The Urban Gateways Blog

August 11, 2010 :: :: No Comments

Dorothy Walker Runner, 1920-2010

The Chicago Tribune
8/11/2010

It is with profound sadness that we send word of passing of Dorothy Runner, one of Urban Gateways' founding mothers. She will be missed by all, but her legacy lives on in the work we do everyday.

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August 6, 2010 :: , :: No Comments

Urban Gateways Awarded Motorola Foundation Grant for Female-focused Gaming Program

Urban Gateways, Chicago’s most comprehensive arts education organization, has received more than $30,000 as part of the Innovation Generation grant program from the Motorola Foundation, the charitable arm of Motorola Inc. Through the grant, Urban Gateways will launch the program Girls Got Game, in which 125 female middle school students in the Chicago-area will design and build a fully-operational PC- based computer game.

The Motorola Foundation’s signature Innovation Generation program seeks to boost American students’ engagement in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) by providing $7.5 million to K-12 programs across the U.S., including Urban Gateways, to support hands-on, innovative after-school programs, science and math clubs, teacher training and mentoring programs. 

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July 1, 2010 :: , :: No Comments

IN THE CLASSROOM: Connecting to our Students

Urban Gateways teaching artists led two artist residencies this spring around the theme of connectivity.  These residencies resulted in student artwork that Urban Gateways featured and auctioned off at ArtsWired 2010, our annual interactive benefit on June 22.

The student artists were paid a stipend for their work and invited to the event to connect with our guests and share their artwork .  Below is a description of each residency, as well as links to view the artwork.

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July 1, 2010 :: , :: No Comments

Urban Gateways Selected as Provider for CPS "Culture of Calm Initiative"

Urban Gateways is among 25 community organizations selected by the Chicago Public School District to provide services through its "Culture of Calm Initiative", which is part of the district’s $25 million dollar plan to support high schools and communities most at risk of violence.  Urban Gateways is the only arts education organization included as a Culture of Calm provider.

On June 22, Mayor Richard M. Daley and Chicago Public Schools officials announced
that the school system will use almost $25 million in federal economic stimulus
funding for mentoring, community watch, and “Culture of Calm” initiatives.

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June 22, 2010 :: :: No Comments

Chicago Schools Pushing Big Bucks for Mentorship, Safe Passage, Culture of Calm

WBEZ
6/22/2010

This article highlights the expected decision by the Chicago Board of Education to approve nearly 25-million dollars in federal stimulus funds for a district-wide violence prevention initiative. Urban Gateways is among the organizations to receive funding through part of this initiative known as Culture of Calm.

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June 1, 2010 :: :: No Comments

Urban Gateways Partners with Chicago Corporate Leaders to Launch "Arts-Wired" Schools

Jenner & Block and Fifth Third Bank Adopt Schools to Prepare Students for the 21st Century

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS  – Urban Gateways: Center for Arts Education is pleased to announce the official launch of the Urban Gateways Arts-Wired Program, a whole-school change model which infuses the arts into struggling schools to transform them into high-quality hubs of learning with the support of corporate partners.  

Urban Gateways, Chicago’s oldest and largest arts education organization, recognizes the unparalleled impact of arts learning on a school culture and is partnering with like-minded Chicago-area schools and business leaders to transform schools in need.

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May 25, 2010 :: , :: No Comments

Urban Gateways Partners with Chicago Corporate Leaders to Launch "Arts-Wired" Schools

Jenner & Block and Fifth Third Bank Adopt Schools to Prepare Students for the 21st Century

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS  – Urban Gateways: Center for Arts Education is pleased to announce the official launch of the Urban Gateways Arts-Wired Program, a whole-school change model which infuses the arts into struggling schools to transform them into high-quality hubs of learning with the support of corporate partners.  
Urban Gateways, Chicago’s oldest and largest arts education organization, recognizes the unparalleled impact of arts learning on a school culture and is partnering with like-minded Chicago-area schools and companies to transform schools in need. 
How does the Arts-Wired Program work? A corporate partner adopts a Chicago-area school for a period of four years, during which Urban Gateways delivers in-depth, customized arts programming.  Just as a school which is “wired” for technology raises the possibility for success in any educational environment, Urban Gateways will infuse four key components of arts learning into Arts-Wired Schools, in order to increase the academic achievement levels for all students. That arts programming includes:
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May 7, 2010 :: , :: No Comments

In The Classroom: Students Take Flight in Theatre Residency

In the Classroom is a new monthly feature created to take you inside a different Chicago-area classroom, introduce you to the Urban Gateways Teaching Artist who is working there, and share with you the experiences of the teaching artist and their students.

"Birds, Wings and Flying Things” – that’s the theme that the students of Hamilton School (K-8) have been exploring this year.  It sounds like a science lesson, maybe even history, but it has also been the focus of a 20-week Urban Gateways Artist Residency at the school.

Hamilton is one of the schools that participate in Urban Gateways’ Cultural Education Program (CEP), which is a multi-year grant partnership between UG and selected schools through which students and teachers receive training in one of four specific arts disciplines each year: dance, music, theatre and visual arts.  The goal is to give educators the tools to make connections between the fine and performing arts, social sciences and language arts.

This year, Hamilton students and teachers are exploring the discipline of theatre, and for the past few months, they’ve been doing so with Teaching Artist Maia Morgan.

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March 19, 2010 :: :: No Comments

MusicianCorps Benefit Concert - Thanks for your support!

On March 18, 2010, three local bands took the stage at Subterranean in Chicago for a benefit concert supporting Urban Gateways and MusicianCorps.  A special thanks to the bands - Satellite 66, Paper Airplane Pilots and ManBirdBelly - and all the supporters who came out for the concert!  Thanks to all of you, we raised hundreds of dollars that will support music education in Chicago schools!

Check out photos from the concert below!

And to learn more about MusicianCorps, watch this NBC Nightly News story>>


March 11, 2010 :: , :: No Comments

In the Classroom: Our New Teaching Artists

In the Classroom is a new monthly feature created to take you inside a different Chicago-area classroom, introduce you to the Urban Gateways Teaching Artist who is working there, and share with you the experiences of the teaching artist and their students.

This month, we want you to meet three of Urban Gateways newest teaching artists! Each year, we welcome a handful of new teaching artists to our roster. After a rigorous application and interview process, a select few are asked to participate in professional development, as well as a provisional residency in the fall. Depending on the outcome of those short-term residencies, the teaching artists are then asked to officially join Urban Gateways roster.

We have some incredible new teaching artists this year. Below is a look inside three provisional residencies led by visual artist Jillian Gryzlak, media artist Hondo Lawrence, and media artist Jesse Avina.  And definitely check out the photo slideshow of the residencies, as well. 

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