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Sparking Joy

September 26, 2023 By Arts for Learning Virginia

At our Sunshine Beach Party event recently, we paid tribute to two long-time musicians, Steve Ambrose and Janet Kriner, who have retired after decades of service. One of the special moments during the event came when Board of Directors’ member Linda Dennis spoke about how Janet has inspired her as a musician. As a cellist, Janet was an original member of the Feldman Quartet in the 1950s—the quartet’s performances were the very earliest version of Young Audiences of Virginia, now known as Arts for Learning.

Linda, who’s been a board member for about eight years, retired in 2016 after teaching music in Norfolk Public Schools for 30 years. She’s a violinist in the Virginia Symphony Orchestra where she played with Janet for decades, but the two first encountered one another when Linda was growing up in Norfolk.

“My life was anything but privileged. It’s very unlikely that I would have encountered a string quartet as a child,” Linda says. “I grew up in a very working-class neighborhood, working-class schools. It’s just not something that my family did. One day when I was in the fourth grade, a string quartet came to our school for a performance, and they were from Young Audiences. Janet probably was in that quartet. I was just fascinated with this ensemble, and I fell in love with the violin myself.”

In fifth grade, Linda started playing the violin at her elementary school. When she was 13, she attended a week-long summer orchestra camp, which was new to the area. Janet worked with the student musicians as a cellist specialist, and she made a big impression on Linda.

“I just thought she was the happiest person I had ever met. She always had a smile on her face. She just seemed like she was filled with joy. She was excited to work with us. It didn’t seem to be a burden for her. She thoroughly enjoyed it. And she sparked enthusiasm with the kids as well.”

Throughout the years, Linda continued to interact with Janet as she guided young musicians, including serving as a coach for the Tidewater Youth Orchestra (now Bay Youth Orchestras of Virginia where Linda played violin. But after earning a spot in the Virginia Symphony in college, Linda saw a different side of Janet, who was principal cellist.

“She had a professional persona and then a student persona. Students got all the inspiration and happiness and joy, but as a professional, she was a tough cookie. She was demanding of her section, and she was a perfectionist,” Linda says. “I loved seeing that you could be both. You could be a student advocate, kind and understanding and patient, but then you had standards for yourself, and I really respected that in her.

“She is like gold to this area. She’s just a gem. She’s done so much for kids and for teachers too. She’s inspirational to the teachers.”

Linda’s experience playing the violin when she was young—and the joy she witnessed in Janet—motivated her to teach music.

“I knew the joy that I felt as a child… it’s not an opportunity that I expected. And it just really changed the course of my life. So whatever I can do to give back and give some other child that experience that’s what I wanted to do.”

Linda gives back in a different way on Arts for Learning’s board. As someone who first enjoyed a Young Audiences’ performance 55 years ago, she appreciates the ways in which our organization has evolved over the decades, such as incorporating Virginia’s Standards of Learning into its programs.

“I really love the way [Arts for Learning] works so hard to build programs to give the students exactly what they need. I think that the way we’ve transitioned over the years to give students exactly what they need, exactly when they need it, is quite a service to the community.”

At Arts for Learning, we want to express our thanks to both Linda and Janet—two individuals who have contributed so much to the school, arts, and nonprofit communities throughout the years.

Are you interested in serving on the Arts for Learning board? We’re always searching for dedicated arts advocates who are leaders in their fields. If you’d like more information, please contact CEO Chris Everly at CEO@Arts4LearningVA.org.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: arts education, Arts for Learning, Arts for Learning Virginia, arts-in-education, board of directors, teaching artists

Major News: Arts for Learning Becomes the Coastal Virginia Wolf Trap Affiliate

August 14, 2023 By Arts for Learning Virginia


We’re… thrilled… honored… happy… ecstatic… overjoyed… and delighted to announce we’re now partnering with the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts. As the Coastal Virginia Wolf Trap affiliate, we’ll bring customized arts-based teaching and learning programs to early childhood classrooms.

“Our teaching artists have the opportunity to be trained in the Wolf Trap method, which focuses on bringing arts-integrated strategies into the classrooms of our youngest learners,” said Drew Lusher, Arts for Learning Artist and Programming Manager and Coastal Virginia Wolf Trap Affiliate Director. “We’re excited to foster this work in our community.”

The affiliate program is operated under Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts, a program of Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts based in Vienna, Virginia.

Last week, four teaching artists on our roster received paid training to learn creative, interactive techniques of how to work with children in preschool and kindergarten classrooms. Wolf Trap Master Artist Trainer Christina Farrell showed how to incorporate song, movement, imaginative play, and musical instruments into lessons that introduce key curricular concepts such as literacy and social-emotional learning.

