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Talking with Dañetta Evans, our New Artist and Programming Manager

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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.”

Artist Spotlight: Karim Nagi and “Arabiqa”

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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!

Thank You, Hampton Roads Community Foundation

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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.

And the Winners Are…

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We’re thrilled to announce the winners of our Artful Thanks contest. Arts for Learning is a statewide nonprofit organization, and our entries showed it–Midlothian, Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, Charlottesville, Manassas, Poquoson, Richmond, and many other cities and towns were represented, as creative kids from throughout the Commonwealth used their talents to say “thank you” to our essential workers.

Artwork by Braelyn Ruby Male of King GeorgeCongratulations to Braeley Ruby Male, a rising fourth-grader from King George,

Artwork by Charlise Brown of Chesapeakeand Charlise Brown, a rising sixth-grader from Chesapeake, the winners in the older elementary group.

Artwork by Anika Awar of HerndonCongratulations to Anika Awar, a rising second-grader from Herndon,

Artwork by Windsor Gordon of Virginia Beachand Windsor Gordon, a rising second-grader from Virginia Beach, who won in the younger elementary school category. Each student will receive a $25 Amazon gift card.

Thank you to all who entered. Our judges were astounded by the creativity and talent of the young artists of Virginia. We’ve compiled all the entries for you to watch on our Arts for Learning Virginia YouTube Channel.

A Salute to Teachers

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Anna Frassmann-Swadinsky works with studentsAs the end of this most unusual of school years comes to a close, we want to recognize the educators who are vital partners in our mission of arts-integrated education. Teachers have experienced challenges they never could have dreamed of, as they were forced to leave their classrooms and teach students via video technology.

Special education teachers have had extra challenges in connecting with their students when they can’t see them in person. Anna Frassmann-Swadinsky is a program specialist for Norfolk schools, but she also works as a teacher of deaf and hard-of-hearing students at Mary Calcott Elementary School. Her caseload includes a first-grader who is profoundly deaf and two third-graders—one is profoundly deaf but has a cochlear implant that allows access to sound and another who is hard of hearing. Frassmann-Swadinsky offers her students a weekly Zoom check-in, where they may read stories or do math problems together. But the normal techniques she uses when she teaches her students face-to-face, such as tapping on a desk to get their attention, don’t work on video.

“For my students who are deaf and hard of hearing, the biggest challenge is being able to engage them through video chat technology when you don’t have the ability to physically redirect their attention.”

Like many other teachers, Frassmann-Swadinsky is concerned about her students in this distance-learning environment.

I miss knowing that they’re okay. I worry about their mental health and being isolated.”

“I have one student who doesn’t have any siblings so she’s the only little girl in her house and doesn’t have anyone else to play with. I really worry about her,” Frassmann-Swadinsky says. “I miss being able to actually teach. I’m so terrified of how much we will have lost and where we’re going to start when we finally return to in-person class.”

Despite the challenges, Frassmann-Swadinsky has praise for families who are trying to educate under difficult circumstances, mentioning one family whose home-schooling includes fun science experiments and trips to places like the Norfolk Botanical Gardens. Still, just about every parent now has a greater appreciation for their children’s classroom teachers. Teachers may not be risking their lives during this pandemic, but they’re showing up every day for their students and facing unique challenges.Anna Frassman-Swadinsky

Every teacher is trying to find a creative way to keep their students engaged and learning and to remind them that we’re still there for them.”

“The idea of calling ourselves essential workers almost sounds arrogant, even though when you look at it from an abstract perspective, we are essential,” Frassmann-Swadinsky says. “You almost feel bad about saying it—‘Oh I’m not a doctor, I’m not a nurse, I’m not on the front line.’ But I am essential, because there are millions of kids in the United States that need to learn.”

Arts for Learning wants to salute hardworking essential workers in our state in the way we know best—through art. Children can draw, write a story or poem, play music, dance, or use any other art form they choose as a way to say “thank you” to our essential workers. Click here for full details of how to enter our Artful Thanks contest!