Partnership Allows Program Veterans the Chance to Give Back

Portfolio Editor's Note: This is the first in a two-part article about GCAC's partner organizations—TRANSIT ARTS and the Columbus Federation of Settlements - for our new arts education programming, Art in the House and TRANSIT ARTS. This issue, we'll focus on TRANSIT ARTS.

GCAC's Art in the House, new this year, allows children ages 5-11 to begin their connection to creative thinking through the arts. But partner program TRANSIT ARTS, which serves youth ages 12 and up, allows teens to continue their learning and grow into mentors for kids in Art in the House and other programs.

Earlier this year, GCAC received $250,000 from the Franklin County Board of Commissioners to begin this new arts education initiative. Through Art in the House & TRANSIT ARTS, GCAC and its partners—TRANSIT ARTS and the Columbus Federation of Settlements—are organizing and connecting local artists, arts and cultural organizations and independent arts education programs into a comprehensive network of accessible opportunities for students in grades kindergarten through 12. Special focus is placed on the needs of children during out-of-school hours, such as afternoons, evenings, weekends and during the summer.

TRANSIT ARTS is a continuation and expansion of a long-running collaboration with the Central Community House, one of seven settlement houses in the Columbus Federation of Settlements.

Participants in GCAC's Art in the House and connected programs engage in art-related activities and interact with renowned artists and arts administrators to develop a wide variety of arts and related skills intended to enhance their opportunity for success.

As Art in the House kids become teens and young adults, TRANSIT ARTS provides them with offers for summer jobs and internships, involvement in touring performance productions and entrepreneurial opportunities in the arts – as well as the rewarding experience of mentoring the younger children.

"We are so excited to continue to work with the Settlement Houses and to partner with GCAC to expand our reach into the community," said Jackie Calderone, Artistic Director of TRANSIT ARTS. "There's a natural connection between GCAC's experience working with younger children and our focus on programming for young adults."

Additionally, Art in the House offers teens in TRANSIT ARTS and affiliated artists the chance to serve as an artist apprentice, a paid position with a three- to four-month contract. GCAC hires two artists to administer the teaching of ongoing, multidisciplinary programming for Art in the House at various Settlement House sites: a professional "master" artist and an apprentice.

Some of Columbus' most successful artists who have gained international recognition for their accomplishments, such as Richard Duarte Brown and Queen Brooks, both arts educators and multi-media artists, currently serve as master artists in the Art in the House program.

The purpose of the apprenticeship is not to learn a trade from the master artist, but to learn the ropes of teaching art. This growth into ambassadors for the program allows these young artist apprentices to share experiences and skills and the opportunity to stay engaged.

Anthony Michael, a videographer and TRANSIT ARTS participant, currently works with Art in the House as an artist apprentice under the tutelage of Richard Duarte Brown. Anthony has been involved with filming video for the Performance Group at TRANSIT ARTS, and with GCAC during the Columbus Arts Festival.

"Through TRANSIT ARTS, I have had the chance to meet and work with a few established artists in theater and music—to watch them behind the scenes, ask questions and continue forward in my own artistic development since I started participating in the program during 2004," Michael said. "What I have found most interesting about TRANSIT ARTS is its ability to stir the reservoir of innate talents of each participant through providing an outlet for youth in communities that are generally not perceived as bastions of artistic credibility."

Photo: TRANSIT ARTS participant and videographer Anthony Michael.

September

Michael Slack: Wax Pack, Rivet, Through 9/30

The Swell Season, CAPA, 9/22

Grants for Local Musicians, Grandview Heights Public Library, 9/25

2008 Manhattan Short Film Festival, Wexner Center Film/Video Theater, 9/26

20/20 2008, Tribhanga School of Dance, 9/27

The Sound of Music, Little Theater Off Broadway, Through 9/27

The Singular Landscape: New Work by Rod Bouc, ODU’s Wehrle Art Gallery, Through 9/29

Arts in Work Spaces: Features Works by Artists of Terra Gallery, Caspian II, Through 9/30

October

Deborah Lapatina & John Hegener, Hayley Gallery, Through 10/10

Vaughn Weister's Famous Jazz Orchestra, Columbus Maennerchor, Through 10/13

World Premiere Bebe Miller Company Necessary Beauty, Wexner Center, 10/1-10/5

First Annual Glass Pumpkin Patch, Glass Axis, 10/3-10/4

WildFest - Fall Festival!, Presented by Ohio Wildlife Center, 10/4

Short North Gallery Hop, Short North Business Association, 10/4

Dracula, BalletMet, 10/10-10/18

Boo at the Zoo, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, 10/17-10/26

All Hallow's Eve, Ohio Historical Center/Ohio Historical Society, 10/18-10/25

The Pearl Fishers, Opera Columbus, 10/24-10/26

November

Milonga Fuego, JC Entertainment, Through 11/28/2008

COLOR: Ten African American Artists, Ohio Designer Craftsmen, 9/14-11/2/2008

Huck Finn's American Song, Phoenix Theatre Circle, 10/31-11/9

Short North Gallery Hop, Short North Business Association, 11/1

Drawing for Beginners with Janet Waggoner, Grandview Heights Public Library, 11/13

Student Division Winners Film Screening, Columbus Int’l Film & Video Festival, 11/13

The Full Monty, Emerald City Players, 11/21-12/6

Sing We Now of Christmas, Lancaster Chorale, 11/30