The training sessions were held at Children’s Harbor Ghent where the teaching artists had the opportunity to practice what they learned with young learners.

“I greatly appreciated observing Christina with the kids,” said Arts for Learning’s Amelia Zontini. “Each day they bloomed a little more. On my way out to my car on Friday, Miss Destiny and some kids opened their door and cried out, ‘Thank you!’ What a special experience for us all.”

Teaching artists who participated last week were Ryan Clemens, Jennifer Graham, Dylan Pritchett, and Amelia Zontini.

Arts for Learning’s Cindy Aitken, James Cooper, Via Goode, and Roberta Lea will undergo training in September.

Initially, Coastal Virginia Wolf Trap will deliver services in Norfolk, but will branch out to other Hampton Roads’ communities in future academic years. Our Wolf Trap-trained teaching artists will partner with early childhood education classroom teachers, illustrating how they can use the performing arts to engage children, enrich their learning, and reinforce the curriculum. Through multi-day residencies, our teaching artists will work one-on-one with classroom teachers to create custom lesson plans using proven, arts-based learning experiences.

We couldn’t be happier (or more elated… excited… glad… eager… tickled pink… you name it!) to enter into this partnership and join Wolf Trap’s network of 24 affiliates across the United States and Singapore. Thank you to all who made last week’s first training such a success!

Filed Under: Arts Integration, ArtsEd, News Tagged With: arts-in-education, early childhood education, teaching artists

Talking with Dañetta Evans, our New Artist and Programming Manager

October 15, 2021 By Cindy Sherwood

When Dañetta Evans decided to pursue the arts as a career, she says there was no “plan B”; she was committed to pursuing her passion, no matter what. She may not have been able to predict exactly where that determination would land her, but we’re happy to say it’s brought her to Arts for Learning as our new Artist and Programming Manager.

Dañetta is originally from Alabama where she earned her bachelor’s degree in public relations/marketing at Alabama State University and later received her associate of arts degree in graphic design from the Art Institute of Tennessee. She moved to Hampton Roads to attend graduate school at Norfolk State, where she first earned a Master of Art in Visual Studies and later her Master of Fine Arts in Visual Studies.

While at NSU, she became interested in participatory art and how data collection can aid in community development and engagement. Then, she says, she wanted to learn more about the effectiveness of STEAM (Science Tech Engineering Arts Math) education. “I created some classes to see how effective it was and did the research in how STEAM and STEM worked and how I could add something to it.”

She also was the liaison between her classmates and the Boys and Girls Club of Southeast Virginia when the club wanted NSU art graduate students to create various art classes for different clubs. She loved it—“Not only did I get to do my own artwork, but I got to see the change in the students and the change in my classmates too.”

The art education part of it—it just took my heart. I saw firsthand the character development that took place in the students from the beginning of class to the end of class. I decided then—while I’ll always be a practicing visual artist, the education part was super important.”

Organizing community art events was a major part of NSU’s program. Among other projects, Dañetta helped organize pop-up shops at the NEON Festival in Norfolk, participatory art at the Hermitage Museum, and a 93-foot-long mural inspired by African American history that’s located inside Calvary Baptist Church in Virginia Beach.

At Arts for Learning, Dañetta’s role is to work with the artists on our roster to help develop innovative arts education. Creating community—as she worked to do at Norfolk State—is a major priority.

“I love to create community with our artists, when we come together, share resources, and if I can offer any sort of professional development. And also add to the roster—where do we need some extra artists to help step in?”

Those are the big goals: create community and grow the roster.”

If you’re an artist who’s interested in joining our roster, please click here for details on how to apply.

Fun Facts about Dañetta: She loves trains, especially the sounds they make. And she collect sounds. “Most of the time they’re stored on my phone so if I’m walking around and I hear something, I’ll record it. I think it started when I lived in Nashville. I walked out of a museum and the church bells were going and I thought, ‘Man, I really like that sound.’ So I just started recording it and continued to record the sounds.” And as an artist, who knows? She says “someday I’ll do something bigger with it.”

Filed Under: Arts Integration, ArtsEd, Staff Spotlight Tagged With: art education, Arts for Learning, Arts for Learning Virginia, arts-in-education, Boys and Girls Club of Southeast Virginia, Calvary Baptist Church, community, community art, Norfolk State University, participatory art, public art, visual artist

Artist Spotlight: Karim Nagi and “Arabiqa”

December 31, 2020 By Cindy Sherwood

With all the challenges Arts for Learning has faced in the past year, there’s one very positive side effect—thanks to virtual programming, our roster has expanded to include vibrant and culturally diverse artists who live in other parts of the United States. We’re especially excited about Chicago-based artist Karim Nagi joining our team. Karim is an Arab musician, dancer, and folklorist whose program “Arabiqa” is now available for booking.

