________________________________________ Visiting Teaching Artist Residency Catalogue
FALL 2017
A guide to residencies and opportunities to engage locally with cultural arts education at LEAF Community Arts (LEAF).
a warm invitation from us at leaf...
Twice a year, LEAF invites performing artists from around the globe to lead Visiting Teaching Artist Residencies with elementary, middle, and/or high school students in the Asheville/Western NC area. It is an opportunity for youth to take the next step toward becoming global citizens. The Asheville community has always been amazing working with this program, but we want to EXPAND deeper into the community. I am hoping, with your help, this amazing program will be able to be offered to more schools. LEAF Visiting Teaching Artist residencies consist of the following: • A 3-5 day residency hosted in a local school and/or community center for school age children.Session can last from 1 1/2 to 3 hours a day depending on the school, age of group and availability of space. • Visiting Teaching Artists are carefully selected by a committee comprised of the Performing Arts Director, Executive Driector, Development Director and Cultural Arts team at LEAF. These individuals are typically national and internationally touring acts who have a deep interest to engage youth in music and arts. • Each student gets the opportunity to be treated like a rockstar with two free guest passes for the day of their performance, a goodie bag from French Broad Food Co-op full of snacks, a cool LEAF t-shirt, food perks and access to the performer lounge. • The opportunity for youth to truly become global citizens and artistic leaders by working with role models of different cultures and see beyond right now into the possibility for the future. Would you like to work together on this? Because if you’re ready, LEAF can meet you halfway. I am looking forward to the opportunity to serve our rising generations of leaders together. Cortina J. Caldwell LEAF Community Relations Director
HOW TO USE THIS CATALOGUE As you flip through this document, we welcome the opportunity to collaborate and customize opportunities for schools and learning center, if capacity allows. If interested in a residency later in the year (Winter), or for the following school year, please let us know so we can begin to design the program and set clear, measurable goals for all involved. Thanks in advance!
bring cultural arts to a school near you!
- Step 1 - Attend a local LEAF event for an in-person experience of the work. - Step 2 - Strike up a conversation with a member of the LEAF team to inquire deeper about what we do. - Step 3 - Express interest to a local school, community center or other host. Secure funding and draft goals. - Step 4 - Complete Booking Form to secure the Visiting Teaching Artist (VTA) program of your choice. - Step 5 - Have follow-up conversation with member of LEAF’s Cultural Arts team to confirm program. - Step 6 - Set schedule for residency. Residences may be no longer than 3 hrs per day (3 or 5 days/week). - Step 7 - Work with LEAF to craft an invitation/permission letter to parents. Announce news to school/center. - Step 8 - Host an amazing program, in partnership with LEAF, to local youth that they’ll remember for a lifetime!
leaf - on stage & in the community! MISSION
theLEAF.org | 828.68-MUSIC [686-8742]
LEAF Community Arts is a non-profit organization, building community, connecting cultures and enriching lives through the arts – locally and globally – with festivals, community events, and arts education programs.
VALUES Being Mission-Driven • Integrity • Openness, • “You Got This” Positive Attitude • Collaboration • Equity
CULTURAL ARTS EDUCATION LEAF Schools & Streets cultural arts programs use the arts to bridge cultures and create life-affirming, community building experiences – empowering our youth to become global citizens, leaders and agents of positive change. LEAF International is dedicated to cultural preservation, exchange, and fostering global citizenship. LEAF collaborate with communities to support Culture Keepers who teach local youth their traditional arts.
SIGNATURE EVENTS LEAF Festival is LEAF’s founding event. For over 20 years, an inter-generational community gathers at Lake Eden for a dynamic experience of music, art and culture for around the globe. #1 Festival for Kids, Music & Camping in Western NC. LEAF Downtown celebrates creativity, diversity and families in the heart of Asheville, NC. This signature and inclusive community event encourages interpersonal exchange, cultural awareness, artistic excellence and welcoming spaces for all walks of life. Regarding work with youth, LEAF uses the Developmental Assets as measurement tools for success in the LEAF Schools & Streets programs. In addition to maintaining that measurement system, LEAF seeks to define a holistic approach to learning, engagement and development of various kinds for Teaching Artists, Cultural Keepers, Festival contributors, parents, community partners and school administrators.
