Erie Gives
ArtsErie participated in Erie Gives Day, sponsored by the Erie Community Foundation, on Tuesday, August 2, 2011. Thank you to those who donated at http://eriegives.org/ in support of the Arts in Education Endowment of ArtsErie. We raised $2,823.73 from 42 donors!
Erie Gives contributions designated for classrooms
Josh and his classmates had a whole new outlook about reading after a cartoonist came to their school. Through an Arts In Education Artist in Residency Program, Josh and his classmates worked closely with a cartoonist, learning to write better, read better, and, yes, draw better, too!
His teacher remarked that this was the first time Josh was engaged enough to sit quietly and read an entire book from start to finish!
"Children become more engaged with their learning through the arts. They learn to be creative, and to explore techniques through their own innovative ideas," explains Holly Nowak, Director of Arts in Education at ArtsErie. "The cartoonist taught the students to draw characters and then helped them draw scenes for the characters. From there, the kids learned to write a story that complemented their artwork. Through this process, Josh became enthused and focused and is now a strong reader."
As part of the Erie Community Foundation’s 75th Anniversary, gifts were matched with a $75,000 matching fund.
"When we heard about Erie Gives, we immediately identified the Arts in Education Endowment as the program to benefit from our participation. Building an endowment will enable us to perpetually fund the arts in the classroom and thus benefit children for years to come," said Char Mashyna, ArtsErie Executive Director.
Gifts will help the arts and impact a classroom for many years.
