NEW CANAAN, CT, Feb. 2, 2024—Through a partnership with Silvermine Arts Center, the Newfield Branch Library is currently showcasing an impressive display of self-portraits and poetry created by third graders at Dunbar School in Bridgeport. The works on view are part of a literacy and visual arts program designed to inspire young students to celebrate each other. To celebrate Black History Month, the library is hosting the exhibition through February, and the public is invited to visit the Newfield Branch at 755 Central Avenue in Bridgeport.
Through a special SEL-infused curriculum (social and emotional learning), Silvermine Teaching Artists engaged with Dunbar School classroom teachers to facilitate lessons in poetry and art. With sequential lessons over five days, the students studied the proportions of the head and the anatomy of the eye. They became acquainted with algebra as they learned to mix different paint colors to create the individual skin tones used in their portraits. Through direct observations, the young students gained an understanding of what makes each of them unique. The program included a four-day poetry residency which focused on writing reflective poems to complement the self-portraits. Students studied “Hold Fast to Dreams” by Langston Hughes and explored the life of poet Paul Laurence Dunbar for whom their school is named. The resulting “I am” poems allowed each child to learn how their written words can become a parallel form of expression to their fine-art creations.
Dunbar School third graders will have the chance to view their work on display via a field trip to the newly renovated Newfield Library, which is adjacent to the school. Silvermine Coordinator of Outreach Education Missy Savard shared her excitement upon seeing the exhibit, “Much gratitude goes to the Newfield Branch Library for sharing this thoughtful exhibition honoring the Dunbar School third graders and their outstanding work. By making the exhibition possible, the library has afforded us all a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the children’s hopes and dreams so thoughtfully shared in their stunning artwork and eloquent prose!”
Silvermine Arts Center deepens and broadens its relevance to its partners by providing curriculum-based arts education for under-resourced public schools in Bridgeport, Norwalk, and Stamford. Serving over 2,000 at-risk urban youth annually, Art Partners Outreach helps to close Connecticut’s educational achievement gap—one of the largest in the nation—by providing access to the arts and unique enrichment programs designed specifically to target critical student needs. Silvermine programs have a proven track record of fully engaging students in the advancement of critical thinking, problem solving, and collaboration competences, supporting better academic achievement and life skills.
Art Partners Outreach Education programs are made possible by generous support from Hearst Foundation, Connecticut Health and Educational Facilities Authority, National Endowment for the Arts, Cornelia T Bailey Foundation, Bedford Family Social Responsibility Fund, Maurice Goodman Foundation, United Way of Coastal and Western Connecticut, The George & Grace Long Foundation, and others.
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