The Big Bang in Arts Education by Carmelle Nickens, Founder, Rural Arts® Collaborative Most recently, as we said goodbye to 2021, a year still fraught with challenges in our personal lives, in our schools and in education because of an ongoing pandemic, we welcomed 2022 with a bang…literally a “big bang” in Southwestern PA. On January 1st, a sonic boom that literally shook several counties, including Fayette, could be heard and felt in households and communities in the region. Some thought it an earthquake, others a storm, but some simply thought, nature was having a big idea. The Rural Arts® Collaborative (RAC) Arts Education Project is a prime example of how the “big bang” of an idea can lay the foundation for amazing things never thought of, for students and schools, to experience and appreciate the arts in a different and meaningful way. Ten years ago, the “big bang” of an idea started for the Rural Arts® Collaborative Arts (RAC) Arts Education Project: to enhance the existing arts education curriculum in rural schools, so those students, who often do not have access to rigorous arts programs, were able to experience an engaging and unique experience that would, hopefully, impact their lives and their journeys in life to come. After several years of being involved and working with after-school arts programs that were designed to extend the art education experience for students, it was clear that there was a need to focus on developing a project that would work alongside existing arts curriculum in the classroom and align with other disciplines to give students a co-curricular, hands-on experience. Not every child who is involved in arts ed classes is destined to be an artist, but we do know that the arts enhance learning abilities in math, science, and other disciplines, and are an excellent foundation for fostering and developing the learning process: “The “hands-on” experience fosters the 10 primary skills that are essential for learning across the board: Creativity, Confidence, Problem Solving, Perseverance, Focus, Non-verbal Communication, Receiving Constructive Feedback, Collaboration, Dedication and Accountability,” (Washington Post, Strauss, 2013). Since its creation from “big bang” idea to inception, with Fayette County Cultural Trust (FCCT) as the RAC fiscal agent, we have received funding from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, EQT, the Community Foundation of Fayette County, Grable Foundation, and others to recruit professional teaching artists to
work in school districts in the southwestern PA counties – Fayette, Greene and Washington, with the intent to infuse a diverse arts education approach into existing curriculum, enhance social and cognitive learning for students, and contribute to sustained partnerships amongst educators, artists and students in the region in their arts programs.
RAC Artist Hiromi Katayama teaches students at Bentworth Middle School in Washington County, Pennsylvania.
Dedication of a mural in the city of Johnstown. This mural was painted by Artist Hiromi Katayama’s students at Johnstown High School in Cambria County, Pennsylvania. 18
