Artists Reaching Out
Community Impact, Columbia University

“Going to the Train at Night”
I was going to the train with my
Uncle to go
To the movies in the
Night and I noticed
That it was
too quiet. I didn’t hear nobody
talking, then it was creeping
me out. It was still quiet
The sound was “scree, escree.”
Going to the train at night
With my uncle and the train was making sound like “scree, scree”
The sound was like “scree, scree”
I was going to the movies in the
night and I noticed that it was too quiet
The sound was like “scree, scree”
I didn’t hear nobody talking then
It was creeping me out
Going to the train at night
With my uncle and the train was
Making sound like “scree, scree”
—Victor

Artists Reaching Out (ARO), a group of enthusiastic and dedicated student artists, serve approximately 40 children and have 27 volunteer teachers. Teachers and administrators have stopped us in the hallway to tell us how much positive energy and creativity ARO adds to the school community.

ARO Classes…

Creative Writing students explore the possibilities of their imagination through concise exercises designed to focus on one aspect of writing, such as character development, stream-of-consciousness exploration, description of sensation and story arcs. Lessons include Super Hero/ Super Villain Dialogues, The Five W's poems (who, what, where, when, why), Song-Lyrics (chorus and verse), and Free Association with Music.

Theater students explore various forms and aspects of theatre while strengthening their self-confidence. We use a variety of theatre games and improvision activities, through which students work collaboratively and exercise personal creativity. The class works to engage all aspects of theatre, including movement, history, culture, characterization, and directing. Activities include learning about the roles and physicality of Commedia dell'Arte characters, interpreting lines of Shakespeare as each student directs their own "human tableaux," and working with our "stage voices" through improvisational activities.

Visual Art students work with different types of mediums, tools and techniques. Our first project, where the students designed their own super-heroes (with powers from shrinking hair to paint brush fingers), introduced the students to oil pastels and blending methods. For another project, students worked on clay creatures both individually and in small groups, each child constructing one body part of a crazy creature that was assembled and displayed to the other groups at the end of class. While using examples of famous artists work as inspiration, we have been trying to develop the student’s creativity while exposing them to different art forms and materials, so as to expand their concept of what “Art” is.

Music students play group games that help develop their sense of rhythm, sing songs to strengthen voices, and discuss recordings to understand a variety of musical forms. Students use their voices to create the zoo, a city sidewalk, and a rainstorm. They learn about dynamics (piano/forte) through singing "There's A River" and other songs. They aspire to try out new forms of music by watching our ARO volunteers perform for the class - Liz and Elaine played a Beethoven flute duet for the class, Kirsten held sing-a-longs on the guitar, and Ben accompanied the class on the piano.

ARO Students…

Rain is coming
Ready to fall
On a regular sunny day
In Reptar world
To rain on candy land in another universe.
— Janay

Tiger
Tries to tear people
In a town
Tuesday
Because people try to scare him
— Jeremy

Oh how the parade played like a beautiful band,
Like a fairy hand in a horror church
So romantic and clam melody
With jazz music with brass instruments
Almost like an annoying ring
Aliens came and abducted all the banjos
— Shawn

“M”
Banana monkey
Meets the mongoose
Monday morning
Meets him in monkey town
To make banana monkey nation
— Christina

ARO Volunteer Teachers…

During our mask-making project, one kid told me that his mask was a representation of how he feels when he is embarrassed. This led to a discussion about what embarrasses him, ways that he can feel more comfortable with himself, and how his mask visually represents his feelings. This kind of connection with the students, where they feel comfortable sharing information about themselves and seeking my attention, is what I hoped to achieve in ARO
— Jordan Filko, Visual Arts Teacher, Columbia ‘09

Today as we were picking up, the kids volunteered to pick up certain things – one picked up the markers, another the scissors, and another the glitter. This was really helpful since it made picking up fast and organized. This epitomizes ARO because it shows that we can all contribute something, even if it is very small, to making a great class!
— Susana Berna, Visual Arts Teacher, Columbia ’09

So we asked the class what “being a good audience” means and Ahmad raises his hand. He answers “Sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.” I thought that was pretty deep and true.
— Meera Vijayan, Theatre Teacher, Columbia ‘06

Today Elaine [another volunteer] and I played our flutes for the class. Sharing music through live performance was a great experience for the kids for many reasons but one most important to me was showing that young people can have passion for music styles more often associated with adults and “boring” classical music
— Elizabeth Ferguson, Music Teacher, Columbia ‘07

Please click here for a description of the current BTEP programs in place at the Ralph Bunche School.