What are the Developmental Assets? LEAF’s cultural arts education program goals, curriculum, teacher & student evaluations are aligned with the Developmental Assets Profile, developed by the Search Institute. The Search Institute has identified 40 assets which comprise a set of skills, experiences, relationships, and behaviors that enable young people to develop into successful and contributing adults. Building these assets prepare youth for success in some type of college or education, a career, and citizenship. LEAF has identified 6 assets that exemplify the types of skills our programs help to develop in our students. These are: Community Values Youth, Adult Role Models, Creative Activities, Cultural Competence, Personal Power, & Self-Esteem.
FALL 2017 Visiting Teaching Artist (VTA) Residencies: musical sounds of the arctic! who: THE JERRY CANS | genre: INUKTITUt FOLK 3 day residency | grade focus: K-12
estes elementary school
The fast rising northern stars, The Jerry Cans, create music inspired by their hometown of Iqaluit, Nunavut. With their unique mix of Inuktitut alt-country, throat singing, and reggae, the Jerry Cans are a distinctly northern, one-of-a-kind group. The band perform many of their songs in Inuktitut and are passionate about preserving the language even as the north and their home community of Iqaluit evolve. They are committed to representing northerners and to challenging common misperceptions they have encountered about life in the Arctic; their music evokes the contemporary north and the spirited people that reside there. It is not only the political motives, but their rapidly developing reputation for getting elders and young people dancing, that has forced people to start noticing this high-energy group. This truly unique band will take you and your students on a stroll through the streets of Iqaluit to share a glimpse of life in Arctic!
School time rock with music boX! who: vernon “BUDDA BUDDA” Lloyd | genre: Mixed 5 day residency | grade focus: K-8 Vernon “Budda Budda” Lloyd, Founder of the Music Box Foundation believes in the power of rising leaders and the possibility of music to be a power force in the life of kids in urban or underserved areas. No matter where they live, where they go to school, or what special needs they may have, Budda Budda believes that each deserves to have a music education. This residency focuses on mastering the art of musicianship AND it goes deeper into the potential for unity and strength in community that will ultimately, provide inspiration and purpose to our youth. Come the end of this residency, LEAF and Budda Budda hope that all students feel empowered with the tools and resources to explore, understand, use, and create music.
claxton elementary school
cultural traditions from el tejar who: leaf international guatemala 5 day residency | grade focus: 7-12 This residency features experienced LEAF International students from Guatemala to introduce young students to the rich music and dance traditions of El Tejar, Guatemala. By focusing on more than one cultural tradition, students will learn about the great diversity throughout Guatemala. Students will learn the traditional string instruments that are characteristic of Guatemala as well as dance, song and Guatemalan clothing garments. This residency will provide the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for local students to get to know young individuals from Guatemala! Through this cultural exchange, students will be invited to cultivate cross-cultural understanding and a sense of global citizenship.
Avery’s Creek elementary school
FALL 2017 Visiting Teaching Artist (VTA) Residencies: PUT SOME CREOLE ON IT! who: FEUFOLLET genre: CAJUN MUSIC 3 day residency
asheville middle school
This foot-stomping 3-day interactive residency will be hosted by Feufollet for participation at all levels! Feufollet is Americana at it’s finest— reverential but wholly nonconformists. The young and vibrant Southwest Louisiana band takes Cajun, honky-tonk, and string-band music as their starting point, and keeps an open mind about where their song craft will lead them. Raised on Appalachian fiddle traditions, Kelli adds old-time stomp to the band’s repertoire.Cajun, country, and rock’n’roll all began as homespun enterprises, by musicians tinkering with inherited melodies until new sounds were struck. Feufollet keeps that experimental spirit alive and well with their diverse musical palette, edgy arrangements, and pop-song sensibilities. In this three day residency, Feufollet will bend just beyond their Cajun roots and dig deep for a modern and broad musical imagination, to work with students to express blues, old-time, country ballads and rock n’ roll alike to connect with higher levels of creativity and learning beyond the page.
