The Urban Gateways Blog

Artists

July 24, 2009 :: , :: No Comments

Chicago to Tanzania and Back: Teaching artist exchange offers cultural, artistic insights

Grace MAIN.JPGThis summer, Urban Gateways has embarked on its first international artist exchange. 

UG Artist-in-Residence, Amanda Lichtenstein, traveled to a rural village in Tanzania to teach theater and creative writing. Meanwhile, Urban Gateways was thrilled to welcome Tanzanian theater artist Grace Gachocha (seen in picture on right) to Chicago, where she is instructing UG’s Art Options program alongside literary artist Maia Morgan and Digital Sound artist Shawn Wallace.  Art Options engages at-risk middle and high school students in an arts apprenticeship that culminates in a community-based arts project. 

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July 23, 2009 :: :: No Comments

UG Artist Shares Her Experience in Tanzania

Urban Gateways Artist-in-Residence Amanda Lichtenstein is teaching creative writing and theater to children in a rural village in Tanzania, as part of UG's first international exchange with the International Theater and Literacy Project (ITLP), a New York City-based organization founded in 2005 to provide rural African communities with youth education through theater. 

Below is an excerpt of a letter Amanda sent to the UG staff, sharing her experiences:

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March 10, 2009 :: , , :: No Comments

Urban Gateways Announces Call for Artists

Urban Gateways conducts an annual artist application process to build a strong, diverse roster of professional artists. Once contracted, artists work in schools, community-based organizations, and cultural institutions to provide arts programming. A new application is available for download (Click here!) and the deadline is Friday, April 10th, 2009. This year there is a specific call for the following disciplines:

* Literary Artists (poets, book/paper artists, spoken word artists, playwrights, etc.)

* Digital Media Artists (audio and visual media artists, online media artists, etc.)

* Musicians (vocalists, song writers, instrumentalists, etc.)

* Hip-Hop Artists (dancers, writers, musicians, etc.)

* Graphic/Animation Artists (graphic novelists, cartoonists, etc.)

* Interdisciplinary Artists

* Touring and Performing Artists of all disciplines

There will be one information session on Thursday, March 26th, 2009, at 205 W. Randolph, Suite 1700, from 5:00 PM -- 6:30 PM.


March 9, 2009 :: , :: No Comments

Cicero District Teachers Play the Role of Students

Collaboration. Creation. Celebration. Urban Gateways artists brought new meaning to these words through their innovative work at Cicero. "In ancient times, the arts brought us together as communities, which made us better teams and stronger hunters. We don't need to bond together as hunter-gatherers and yet our need for connection is as strong as ever. The desire for art is as strong as ever," stated John Knecht, Urban Gateways teaching artist. This quote was the guiding thought for a room of 28 Cicero District visual art and music teachers on a cold Friday morning.

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January 13, 2009 :: , , :: No Comments

New Teaching Artist at Perspectives Calumet Engages Students to Redesign the White House

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Erin Foley’s first residency as an Urban Gateways teaching artist had a significant start date: November 6, two days after the presidential election. Foley, a recent addition to Urban Gateways' roster, spent the first half of the 2008-09 school year participating in the New Teaching Artists Mentoring Initiative, run by Urban Gateways Artist-in-Residence for Professional Development and Curriculum, Amanda Lichtenstein. She was assigned to teach architecture and design in Ms. Spoelstra’s tenth grade geometry class for special needs students at Perspectives Calumet High School of Technology, located in Chicago’s South Side Auburn Gresham community. Along with a four-day training institute at the start of the school year, ongoing professional development workshops, and mentoring meetings with Lichtenstein, Foley’s five-week residency served as her introduction to the Urban Gateways teaching experience.
 
Her plan: To engage students in art and important current events simultaneously by having them redesign the White House. Each student created architectural plans for a new building, striving to represent through architecture the change that a new chief executive could bring to the presidency.
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