As a native of Egypt, Karim immigrated to the United States when he was eleven years old, along with his mother and father. The family settled in Boston, where Karim attended public school and where few students knew much about his home country, culture, or Muslim religion. Karim eventually became a professional performing artist. Since 1999, he has led the Sharq Arabic Music Ensemble, a group dedicated to preserving and presenting traditional Arabic vocal and instrumental music.

After the terrorist attacks of 9/11, a school invited Karim to make a presentation about Arab culture to students who “only had the frightening impressions from the news.” With close to 500 presentations since that time, he’s refined his performance into a dynamic and informational exploration of Arabic culture. The program blends music, dance, language, and traditional costumes. Karim demonstrates the traditional percussion and string instruments he plays and shows different dance styles he learned growing up in Egypt, as well as folk dances from Lebanon, Syria, Morocco, and other Arab countries.

In addition to exposing students to new art forms, Karim has a more personal motive for his performances.

“If everyone relies on the news or some type of media portal to get their information about another person, they’re only going to have stereotypes and simplistic renderings and one-sided reports. When people are learning about other cultures, it’s very important that they interact with people from those cultures,” Karim says. “I believe it’s important that they learn about my culture specifically because it’s so central in news and world politics, but I’m more interested in the process of people becoming tolerant and receptive of diversity so I think it’s important for them to interact with actual people from each segment of society.”

In the twenty years he’s been performing in schools and performing and leading workshops for adults, Karim has seen a positive shift in perception.

“People are more aware that the arts have a role in sharing culture and creating dialogue between people. I think before people thought of the arts as just entertainment. But these days people really give it the credit that it deserves.”

When schools shut down across the country last spring, Karim had an advantage over many performing artists because he was already experienced working with video and audio. With his virtual presentations, he adjusts to the needs of an individual school, with both live and recorded performances available. But whatever the format of his performances, he’s committed to make them interactive.

“I still need to engage with each student behind the screen and make them feel that they need to participate. That’s the important thing, rather than just performing in a block for forty-five minutes and students having to watch. This is true in real-life, in-person performances as well. With digital, I have to make sure I still keep it engaging and in a way that students participate.”

So how does Karim know that he’s making a difference through his school presentations? Earlier in his career, the words of a student from Virginia made a big impression.

One of the fourth graders came up to me and said they wanted to be Arab when they grew up. This fueled me a lot. I’m helping people become less afraid of something that’s foreign or something that’s perceived as anti-American by some people. I was expressing my culture and a young child saw it as something that they would like to emulate. Even if they didn’t understand the difference between ethnicity and career at the time, it still meant that they weren’t afraid of it, that they could relate to it.”

Interested in Karim doing a virtual presentation at your school, library, or community center? Contact Aisha Noel at 757-961-3737 or email us at programs@Arts4LearningVA.org for more information. We may have funding available to help offset the cost of Karim’s performance!

Filed Under: Artist Spotlight Tagged With: 757 arts, 757 nonprofit, Arabic culture, arts integration, arts programs, arts-in-education, digital programming, folklore, Karim Nagi, performing artist, virtual learning

Thank You, Hampton Roads Community Foundation

September 10, 2020 By Cindy Sherwood

Some organizations do so much for the community that it’s hard to overstate their impact. The Hampton Roads Community Foundation is one such organization. Through its COVID-19 relief grants, the foundation has extended a lifeline to many area nonprofits that are struggling financially because of effects from the pandemic.

We are delighted to report that the Foundation has awarded us $15,000 under its special grant to provide COVID-related relief to arts organizations. We pledge to use the money wisely, as we build our programming of virtual arts experiences to meet students wherever and however they’re being schooled. Thank you to the Foundation for its support.

The Hampton Roads Community Foundation is southeastern Virginia’s largest grant and scholarship provider. Since its founding in 1950, the regional community foundation has provided more than $301 million in grants and scholarships to improve life in southeastern Virginia.

Filed Under: COVID-19, Grants, News, Virtual Learning Tagged With: 757 arts, 757 nonprofit, Arts Ed, arts education, arts integration, arts-in-education, Covid-19, creative learning, digital learning, Hampton Roads Community Foundation, virtual learning

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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

Sparking Joy

At our Sunshine Beach Party event recently, we paid tribute to two long-time musicians, Steve Ambrose and Janet Kriner, who have retired after decades of service. One of the special moments during the event came when Board of Directors’ member Linda Dennis spoke about how Janet has inspired her as a musician. As a cellist, […]

Join the A4L Mailing List!

Sign up to receive the latest news on arts integration from Arts for Learning! Thank you for supporting arts-in-education.


By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: . You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact

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