The arts are essential to helping young people think creatively. As tighter school budgets force the arts out of the curriculum, St. Bonaventure University is committed to keeping the arts an essential component of regional students' lives. While the University has provided performances and, in the past year, residency opportunities to area elementary and high school students, the November workshop marked the first step in its direct outreach to area educators. Also pictured is Miles Bingham, the center's curator, who coordinated Ringgold's exhibit and appearance. If they are not relevant, they are not useful to the child or the teacher.
Children learn in many ways, and the arts are among the best to teach all disciplines.
She invited area educators to join in a series of proposed workshops for teachers on the ways the arts can be used to develop curriculum that is relevant to the classroom and the state's education standards. Walker-Itoh, who will serve as the coordinator for the new program, will continue to work with educators to tie the center's programs to various curricula in area school districts. A peer review panel, composed of University staff, Arts Council members and regional educators, will refine the program to ensure it meets the needs of both regional and University students. Ringgold, the second artist in the center's Dresser Foundation Gallery Series, also gave a gallery talk to more than 100 people the night before the workshop. In 1955, upon her graduation from the City College of New York, Ringgold's career as an artist began.