Gina Riley

Community Art Walls

The Community Art Wall program was born from the library’s strategic plan to investigate opportunities for displaying public art as a means of increasing cultural programming and serving Naperville’s diverse population. Library staff created the initial displays for the first art wall at the 95th Street Library in 2017.

Today, there are three display areas—one at each branch—available for exhibits of framed or mounted artworks by local artists, students in Districts 203 and 204 schools, and not-forprofit groups. Typically, exhibits are on display for three months before they’re replaced with something new. Artists interested in displaying their artwork can submit an online form found on the library’s website.

Shinneman has been part of the Community Art Wall program since the beginning. “Being able to give local artists and organizations an opportunity to share their talents with the community has been extremely rewarding,” she says. Community Art Walls are continuously on display at each location. Check out the library’s Facebook page for examples of current and past art wall exhibits.

Why Art at the Library?

As Shinneman sees it, art and literacy complement each other, and the library is the perfect place to tap into one’s creative side. “In our story times, we focus on the five early literacy practices—reading, writing, talking, singing, and playing,” she explains. “These practices help children develop the skills they need to become successful readers. Art is applicable to many of the five early literacy practices. For example, children can use context clues from the illustrations in a picture book to predict what is going to happen next in the story. Drawing is one of the first forms of writing young children practice. Asking children to describe their artwork is a wonderful way to practice vocabulary skills. Lastly, art allows children to be creative and use their imaginations!”

From creating a mini masterpiece to enjoying others’ artistic talents on an art wall, the Naperville Public Library weaves art, literacy, and community together—and that’s a beautiful combination.

For more about the library’s offerings, visit www.naperville-lib.org.

Author: Bethanie Hestermann

Bethanie Hestermann is a freelance writer and author. She’s written five animal-science books for kids, with a sixth being published next year. When not writing, she loves camping and traveling with her family. She earned her M.A. in Writing and Publishing at DePaul University.

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Gina Riley

Academyof theArts

By Staci Hauk

Naperville is known for its rich, artistic culture, with outlets for theater, fine arts, and music alike. However, for those looking for training in the performance arts, the closest options reside in the city. Enter the Academy of the Arts — a nonprofit educational institution that serves the Naperville area, coupling high-level arts and high-achieving academics. With a diverse portfolio of classes in dance, theater, and music, the aim to is offer quality programming worthy of big city recognition.

“We offer programs in visual arts, media arts, music, dance, theater, and technical theater. Our teachers are a combination of local arts professionals, national arts professionals, collegiate faculty, as well as highly qualified educators. Our students need to learn from a variety of perspectives to be able to truly have a well-rounded arts education,” said Executive Director and Co-Founder Dylan Ladd.

The Studio is the Academy’s evening and weekend program for adults and children that offers four 10-week sessions each year. Classes beginning October 25 include ballet, jazz, songwriting, voice, theater design, and acting. The Academy’s summer program, IMPACT, is for students ages 10–18 and provides training in Broadway masterclasses: dance, acting, and voice. And, finally, the jewel in the crown, the Academy’s K-12 day school that will start its pilot in Fall 2023. Ladd explained that in starting the Academy, the mission was clear — to provide careerspecific training that is often hard to hone in a traditional public school setting. “As public writing by creating and producing their own stage play. They also direct and perform their works for their peers, taking theater and language arts standards and placing them in the same lesson plans.”

Much research and logistics went into conceptualizing this unique Academy and choosing Naperville as its hub. The brainchild of three educators determined to create something different for young artists, the Academy sprung from an in-depth examination of needs. In Spring 2021, the team hired a consultant firm Connor Associates to complete a ‘location feasibility study.’ They looked at all of Illinois and Wisconsin to see where this type of school could find the most success. Ladd shared, “After researching locations with families that support the arts, high-growth rates in student populations, access to higher education, and great public transit, Naperville was the number one city in their study. In fact, they identified over 170,000 families in a 45-minute radius around Naperville that checked all of those boxes.”

The success that the students at the Academy have found this summer during the IMPACT Summer Series speaks for itself. Some of the biggest Broadway names trained students in dance, acting, and vocals. Students concluded the program with a field trip to see a Broadway show and a student performance for family and friends.

Broadway Star Justin Prescott working with Students

Courtesy of the Academy of the Arts

schools work to support the needs of as many students as possible, it becomes very difficult to provide career-specific training. In the arts, there are many skills that students can begin working on at a very young age, but they do not receive these resources in most schools. By specializing our curriculum, we have the opportunity to offer classes that students might not see elsewhere such as music technology or ballet.”

With only one other independent arts high school (located in Chicago), the proximity limitation for suburban kids was tangible. The Academy will strike a balance between academics and arts to create well rounded students ready to tackle this competitive field without the hour-long commute.

“One way we plan to achieve our goals is through the incorporation of Arts Integration, where our teachers take standards from arts subjects as well as core subjects and teach both in the same lesson. An example that I love to share is one that my Co-Founder, Julie Hindenburg, uses in her 8th grade language arts class. Julie’s students work on narrative