Art Start Youth were featured performers at the 22nd Annual Youth Conference & Theater festival. The conference was presented by the Adolescent Education Program Teens Helping Each Other (THEO) in collaboration with: STAR Program & DOH AIDS Institute (SHPYL), Emblem Health. The conference featured organizations such as Center for Community Alternatives, Child Center of NY, Project REACH, Gay Men’s Health Crisis to name a few.

Our youth not only performed but also joined CCA’s table and helped give out condoms and spoke with other youth and passersby about the importance of safe sex practices.  Our performance was a reflection of the hard work our youth have been committing to concept based lyrics for the Across Borders Concept.  We were honored to be a part of such a conference.

Special thank you to Caitlin Gibb for the recommendation and Marian Searchwell for the opportunity.

Poverty as a Childhood Disease

New York Times, May 13, 2013

Poverty is an exam room familiar. From Bellevue Hospital in New York to the neighborhood health center in Boston where I used to work, poverty has filtered through many of my interactions with parents and their children.

I ask about sleeping arrangements. Mother, father, older child and new baby live in one bedroom that they’re renting in an apartment, worrying that if the baby cries too much, they’ll be asked to leave.

I encourage an overweight 9-year-old who loves karate, and his mother says, “We had to stop; too expensive.” I talk to a new mother who is going back to work too soon, leaving her baby with the cheapest sitter she can find.

Is your housing situation secure? Can you afford groceries? Do you go with the cheapest fast food? Can you get the prescription filled? Raising children in poverty means that everything is more complicated.

 

GETTY IMAGES

Me, I’m one generation out. My mother will tell you about her Depression childhood, the social worker who checked the family’s pots to see whether they were secretly able to afford meat, the landlord who put the furniture out on the street. It wasn’t character-building or noble, she says. It was soul-destroying, grinding and cruel.

And it’s even crueller, now that social mobility has decreased and children who grow up poor are more likely to stay poor.

At the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies last week, there was a new call for pediatricians to address childhood poverty as a national problem, rather than wrestling with its consequences case by case in the exam room.

Poverty damages children’s dispositions and blunts their brains. We’ve seen articles about the language deficit in poorer homes and the gaps in school achievement. These remind us that — more so than in my mother’s generation — poverty in this country is now likely to define many children’s life trajectories in the harshest terms: poor academic achievement, high dropout rates, and health problems from obesity and diabetes to heart disease, substance abuse and mental illness.

Recently, there has been a lot of focus on the idea of toxic stress, in which a young child’s body and brain may be damaged by too much exposure to so-called stress hormones, like cortisol and norepinephrine. When this level of stress is experienced at an early age, and without sufficient protection, it may actually reset the neurological and hormonal systems, permanently affecting children’s brains and even, we are learning, their genes.

Toxic stress is the heavy hand of early poverty, scripting a child’s life not in the Horatio Alger scenario of determination and drive, but in the patterns of disappointment and deprivation that shape a life of limitations.

At the meeting, my colleague Dr. Benard P. Dreyer, professor of pediatrics at New York University and a past president of the Academic Pediatric Association, called on pediatricians to take on poverty as a serious underlying threat to children’s health. He was prompted, he told me later, by the widening disparities between rich and poor, and the gathering weight of evidence about the importance of early childhood, and the ways that deprivation and stress in the early years of life can reduce the chances of educational and life success.

“After the first three, four, five years of life, if you have neglected that child’s brain development, you can’t go back,” he said. In the middle of the 20th century, our society made a decision to take care of the elderly, once the poorest demographic group in the United States. Now, with Medicareand Social Security, only 9 percent of older people live in poverty. Children are now our poorest group, with almost 25 percent of children under 5 living below the federal poverty level.

When Tony Blair became prime minister of Britain, amid growing socioeconomic disparities, he made it a national goal to cut child poverty in half in 10 years. It took a coalition of political support and a combination of measures that increased income, especially in families with young children (minimum wage, paid maternity and paternity leaves, tax credits), and better services — especially universal preschool programs. By 2010, reducing child poverty had become a goal across the British political spectrum, and child poverty had fallen to 10.6 percent of children below the absolute poverty line (similar to the measure used in the United States), down from 26.1 percent in 1999.

