Youth Arts Institute Free Classes and Programs
We believe that everyone is an artist.
We believe in offering a variety of classes in order to stimulate creativity and appeal to different learning styles.
We believe in allowing students an opportunity to identify with art in their own unique way.
We believe in making the arts accessible to everyone.
We believe in the art of collaboration and the importance of a final presentation to celebrate the achievement of goals and learning.
After-School Classes
Monday through Friday, 3:45PM-5:00PM
Charter Oak’s Youth Arts Institute is an exciting opportunity for students, ages 5-17 (grades PreK-12), to become involved in a variety of arts. Classes are free and include Visual Arts, Hip Hop & Breakdancing, Sign Language, Theatre, Music & Movement, Global Arts and MORE! Check out our blog!
Youth Arts Institute classes will take place at Charter Oak Cultural Center. Please see class descriptions for details. Registration is required, and space is limited. To register, click here (haga clic aquí para un formulario de inscripción en español), fill out the form and fax, mail or email it to us. To receive a brochure, registration form or for more information, please contact Sarah Thompson, Youth Arts Institute Coordinator, at sarah.thompson@charteroakcenter.org.
Youth Arts Schedule, Spring 2011:
MONDAYS:
Story Stretchers (PreK-2)
Poetry in Motion (3+)
TUESDAYS:
The Science of Art (PreK-2)
Choreodrama (3+)
WEDNESDAYS:
ASL & Art (PreK-2)
Theatre & Acting (3+)
THURSDAYS:
Yoga (PreK-2)
Ballroom Dance/Latin Dance (3+)
FRIDAYS:
Art Around the Globe (Prek-2)
Street Dance (3+)
BEFORE SCHOOL:
Wake Up With Yoga!
Tues. & Thurs., 7:45AM at NAYLOR SCHOOL
Through traditional yoga components, such as breathing and postures, and creative movements, children will be introduced to the art (and fun) of yoga. Parents, teachers and other adults are welcome to join! Call 860.249.1207 x 111 to register. Free.
In the event of snow, our after school programming will be cancelled according to Hartford Public Schools cancellations.
Charter Oak’s Youth Arts Institute is an exciting opportunity for students, ages 5-17, (PreK-grade 12) to become involved in a variety of arts. Classes are free. Please click here to see the full list of classes. To register, click here, fill out the form and fax, mail or email it to us. Once your completed registration form is received, we will call you to confirm. To receive a brochure, registration form or for more information, please contact Sarah Thompson, Youth Arts Institute Coordinator, at sarah.thompson@charteroakcenter.org or 860.249.1207 x111.
This program is funded in part with Community Development Block Grant funds allocated to Charter Oak Temple Restoration Assn, Inc. by the City of Hartford.
Charter Oak Youth Arts Institute
Clases Después de la Escuela- Lunes de Viernes, 3:45PM-5:00PM
Charter Oak’s Youth Arts Institute es una oportunidad emocionante para los estudiantes, las edades 5-17, (Pre-K-12 grado) a participar en una variedad de artes. Clases estan gratis. Por favor haga clic aquí para ver la lista completa de las clases. Para registrarse, haga clic aquí, llene el formulario y enviarlo por fax, correo o correo electrónico que nos. Una vez que su formulario de inscripción se recibe, se le llamará para confirmar. Para recibir un folleto, formulario de inscripción o para obtener más información, póngase en contacto con Sarah Thompson, Youth Arts Institute Coordinator, sarah.thompson@charteroakcenter.org.
Este programa es financiado en parte con fondos comunitarios de Subsidios Globales para el Desarrollo destinados a la restauración del Templo de Charter Oak Asociación, Inc. por la Ciudad de Hartford.
Stretching for Life
Mondays, Level 1 (Pre K – Grade 3) 3:15 p.m.-5:00 p.m.
Mondays, Level 2 (Grades 4-6) 5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Mondays, Student Ensemble 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Tuesdays, Level 1 (Pre K – Grade 3) 3:15 p.m.-5:00 p.m.
Tuesdays, Level 2 (Grades 4-6) 5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Wednesdays, Level 2 (Grades 4-6) 3:15 p.m.-5:00 p.m.
Wednesdays, Spectrum Too 5:30 p.m. -8:30 p.m.
Saturdays, Student Ensemble 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Saturdays, Spectrum Too 2:00-4:00A class for movers and shakers, ages 4 through 94, with master choreographer, Olivia Davis, and company members of Spectrum in Motion Dance Theatre Ensemble, Charter Oak’s resident dance troupe.
