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Free Family-Friendly Art Series in Hampton

July 7, 2024 By Cindy Sherwood

  • Utpalasia
  • Taikoza
  • Katherine Willet helps children with take-home art.
  • Curtis Blues
  • Storyteller Via Goode
  • Stephanie Lask's Take-Home Poems workshop
  • Nathan Richardson as Frederick Douglass
  • Art Song Duo
  • Rainbow Puppet Productions
  • Storyteller Dylan Pritchard
  • Rita Cohen
  • Harold Wood
  • Storyteller and actor Valerie Davis

It’s almost time for our favorite family art series, designed especially for the summer! A Splash of the Arts kicks off this Saturday, July 13 from 10am to 4pm at the Hampton History Museum. Admission is free! And this Saturday is just the start—you can enjoy “Splash” on July 20 and July 27 too. With no-repeat programming, be sure to visit all three Saturdays when you’ll have the chance to interact with Arts for Learning’s professional performing and teaching artists.

“Each year Splash of the Arts is the highlight of our summer,” says Aisha Noel, Arts for Learning’s Programs and Community Engagement Manager. “It’s a great way for the community to come together to enjoy learning for the whole family, engage in interactive programs from our artists, and leave with a feeling of togetherness.”

This is the third year Hampton City Schools Fine Arts Department has sponsored A Splash of the Arts, school-age programming that showcases summer learning by Arts for Learning’s musicians, dancers, storytellers, and visual artists.

“A Splash of the Arts is an extension of our elementary arts and literacy program,” says Kelly Dee, Hampton City School’s Visual and Performing Arts Curriculum Leader. “We bring Arts for Learning into the schools every year for performances that our students may not have the opportunity to see and hear, and it was a natural growth of what we do in the schools to extend it into summer learning and invite the community to come out and see performances during the summer.”

In addition to being free family entertainment, the educational aspect of “Splash” is paramount.

Arts for Learning is the premier partner to bring in high quality arts performances for our students,” Dee says. “The connections to all areas of learning—math, language arts, social studies, even science—are always present in any performance that we either bring in the school or do in the summer as well.”

So don’t miss this year’s outstanding lineup of artists—as Dee says, “The performances keep on getting better and better and better!”

Here’s a week-by-week breakdown of what you’ll see:

July 13: Move to the Filipino “Dance of the Duck;” celebrate African American history with Frederick Douglass; listen to instruments from around the world; learn the hidden meanings of traditional slave tales; experience spoken word poetry combined with live music; be awed by colorful Rainbow Puppets; or make your own puppets to take home.

July 20: Experience the thunderous rhythms of Japanese taiko drums; listen to classic stories from Mark Twain; sail the Caribbean Sea on the waves of steel drums; step into the world of improvisational theater; explore the impact of music on mental health; dance, sing, and clap to musical stories about friendship; and write and illustrate your own poems to take home.

July 27: Fall under the spell of a tricky magician; explore the legends of Mount Everest through dance and music; laugh out loud to multicultural folktales; be inspired by a powerful story of escape to freedom; get up and dance across the continents; and create your own take-home bookmark or mixed media work of art.

“We’re excited to bring 24 different performances and hands-on workshops by professional artists at no cost to attendees,” Noel says. “We can’t wait for the community to experience different cultures, create take home artwork, and enjoy some good family fun. See you soon at the Hampton History Museum.” 

Check out the full schedule of activities and performances here: https://sites.google.com/hampton.k12.va.us/familyarts/home

The Hampton History Museum is located at 120 Old Hampton Lane in Downtown Hampton. There’s free parking in the garage across the street from the museum and there’s no admission fee to the museum during Splash. Snacks will be available in the Great Hall for children and teens 18 and under, while supplies last.

Filed Under: Artist Spotlight, ArtsEd, News, Public Performance, Summer Programs Tagged With: 757 arts, 757 nonprofit, Arts Ed, arts education, Arts for Learning, Arts for Learning Virginia, arts-in-education, dance, family-friendly programs, free, Hampton City Schools, music, music education, performing artists, public performances, public workshops, storytelling, summer enrichment, summer entertainment, summer programs, teaching artists

(Almost) Full Circle: Dylan Pritchett Returns to the Hennage Stage at Colonial Williamsburg

May 30, 2024 By Cindy Sherwood

Of the thousands—or more likely tens of thousands—of times Dylan Pritchett has performed as a professional storyteller, his upcoming program at the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg is sure to be among the most meaningful. A native of Williamsburg, Dylan returns to the Hennage Stage on June 13, decades after he helped develop and perform Colonial Williamsburg’s first programming focused on African American history.

“What we started could be looked at as the root for all of the fruit that has come forward.”

As Dylan puts it, he’s only had one employer in his life—Colonial Williamsburg, where he started as a member of the Fife and Drum Corps at age 13 and continued past high school and during summers while off from Hampton University. He then accepted a full-time administrative job at Fife and Drum, while continuing to instruct Corps members.

But in 1984, a new phase of Dylan’s career began when his position transitioned to a role in CW’s first African American programming department as an Interpretive Program Specialist. His duties were broader than the title implies. In addition to performing programs at the Hennage and in other places at Colonial Williamsburg—telling stories that illuminated the lives of enslaved children and adults—Dylan wrote programming and supervised other staff members of the African American department.

During his time performing on the Hennage Stage and elsewhere around Colonial Williamsburg, Dylan grew as a storyteller.

“The Hennage gave me a platform to try out new stories… it gave me an audience, it gave me practice to hone my storytelling skills.”

Around that time, Colonial Williamsburg began outreach programs to schools. That’s when Dylan saw an opportunity and began exploring his next career move. After taking a leave of absence for a year to make sure he could support his family, Dylan became a professional storyteller in 1990, performing in more than 100 schools per year, including in areas of rural Virginia.