“Poor families who benefited from the reform were able to spend more money on items for children: books and toys, children’s clothing and footwear, fresh fruits and vegetables,” said Jane Waldfogel, a professor of social work at Columbia who has studied the British war on childhood poverty.

Dr. Dreyer said: “Income matters. You get people above the poverty level, and they actually are better parents. It’s critical to get people out of poverty, but in addition our focus has to be on also giving families supports for other aspects of their lives — parenting, interventions in primary care, universal preschool.”

At the Pediatric Academic Societies meeting, the most unexpected speaker — to a room full of pediatricians — was Robert H. Dugger, managing partner of Hanover Investment Group, who made the economic case for investing in young children. “History shows that productivity increases when people are able to access their rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” Mr. Dugger told me. “There is no economic recovery strategy stronger than committing to early childhood and K-through-12 investment.”

Think for a moment of poverty as a disease, thwarting growth and development, robbing children of the healthy, happy futures they might otherwise expect. In the exam room, we try to mitigate the pain and suffering that are its pernicious symptoms. But our patients’ well-being depends on more, on public health measures and prevention that lift the darkness so all children can grow toward the light.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/well/2013/05/13/poverty-as-a-childhood-disease/

Learn more about Art Start’s Family Portrait Project HERE

Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of leading a Hip Hop Poetry workshop at the Ronald McDonald House. At one point it turned into a jam session with participants playing piano and guitar. I was truly amazed by the power of vulnerability and the resilience that shone through the writing of these young people living with cancer. Their openness about their struggles and confidence in their self-expression taught me a bit about my own insecurities. We really got to dig into our emotions and though I just met them, I felt something of a familial bond. I know that I walked away inspired, and I think they did too. One student even tweeted about it: “Hopefully, Art Start will come back for more!”  Art is vital, and it’s important that we encourage one another to express ourselves. You never know whose life your art may save.

I’m A Stranger Here Myself

   Starring Art Start Board Member MARK NADLER

The Weimar Republic was Germany’s first democracy and a time of unprecedented artistic and sexual freedom. In I’m a Stranger Here Myself, multi-award winning entertainer Mark Nadler – guided by noted director David Schweizer – explores the Weimar Republic by delving deeply into the songs of the time, as well as into the lives of the people who wrote them and the people who were influenced by them – Kurt Weill, Friedrich Hollaender, Lotte Lenya and Marlene Dietrich, to name just a handful. By the end of the show, we find that perhaps we are more closely connected to this time and place than we ever knew.

$1 OF EVERY TICKET SOLD USING CODE ARTSTART 

 GOES BACK TO THE ORGANIZATION!

Use code ARTSTART when purchasing regular priced tickets ($67.50)

to any performance from April 29^th through May 19^th.

TWO WAYS TO PURCHASE

Visit YorkTheatre.org, choose a performance and enter code ARTSTART

Call (212) 935-5820 and mention code ARTSTART

The York Theatre Company at Saint Peter’s

619 Lexington Avenue (Enter at 54^th Street just East of Lex)

www.YorkTheatre.org

What do you do at Art Start?

I volunteer in the music workshops.  We play musical games, write songs, work with the kids on rhythm techniques and do a small amount of music theory with some of the older kids.

I have been a volunteer with Art Start for about a year and a half.

Every week that I volunteer at Art Start is special.  Last week we had two brothers in music; one is 7 and one is 5.  We had a lot of younger kids that session so we were really able to tailor the session to what that age group would enjoy. We sang the rules, played a game called mirrors, we played the pianos, and then played a rhythm game. The mirror game is where one person is a mirror and the other person does stuff in the mirror the other person has to copy. Both brothers are a little quiet but they were just laughing and laughing, playing the mirror game making faces at each other and dancing. I was able to teach them both how to play the first line of twinkle, twinkle little star on the piano. This was the first song I learned on the violin, so it meant a lot to me to be able to pass that song along.  These boys have an older sister who attends the teen workshop on Tuesdays.  She came to pick her brothers up as Art Start was finishing up.  She asked them, “did you guys have fun today?” and they both just ran up to her and said, “yes, yes!”  It is really moving to see two quiet boys be all smiles when leaving a workshop.