During-School Classes
Arts for All
Spring and Fall 2011
As part of our Youth Arts Institute, and in Partnership with Young Audiences Arts for Learning Connecticut, Charter Oak presents Arts for All. Arts for All is the umbrella term for the following two new inclusive arts programs:
• Sharing the Spotlight is an inclusive theatre arts experience for children, ages 10-19, with out without disabilities, and specifically for children with autism. The program will run for 10 weeks, and will include lessons in movement, story-telling, prop-making, and basic acting exercises.
• Shared Ability Dance is dance that is inclusive of dancers with disabilities, designed for students ages 10-19. The dancers share their skills in the creation of choreography. This field has also been called “inclusive dance,” “integrated dance,” and “wheelchair dance,” and has a thirty-plus year history, with many fine inclusive dance companies throughout the United States and the world combining dancers with and without disabilities to create beautiful and moving dances.
To receive more information about these classes please contact Katie Hanley, at Katie.hanley@charteroakcenter.org. This program is made possible by the MetLife Foundation, VSA The International Organization on Arts and Disability, and the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, which also receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
Before-School Classes
Charter Oak Cultural Center offers before school yoga for the students at Naylor School. These classes introduce yoga to the students, incorporating the more traditional components (breathing and postures) with some games and creative movement.
The goal is to introduce the kids to ways to quiet their minds and bodies, to stretch and get some physical activity, and to have fun!
Evening Programs
Read It and Sleep
Once a month, come to a community pajama party where hot chocolate and cookies will be served and a beautiful children’s book will be read by a guest reader. Some past books that have been read at Read It and Sleep are:
January- Mr. Peabody’s Apples by Madonna
February- Wings: A Tale of Two Chickens by James Marshall
April- Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
May- The Paper Bag Princess by Robert N. Munsch
June- The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
Once a month, come to a community pajama party where hot chocolate and cookies will be served and a beautiful children’s book will be read by a guest reader.Some past books that have been read at Read It and Sleep are:January- Mr. Peabody’s Apples by MadonnaFebruary- Wings: A Tale of Two Chickens by James MarshallApril- Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett JohnsonMay- The Paper Bag Princess by Robert N. MunschJune- The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
Check the Learn and Community Involvement pages for details about upcoming Read It and Sleep events.
Read It and Sleep is sponsored in part by Target
Jazz in the Pocket
There are so many gifted high-school jazz musicians in the Greater Hartford area but there are few places where these young musicians can gather and jam with their peers. Charter Oak is proud to provide a safe, alcohol-free space for these burgeoning artists to explore their music together. Charter Oak opens its doors and its magnificent sanctuary to host a jam session facilitated by one of the area high school jazz departments to whom a stipend is given. Jazz in the Pocket, the only program of its kind in the state, supports and encourages young musicians to excellence.
Music at Charter Oak is generously sponsored by Steven Konover.
See the Music page for details about the next Jazz in the Pocket.
Summer Programs
Putting Down Roots in Hartford
Charter Oak’s commitments to ending hunger in Hartford and to providing a safe and nurturing environment to the children in our neighborhood led to the creation of Putting Down Roots in Hartford, a program that welcomes children, free of charge, to participate in creating, maintaining and harvesting organic vegetables from the gardens in our courtyard.
Putting Down Roots in Hartford
Mondays-Fridays, 9am-12:30pm
July 6-Aug 20
An exciting, six-week summer youth gardening program for Hartford kids, age 7-13. The program is FREE and kids will learn how to tend to a garden, nurture plants and vegetables, and produce their own food. The food grown by participants will be distributed to their families and neighbors.
Yoga
Tuesdays, 12:30pm-2pm, July 6-Aug 20
Charter Oak Cultural Center will have yoga for the children for 6 weeks in the summer as an extended day option for kids age 7-13. These classes introduce yoga to the students, incorporating the more traditional components (breathing and postures) with some games and creative movement. The goal is to introduce the kids to ways to quiet their minds and bodies, to stretch and get some physical activity, and to have fun!
Hip Hop Workshop
Wednesdays, 12:30-2pm, July 6-Aug 20
This is a once-a-week extended day option for children ages 7-13. Children will explore spoken word, creative writing, graffiti art and more!
