qualitative case study examined how the therapeutic aspects of drama teaching artistry was conceptualized at an urban lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) senior centre by observing and/or participating in 31 creative arts education sessions and conducting two focus groups with the centre’s older adult members. Additionally, 34 semi-structured interviews were held with the centre’s teaching artists (TAs), older adults and administrators. Using constructivist grounded theory, emergent themes led to two primary findings: (1) the conceptual category therapeutic teaching artistry articulated how TAs’ practices promoted health and wellness; and (2) a provisional major concept Being Alive captured how members’ quality of life were perceived to be enhanced by the creative arts education programming. Beyond facilitating reminiscence, preventing decline or merely stimulating older adults, TAs helped older adults internalize a greater sense of agency, affirm their own humanity and improve vitality without unethically conducting creative arts therapy.

It’s Late, But Everything Comes Next: Creative Aging in the Modern United States

The emergence of “creative aging” programs, or fine arts programs exclusively for older adults, invites analysis of these new institutions and their influence on the social elements of the aging process. While past studies have demonstrated the cognitive and health-related benefits of arts participation in old age, little research has examined how participation might influence the older person’s self-esteem or perceptions of aging. The present study draws on ethnographic methods including participant observation at eight creative aging programs, six semi-structured in-depth interviews with teaching artists leading these programs, and content analysis of paintings and vignettes made by participants. The results show the observed creative aging programs to have a unique, cyclical pattern of discourse characterized alternately by older adults’ recurring self-deprecation and the affirming responses of instructors. This pattern of interaction renders such programs sites for the contestation of negative popular discourses around aging.

Church Murals Based on G. G. Gagarin’s Sketches and an Appeal to the «Builders of Russian Сhurches»

Статья посвящена русскому религиозному искусству второй половины XIX в., вопросам смены художественных формаций от классицизма к историзму и византийскому стилю. Объектом исследования становится творческое наследие вице-президента Императорской Академии художеств князя Г. Г. Гагарина. Предпринята попытка раскрыть его теоретические взгляды на иконографию евангельской темы в украшении храмов, на методы обучения художников, на будущее русского церковного искусства. Рассматриваются авторские проекты Г. Г. Гагарина по убранству и росписям храмов в византийском стиле: Сионский собор в Тбилиси, церковь Мариинского дворца в Санкт-Петербурге, церкви в имении Ореанда в Крыму и селе Сучки на Волге. Часть представленных проектов публикуется впервые. The article is devoted to Russian religious art of the second half of XIX century. It answers some questions of changing artistic formations from classicism to historicism and the Byzantine style. The object of the research is the creative heritage of the vice-president of the Imperial Academy of Arts, Prince G. G. Gagarin. An attempt was made to reveal his theoretical views on the iconography of the gospel theme in decorating churches, on the methods of teaching artists, and on the future of Russian church art. There are some G. G. Gagarin’s projects on church murals in the Byzantine style such as the Zion Cathedral in Tbilisi, the church of the Mariinsky Palace in St. Petersburg, the churches in the Oreanda estate in the Crimea and the village of Suchki on the Volga. Some of the submitted projects are firstly published.