I love my life outside of my daily routine.  I am a dedicated bicycle commuter, rain, shine, winter or summer, I love riding my bicycle.  It is a wonderful way to get free exercise outdoors on a daily basis. I love to do stuff with my hands and just create something.  I am a gardener.  I have a backyard garden in Bed Stuy where I compost and grow all sorts of vegetables and flowers.  My favorite things to grow are dahlias, the blossoms can get as big as 12 inches across and grow in a variety of impressive colors.  I also am an avid cook; I brew my own kombucha, ferment my own sauerkraut, I maintain and bake sourdough, and make jam and pickles.

I took a photography class in HS and have always loved how unforgiving film can be.  I still use film photography to document my life and have a tumblr dedicated to my film photography.  I make small publications called zines.  I have always been a fan of puns and lighthearted humor, and my zines reflect that aesthetic.  I distribute these zines to friends and family both in NYC and around the country. Each zine is only 8 pages, including the front and back covers, and really functions as an artistic outlet for me. I don’t really have the time to work on large or more intricate art projects (although I have many in the works or on deck). The zines are usually completed and printed within a week.

Along with zines, I also make earrings, necklaces, glasses chains, small zippered pouches, pillows and drift wood lamps.  These will all be for sale on my etsy store, hopefully coming out next week.  We never had a lot of extra money when we were growing up, so I was always encouraged to make things.  I started sewing when I was 14 and it felt so freeing.  I was able to make clothes from the thrift store look like clothes from the mall.  That feeling and inspiration to create spread to everything, from cooking, jewelry making, and all sorts of hand crafted hacks of store bought things.

Has your time at Art Start influenced you or your art in any way? 

Art Start has definitely influenced both me and my art.  I think time is the most meaningful aspect of Art Start that keeps me coming back each week with excitement and enthusiasm.  When I first started volunteering, I had this misconception that these kids would be cycling through the shelter at a rate faster than my once a week visits.  As each week passed, and the same kids were coming to Art Start, I realized that homelessness isn’t all that temporary.  Hardships can fall on anyone at anytime and for a very long time or a short time or no time at all.  The kids began to get to know me and that really moved me.  Art Start’s presence in the kids’ lives is a stable and expressive outlet for them.  I see the kids come into Art Start in all different kinds of mindsets, and the more we connect with them and provide a place for them to get their minds off of their situation, the more I can really see the joy and creativity in their personalities emerge. Since volunteering with Art Start, I have made a lot more  zines.  The resilience of these homeless kids has inspired me to spread the simple, lighthearted, and fun form my zines take.

Check out Elena’s photos here:

http://ekittycash.tumblr.com/

and check out her  zines here:

 http://wanderingevergreens.blogspot.com/

Submit an application to volunteer at Art Start here: http://art-start.org/volunteer-application/

]]> http://art-start.org/art-start-volunteer-profile-elena/feed/ 0 http://art-start.org/keep-schools-open-m-c-kswift/ http://art-start.org/keep-schools-open-m-c-kswift/#comments Wed, 24 Apr 2013 17:10:58 +0000 M.C. K~Swift http://art-start.org/?p=2993 The National Opportunity to Learn Campaign (OTLC) published an info-graphic on Tuesday morning, giving a visual and statistical representation of racial and economic bias within school closings. The image states that “school closures across the country disproportionately hurt Black and low-income students.” It goes on to show that in New York City, 26 schools will be closed this year affecting thousands of students, predominately Black and Latino youth, and youth from low-income households. Through our work in homeless shelters and alternative-to-incarceration sites, this same demographic is served by Art Start year-round. This struggle is exacerbated by the fact that greedy landlords have forced the closing of beautiful community spaces such as Rebel Diaz Arts Collective and Casa Atabex Ache. Hopefully each of these great organizations will be able to relocate successfully.