Wadsworth Workshop
Fridays, 12:30-3:00pm, July 9-July 30
This is a once-a-week extended day option for children ages 9-13. Children will take a once-a-week field trip to the Wadsworth Atheneum to explore various artwork and then create a project in response to what they viewed in the museum.
For more information or to register, please email Sarah Thompson at sarah.thompson@charteroakcenter.org or call 860.249.1207 x111
Check the Learn page for information about this program.
Instruments of Culture
Instruments of Culture is a six week summer modern dance intensive for young people ages 4-18 to develop dance and movement skills. Olivia Davis, Artistic Director of Spectrum in Motion Dance Theater Ensemble, provides a core group of 10 to 12 Greater Hartford Arts Council’s Neighborhood Studios teen apprentices with the leadership-building opportunity to be mentors for younger members of program. The program culminates in an original production based on a children’s story. The Neighborhood Studios apprentices will be immersed in their own age-appropriate and level-appropriate studio work in dance, but also be part of a team that helps guide younger children.
Neighborhood Studios Application (Greater Hartford Arts Council website)
For more information, visit Spectrum in Motion’s website or check the Learn page in late spring.Free Classes and Programs for Young People
We believe that everyone is an artist.
We believe in offering a variety of classes in order to stimulate creativity and appeal to different learning styles.
We believe in allowing students an opportunity to identify with art in their own unique way.
We believe in making the arts accessible to everyone.
We believe in the art of collaboration and the importance of a final presentation to celebrate the achievement of goals and learning.
Our Youth Arts Institute serves over 1,000 of Hartford’s inner-city children with completely free before-school, during-school, after-school, weekend and summer arts and literacy-based programming as well as free nutritious meals and snacks. Our Youth Arts Institute classes offer a wide variety of experiences in the arts that allow students the opportunity to experiment and find a medium that speaks to them. Many of our class offerings blend one or more discipline in the arts, allowing the students to benefit from a hybrid of mediums and techniques. Our programs focus on how the arts relate to other subjects such as reading, writing, science and math which sharpens their skills in all of these subjects. By creating a positive association with learning through fun, creative activities, the students readily integrate what they learn into their daily lives.
Charter Oak’s Youth Arts Institute is an exciting opportunity for students to become involved in a variety of arts. Classes are FREE and include visual arts, music, dance and theatre! Youth Arts Institute classes will take place at Charter Oak Cultural Center. Please call 860.249.1207 for class descriptions and our current class schedule.
Our Youth Arts Institute offerings include:
- Before and After-School Classes at Charter Oak and other locations
- Shared Ability Dance – an inclusive dance class for students at Bulkeley High School
- Read It and Sleep, a monthly event for neighborhood children and their families to enjoy snacks, hear a bedtime story and take home a free a copy of the book
- Putting Down Roots in Hartford, a summer program that allows students to plan, create, plant, maintain and harvest an organic garden. The curriculum includes the arts, nutrition, science, math and reading. Our greenhouse and the gardens–in three locations throughout the city– provide fresh vegetables for the children, their families and the community
- Wadsworth Workshops, where students to explore exhibits at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art then create their own artwork in response to what they viewed
- Dinner and a Movie, an opportunity for young people and their families to enjoy a free meal and a film outdoors in our garden. The films we select are based on popular books and we provide each family with a free copy of that book
Registration is required, and space is limited.
SPONSORS:
Our Youth Arts Institute is funded in part by
Beatrice Fox Auerbach Foundation Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving
Aetna
Alexander A. Goldfarb Memorial Trust
Bank of America
The Barnes Foundation, Inc.
J. Walton Bissell Foundation, Inc.
The Common Sense Fund, Inc.
City of Hartford: Community Development Block Grant funds allocated to Charter Oak Temple Restoration Association, Inc.
The Frederick A. DeLuca Foundation, Inc.
The First Church of Christ in Hartford
Fisher Foundation
The Fund for Greater Hartford
Ellis A. Gimbel Trust
Harry E. Goldfarb Family Foundation Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving
The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc.
Hartford Foundation for Public Giving
Mabel F. Hoffman Charitable Trust
S. A. Johnson Family Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving
LEGO Children’s Fund
Lincoln Financial Group Foundation
The George A. & Grace L. Long Foundation
Joyce and Andrew Mandell
William and Alice Mortensen Foundation
NewAlliance Foundation
Charles Nelson Robinson Fund
The Joseph S. Stackpole Charitable Trust
Travelers
Wireless Zone Foundation
We are proud to be the training partner of:
National Inclusion Project
(updated 05/16/13)
