Art To Go

Art To Go is the Honolulu Academy of Arts’ non-profit outreach program designed to serve Hawaii’s youth at risk. In partnership with Hawaii’s social service agencies, community-based organizations and public schools, Art To Go sends qualified artist instructors and supplies to host sites throughout the islands. Since 2003, Art To Go programming has provided experiences in the arts to more than 4,800 youths throughout the state.

A typical Art to Go program meets after-school once a week, for ten weeks. Upon completion of the program, an exhibition of the students’ artwork is installed at the host site. When transportation is available, participating groups visit the Honolulu Academy of Arts for tours of the museum’s collections. Participants demonstrating outstanding skill are offered full tuition scholarships for the Academy Art Center’s Young People’s Classes. Read the Star Bulletin article on Art to Go in Makaha. Read the Honolulu Advertiser article on Art to Go in Palolo.

Why is Art to Go Important?

Art To Go participants are exposed to the arts as a positive foundation for learning.

A visual arts education:

• Stimulates and develops the imagination and strengthens problem-solving and critical-thinking skills adding to overall academic achievement and school success.
• Develops a sense of craftsmanship, informed perception, goal setting and responsibility to complete tasks from start to finish, skills needed to succeed in the classroom and beyond.
• Refines cognitive and creative abilities, leveling the "learning field" across socio-economic and language boundaries.
• Teaches life skills such as self-confidence, self-discipline and the ability to imagine a world of possibilities.
• Nurtures important values, including team building, respecting alternative viewpoints and appreciation of different cultures and traditions.  (www.americansforthearts.org)
  

“Arts curricula is typically process-driven and relationship based, so its impact on academic performance is often underestimated and undervalued. The arts provide a logical counterbalance to the trend of standardized testing and should not be marginalized just because the curriculum is more difficult to measure (Eisner, E. W., Ten Lessons the Arts Teach, January 1998).”

Unfortunately the arts are increasingly diminished or eliminated from many of our public school’s curricula. However, “The arts can play a crucial role in improving students’ abilities to learn, because they draw on a range of intelligences and learning styles, not just the linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligences upon which most schools are based (Eloquent Evidence: Arts at the Core of Learning, President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, talking about Howard Gardener’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences, 1995).”

What’s New?

Myron B. Thompson Academy, an e-learning, web-based charter school, is offering six art courses to their students during the 2009-2010 school year. Art classes will be held at the Academy Art Center at Linekona. Courses include-Metalwork & Jewelry, Printmaking, Fiber Arts, Sculpture, Drawing & Painting, and Ceramics. Art classes are from 9:00-11:00am and 1:00-3:00pm every Tuesdays and Thursdays.  For more information, please visit: www.ethompson.org Art to Go continues its exciting partnerships with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Honolulu and Kamehameha Schools. This program will include Art to Go projects, Big Brother Big Sisters mentoring, Kamehameha Schools cultural programming and recreational opportunities such as horseback riding and cast net fishing at Kualoa Ranch.

Thank You!
We would like to thank recent support for Art to Go from:

• Big Brother Big Sisters of Honolulu
• Kamehameha Schools
• University of Hawaii
      John A. Burns School of Medicine
      William S. Richardson School of Law
• Kualoa Ranch
• Parent Teacher Associations
• Hale Kipa
• State Foundation on Culture and the Arts
• McInerny Foundation
• Group 70
• Consuelo Foundation
• Central Pacific Bank CATCH Fund
• Target

How can I support Art to Go?
Art to go is made possible by generous support of individuals, foundations and corporations. Providing hands on art programming for 15-20 participants, a typical program costs $2,000.00. This includes instructor salary, travel compensation, coordination and art supplies. For information about how to donate or fund a specific Art to Go program, please contact:

Pearlyn Salvador, Outreach Programs Coordinator
Academy Art Center
1111 Victoria Street, Honolulu, HI 96814
(808) 532.8709
psalvador@honoluluacademy.org

This program is made possible with support from the Hawai‘i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.