the quin-tastic, foot-stomping folks! who: FORLON STRANGERS | genre: AMERICANA 3 day residency | grade focus: 3-9
estes elementary school
Forlorn Strangers is a quintet based out of Nashville, Tennessee. The band is a collective of five songwriters, each having their own distinct styles that blend into one unmistakable voice. Their sound delves into all reaches of American roots music, driven by foot-stomping percussion and soaring family harmonies. The band is comprised of sisters Abigail Dempsey (fiddle, guitar, percussion, vocals) and Hannah Leigh Lusk (mandolin, percussion, upright bass, vocals); Chris Banke (guitar, mandolin, vocals); Benjamin Lusk (banjo, guitar, vocals); and Jesse Thompson (upright bass, dobro, guitar, vocals). Since 2013, Forlorn Strangers has released two EPs (While the Grass Grows and American Magic Tricks) and has toured continuously across the United States, playing for an ever-increasing group of appreciative fans. In 2015, Forlorn Strangers played over 180 shows in over one hundred cities and more than thirty states nationwide....and the week leading into the 45th LEAF Festival they want to come work with YOU and your students!
rockin’ around the mountains!
who: THE BROADCAST | genre: SOUL 3 day residency | grade focus: 6-12 The story of the rock and soul outfit not only comes with its own high-octane soundtrack, it hits on all the key points: Challenges are overcome, miles are logged, performances are slain and an oft-jaded music industry is enticed. There’s dancing. There’s a love story. For Caitlin Krisko and her band The Broadcast, the story began at The Bitter End and wound up in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was in Asheville that Krisko met guitarist Aaron Austin spending the next couple of years working as a songwriting duo releasing their debut LP, Dodge the Arrow. Now, more than ever, bandamtes of The Broadcast feel the call to share their love of music with young voices. This three day residency will explore the roots, rhtyms and possibilities of soul with a twist for all ages!
Fernleaf Charter School
FALL 2017 Visiting Teaching Artist (VTA) Residencies: musicology and artistry of hip hop!
who: BENY ESGUERERRA & NEW TRADITION GENRE: COLOMBIAN HIP-HOP | 3 day residency grade focus: 7-12
pisgah elementary school
Born in Colombia - Ruben 'Beny' Esguerra is a multi-instrumentalist, lyricist and arts educator who has composed original scores for the CBC, City Life Film, Amnesty International and the National Film Board of Canada; presented his pieces in festivals held in Canada, US, Cuba, Venezuela, Colombia, Chile and is currently the Program Coordinator and instructor for the the Rhyme N Reason Music and Media Arts program based in Jane and Finch Toronto. Ruben is a PhD (ABD) candidate in Musicology/Ethnomusicology specializing in traditional and urban music. This residency will also provide the opportunity for students to take a peek behind hip hop for a Colombian twist on a music genre created to weave stories and connect communities together!
poetix! Who: graham hackett | genre: spoken word
5 day residency | grade focus: K-12
POETIX is a multi-modal experiential arts program exploring written expression, public speaking techniques, and project development through dynamic presentations, workshops, and collaborative events. Performance poetry, or “spoken-word,” fuses elements of literature and theatre to create a dynamic technique for poets to verbally deliver their original writing. POETIX draws from the rich history of oral traditions, classic and modern poetry, and the emergence of spoken-word as a vital, living art form reaching from neighborhood cafes to HBO. Participants explore principles of writing and public speaking and develop print and digital audio media.
owen middle school
who: LEAF INTERnatIONAL Rwanda INTORE 5 day residency | grade focus: 3-8
rainbow community school
In Kinyarwanda, the word “Intore” refers to a person who is desperate and hopeless, then GIVEN HOPE by a person or event. This newfound hope gives the person strength to learn new skills, see life through new eyes, and become a better person and a leader. An Intore is a true hero. In 2006, LEAF International began working with 25 children who lived on the street in Rwanda, reaching out to them with traditonal drumming classes. Now years later, most of this group have grown into young men and international quality performing artists who speak English, live in a home, and are positive members of their community. Today, members of this original group make up the LEAF Intore Cultural Troupe. These young men receive weekly traditional drumming classes, and perform for the community. It has been a long powerful extraordinary journey. For one full week, LEAF International Rwanda Intore member, David Kwizera, will work with local Asheville youth to bring the cultural arts of Rwanda into their hearts and minds through rhythms and drums.