“It was a time when that was a novelty. For assemblies you had the clown that comes in for the kids and you got the magician and puppeteer. And here’s this guy who tells African American stories. It’s like, wow. And to be real honest, I went into a lot of places where I was probably the only Black performer they had ever seen, of any genre. That meant a lot.”

A later partnership with the Kennedy Center took him all over the country, using his storytelling techniques to do workshops and performances to train educators. And his storytelling was again a novelty in many places. He recalls visiting New Castle, Wyoming—”three hours from nowhere”—and the educator liaison telling him, “These people have never seen a Black person in person. I said, ‘Whaaaaat?’ He said, ‘Yeah, they’ve seen Black people on TV, but they’ve never seen a Black person in person.’”

When Dylan joined Young Audiences/Arts for Learning Virginia, he was able to cut down on travel and perform primarily in Hampton Roads. He remains one of A4L’s most booked artists. Last year, he was also among a select group of artists to become credentialed as a teaching artist for A4L’s new affiliation as Coastal Virginia Wolf Trap.

Thinking about his upcoming program at the Hennage brings back some powerful memories for Dylan. He recalls performing at a festival where he and other storytellers split their program between the Williamsburg Theater and the Hennage Auditorium. It was the first time he’d ever done a program at the theater, a place where both he and his father had worked.

“My father was a custodian at the Williamsburg Theater who passed away in 1977 after I had just graduated from high school,” Dylan says. “I mentioned on the stage that my father was a custodian there, that I was an usher and had spent a lot time at the theater when we showed movies, and that was a moment. And going back to the Hennage is probably such a moment.”

You can see Dylan on Thursday, June 13 at 5:30 pm inside the Hennage Auditorium at the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg. This is a free, family-friendly program underwritten by the Williamsburg Area Arts Commission, Virginia Commission for the Arts, and National Endowment for the Arts. No admission ticket is required for the museum.

“I’ve been thinking about what stories to tell and I think I’m going to do a little hodgepodge. A little bit of what I used to tell there and some stuff I never had.  It’s kind of like full circle, but I hope it doesn’t complete the circle because I want to be around to go back later on too.”

Filed Under: Artist Spotlight, Program Spotlight, Public Performance, Wolf Trap Teaching Artists Tagged With: African American history, Black history, Colonial Williamsburg, Dylan Pritchett, storyteller, storytelling

Story Hour with Mark Twain: Free, Family – Friendly Entertainment at the Z

November 7, 2023 By Cindy Sherwood

“The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”
Mark Twain

Mark Twain lives, at least for an afternoon in Virginia Beach this November. Kicking off a new Family Time Performance series at the Zeiders American Dream Theater, Arts for Learning’s Ryan Clemens will perform as his famous relative, Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain.

Clemens will present Story Hour with Mark Twain on Saturday, November 18 at 2 p.m. at the Z, located at 4509 Commerce Street in Virginia Beach.

Tickets are free at this link:
Story Hour with Mark Twain

“The Z is such a terrific place for performers like myself to offer our special gifts,” says Ryan Clemens. “I’ve been performing as Mark Twain for decades, and I’m excited to bring him to meet the good folks at Virginia Beach’s own Zeiders American Dream Theater. It’s Mark Twain as you would have met him when he came to visit our area in 1907. He’s full of tall tales, jokes, maybe a ghost story or two, and lots of playful audience banter. Whether you’re 10 years old or 110, you’re sure to enjoy an hour with my jovial, old cousin.”

Story Hour with Mark Twain is part of the Family Time Series, a partnership between Arts for Learning and the Z to provide entertaining, family-oriented programming. Future performances include Orisirisi African Folklore and Roberta Lea in February and storyteller Sarah Osburn Brady in April. Programs will be presented by Arts for Learning’s roster of professional artists who use their art forms to educate and engage audiences while actively exploring artistic traditions and cultures from around the world.

“Our artists are excited for the partnership with Zeiders American Dream Theater,” says Drew Lusher, Arts for Learning’s Artist programming Manager. “In addition to being a modern and inviting performance venue, Zeiders is an energetic organization with a mission that parallels ours. We appreciate the opportunity to pair our performing artists with their beautiful space to further engage the community and inspire creative growth.”

Arts for Learning thanks the Virginia Beach Arts and Humanities Commission, Helen G. Gifford Foundation, Virginia Commission for the Arts, and National Endowment for the Arts for underwriting A4L’s Family Time Series at the Z.

Filed Under: Artist Spotlight, Arts Integration, ArtsEd, News, Program Spotlight, Public Performance Tagged With: 757 arts, 757 nonprofit, Arts Ed, Arts for Learning, arts integration, arts-in-education, Mark Twain, nonprofit, public performance, Ryan Clemens, storytelling, The Z, theater, theater 757 arts, Zeiders American Dream Theater

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Main Office
Arts for Learning
420 North Center Drive
Suite 239
Norfolk, Virginia 23502

Phone: 757-466-7555

Main Office

Arts for Learning
420 North Center Drive
Suite 239
Norfolk, Virginia 23502
Phone:
757-466-7555

RAISE Up in Hampton City Schools

“As a teaching artist, when we meet a kid, they’re a whole entire person. They have experiences and not all those experiences are pleasant, so coming to the classroom with that mindset and knowing that they carry baggage with them as do we… it’s about approaching them with compassion but also recognizing that they’re more […]

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At Arts for Learning Virginia, we’re proud to be part of the Virginia Commission for the Arts’ Passport Program. While Passport holders typically receive free admission and 50% off classes at participating organizations, all our programming is always free—no discount needed. To learn more about our public events, check out our calendar of events page here.

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