The Color of School Closures

The OTLC does more than present the problem, they offer strategic solutions (click the image above for more info). One of the important pieces to closing the achievement gap for Black, Latino and low-income students is a holistic approach to education; one that takes into consideration socio-economic factors and the diversity of learning styles. The arts are essential to human development, and safe spaces for expression are vital, especially in light of mass school closures. It is entirely counterintuitive to reduce accessibility and quality of services in underserved communities. I hope that parents and educators keep fighting the good fight to keep schools and community spaces for children open!

Recently, the Art Start staff very excitedly began the first in a year of weekly trainings to become certified as “Trauma-Informed” leaders in youth development. Child psychologists from St. Lukes and Beth Israel hospitals will conduct this intensive course, ultimately offering strategies and staff approaches to promote a culture of acute sensitivity to children and teens who have or are currently experiencing trauma.

Art Start is always seeking better ways to truly meet our youth where they are. We achieve this already by bringing workshops to them, in their safe spaces, as well as allowing them to create freely without censorship. It’s natural to want to see them go and be the best they can be, but as we learned from the doctors this past week, when working with youth who have experienced trauma, in order to speed up you have to slow down. Patience, understanding and respecting their current perspectives are keys in this process. With Trauma-Informed Care training, we’ll be even more equipped to meet our youth where they are. We will be learning skills that include: screening youth for trauma, self-care for staff who are working with traumatized youth on a regular basis, better establishing safe spaces for youth, breaking the cycle of “survival mode” reactions in our participants, and ways to encourage youth to regulate their emotions for healthier outcomes.

We’re all so thirsty for this training and are grateful to Rukia Lumumba, Director of Youth Services, and all of the staff at the Center for Community Alternatives, for inviting Art Start to participate in this valuable training.

I’ve spent the last dozen years as a teaching artist. Through my work, I’ve been in close contact with school teachers and their students, all of whom share a great deal of frustration with the emphasis placed on testing, which seems to have grown exponentially since the introduction of No Child Left Behind. Lucky for me, that was initiated the year after I finished high school. In New York City, public outcry regarding school reform reached its peak in 2011, when Mayor Bloomberg appointed magazine executive Cathie Black as the schools chancellor. Fortunately, she left the post after only three months. This debacle demonstrated that at the city’s governmental level, as is the case across the nation, education reform is not being informed nor guided by those who are in schools the most: teachers and students. Furthermore, with the arts being nearly eliminated wholesale from the public school system, programs like Art Start are ever more vital.

In a story encountered via the Huffington Post this week, a veteran teacher of almost 30 years expressed a similar opinion. Mr. Gerald Conti of Westhill High School in a Syracuse suburb has had enough of the nonsense, and has quit his job. He sent a heartfelt letter to the Board of Education, laying out in detail the erosion of quality education over his career. Primary targets of his fitting irritation are lawmakers who “failed us by selling children out to private industries such as Pearson Education,” and the teachers’ union that he feels has not put up a substantial fight. With test such as the Regents Exams being considered of greater importance every day to the Board of Education, teachers and students are not permitted to use their creativity in teaching and learning. This is a tragedy because, as Sir Ken Robinson made clear in his TED talk, “…creativity now is as important in education as literacy and we should treat it with the same status.”

Educational standards such as the Common Core help us to measure student growth. However, they are faulty by nature. The above cartoon satirizes the issue, but ringingly sounds the alarm. There must be room in our schools for different learning styles to be acknowledged and respected. Teachers should be trusted to adapt curriculum as they see fit; including course material, homework assignments, quizzes and tests. At Art Start, we value process over product, and I feel that all educational spaces should function the same way. It is a shame that caring, dedicated educators are feeling pushed out of their jobs because they feel that they can’t do what life has called them to do. Please read Gerald Conti’s full letter here, and know that a free quality education is not a commodity, but a human right.