VISITING TEACHING ARTIST - BOOKING FORM Please complete this form and return it to: outreach@theLEAF.org OR CALL 828.68-MUSIC [686-8742] for questions. Name of your organization: Address: City: State: Applicant Website Address: Primary Contact Name: Title: Phone: Email: Name of School Principal or Organization Executive Director: Phone: Email:
Zip:
Collaborating Organization Mission (NOTE - Organizations must have complementary missions):
Residency/Field Trip Requested: Semester: Day(s) of the Week:
Amount Due: $________________ Session Time(s):
Please describe the goals and vision of this VTA Residency with LEAF Community Arts: Source of Funding and Anticipated Cost (District, PTA, Grants, other): Names of Staff members involved in collaboration (& any important contact information): Ages and/or grade levels of youth served:
Number of involved youth anticipated:
Will this involve a performance for the parents or the larger community? NO / YES If so, please describe:
Successful VTA Residencies show the following characteristics: • Typically a non-profit organization, school, or organized group rather than an individual. • Positive and consistent engagement for youth. • Coordinate the youth. • Provide a safe healthy space for classes. • Efficiently uses resources. • Provide transportation to special events including LEAF. • Manage completion of registration forms and return to LEAF office for roster updates. • Support behavior for program success if necessary. • Share any known media restriction issues. • Inform LEAF of any program schedule or location changes. Ability to communicate proactively. • Maintains responsibility for any transportation needs of the program. • Will only use approved logos to maintain marketing/branding integrity of LEAF. • Has either a wide public visibility and/or can access a large target audience/participant base. • Regularly communicates with LEAF and will participate in an evaluation of the residency.
can’t book a residency? Come to the orange peel! theLEAF.org | 828.68-MUSIC [686-8742]
take a field trip to the orange peel for a cultural arts showcase! MONDAY, October 23, 2017 11a-12p | fun for all ages! | cost: $3/child $5/adult This is the field trip opportunity you’ve been looking for. Bring your students for a morning filled with music, dancing and culture. Give them the opportunity to learn about different musical styles and instruments as well as learn about a unique and beautiful culture from around the world! The Orange Peel Showcase brings together LEAF International group(s) with a Visiting Teaching Artist in order to cultivate a mash-up of dynamic learning and exploration of music and arts from local to global. This is a wonderful opportunity for Asheville’s youth to come together for the common cause of music, art, culture and FUN! REGISTER YOUR SCHOOL/STUDENT GROUP TODAY! Please email outreach@theLEAF.org to book your school or group. Space limited. Groups showcased in the past include: Squirrel Nut Zippers, LEAF Internatinal Bequia, The Warriors of AniKituhwa, LEAF International Haiti, 23 Skidoo, Jabali Acrobats, M.A.K.U. Soundsystem, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Sierra Leone All-Stars & many more!
ORANGE PEEL SHOWCASE - BOOKING FORM Please complete this form and return it to: outreach@theLEAF.org OR CALL 828.68-MUSIC [686-8742] for questions. School/Group Name: Address: City: Website Address:
State:
Primary Contact Name: Phone:
Zip:
Email:
Title:
School Principal/Organization Executive Director: Phone: Email: Please describe the goals and vision of attending the Orange Peel Showcase w/ LEAF Community Arts: Residency/Field Trip Requested: ORANGE PEEL | Semester: FALL - MONDAY, OCTOBER 23RD # of Youth:_____
Grades/Age Range: _____ # of Chaperones:______ # of Other Adults:______
Total # of Attendees w/ Your Group: ________ Amount Due: $________________ ($3 per youth/student | $5 per adult age 18 years and above) Select Payment Option*: ___ Will pay in advance, please invoice us for the total amount due. ___ Will pay day of event, via check or money order. ___ Will pay day of event, via cash. *Note: If you wish to pay via debit or credit card, we will need to invoice you and have you call LEAF office w/ card info.
Will any students/adults in your group require handicap accessible access or other considerations? NO / YES | If yes, please describe: Will your group have on any cohesive IDs (i.e. t-shirts, badges, nametags, etc)? NO / YES If no, please describe your plan to ensure that all members of your group are accounted for: Additional Notes/Comments: