Viewing page 12 of 27

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

MARYLAND STATE ARTS COUNCIL
NEW INCENTIVE GRANT APPLICATION -FY2001
School 33 Art Center

2. Describe how your project represents a clear and innovative change from your organization's current activities.

This project represents a departure for School 33 geographically as well as demographically. In the past, School 33 has served and interacted with the nearby South Baltimore community through exhibits, classes, and workshop programs at the center and at a number of South Baltimore area schools. The Latino community has its largest area of concentration off the Southeast Baltimore corridors of Broadway and Eastern Avenue. Though barely two miles separate School 33 from the Latino Community, they have not had previous interaction. There are an estimated forty thousand Latino residents in the greater Baltimore area, with twenty thousand concentrated in the East Baltimore area. This would be the first time that School 33 Art Center has collaborated with the Latino community.

3. Explain why you think the group targeted by your project lacks the opportunity to participate fully in the arts. 

A recent in-depth article in Baltimore's City Paper ( May 13, 1998) reported that the Latino group is the fastest growing minority in the nation. The population has the highest high school dropout rate of any minority. Baltimore represents a microcosm of these statistics.

Most of the children in the target population attend Baltimore City public schools which have eliminated art programs. There are few recreational or cultural opportunities in the area, and even fewer offered in a dual-language format. 

The workshops would provide an important creative outlet for the community. The art activities would allow the participants to work in a group setting and complete a goal, instilling a sense of accomplishment at the workshops end. The participants would be introduced to several basic art media and activities that could conceivably be continued at home. In addition, the professional artists involved would provide successful role models for the community. The exhibit Three Artists and Milagros: Miracles on the Border at School 33, and the exhibit, A Place Called Home, of workshop participants at a local gallery, will heighten awareness of the Latino community in Baltimore. Also, the exhibits at School 33 and the concurrent workshops will make the Latino community aware of School 33's existence and the resources it potentially offers them.