Hello everyone!
I completed my first
internship meeting and I am about to venture into the program. As a refresher..
my name is Michelle Salazar and I am working towards my MFA in Visual Arts -
Fibers. My internship is with the Allen Arts Alliance. I will be developing a
STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, math) camp pilot program for 5th
and 6th graders. It is a collaboration between the Allen Public Library and the
Arts Alliance. If it is successful they will use it as a template and build up
from it and expand age groups based on my recommendation report due August 10.
It's exciting because I get to put the Art in STEM and it is the first time
Allen has done this type of program. I have received assistance from the Onstead Institute at UNT along with
the recommendation to implement Design Thinking into my program.
I can design anything I
want so I plan to propose two options and the library board / advisory group
will vote on one. My proposal has to be finalized and ready for marketing by
the 19th so I have about four days to come up with something. I will teach the pilot with an assistant the last week of
July. In between I'll be doing project management.
When I am not working on
the STEAM project I will be revising the ART Sparks education program for Allen
ISD grades K-6. This is organized by Allen Arts Alliance and delivered by
volunteers who go to the classrooms. This will involve upgrading the
documentation and revising the volunteer education packet. I will also be
coming up with new ideas for incorporating objects/distance learning for
artwork and museum content.
Altogether I expect this to
be an amazing summer - full of new experiences. I had concerns and
questions about the way things were going with art education in my community
and am now in a position to affect the change I wanted to see! I have never
worked with a community art organization so I will gain a lot of insight. In my
perfect life post-MFA I see myself teaching fibers part time, traveling
to teach workshops, collaborating with the Onstead Institute,
working in Art / STEAM education in Allen and collaborative projects between
UNT and local museums. I believe this internship will be invaluable in working
towards those goals.
This is so exciting! I remember you talking about trying to get this all started and together last fall. I'm happy it all came together and you get to head this project! Good luck with this and I'm excited to hear how this goes for you!
ReplyDeleteWonderful, Michelle! This is going to be a tremendous summer. YOU are a change agent in your community!
ReplyDeleteI was just at a museums conference and there was a lot of talk about using design thinking in various aspects of museum work. I will be excited to see how you incorporate it into your work this summer.
As I read your post, I kept thinking "Artful Thinking!" I think that could be a really great technique that can be used with all of the letters of STEAM :) Carolyn Armbruster from the Crow Collection wrote about that connection here: http://talkstem.org/2016/01/11/stem-to-steam-artful-thinking/
I can't wait to see what you come up with!
This sounds really cool! I am super familiar with STEM because I was in a similar program in high school and my little brother is it right now at his school. It's awesome that you get to add the Art perspective into this, so I am excited to see where this goes! :)
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a really incredible project! Glad to see that there is a collaboration with the library as well, excited to hear how it all goes!
ReplyDeleteHI Michelle, I love that you have the opportunity to engage with your community and that they will benefit greatly from your expertise and dedication. Being able to make a difference in our communities and enriching our children's lives through art has endless benefits. I look forward to hearing about your pilot program for STEAM and also how that collaboration between the library and Arts Alliance went. I'd love to know more about the ART Sparks program. Best of luck with all your goals, I know you'll be a valuable asset to your community.
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