SMARTS Arts in Non-Arts Spaces
Discover an artist at work in a place you wouldn’t expect! All SMARTS Teachers come to SMARTS as artists and receive training to teach their art while also earning income as working artists. Some own ceramics studios, perform and record original music, dance for companies, act in community theater, and have published books. In this program, SMARTS Teachers will come to your school or organization as an artist and will demonstrate their art live in a place students wouldn’t expect. The purpose of this program is to expose students to careers in the arts, see an artist at work live, have an opportunity to ask them questions about their art, and to learn about SMARTS free public classes.
During the demonstration, the teacher may be visited by classrooms of students and teachers, administrators, students passing by in the hallway, or eating lunch. The school or organization will choose the location(s) where the arts demonstration will take place. The artist will be prepared to answer questions about SMARTS, what it means to be an artist, and their own career as an artist. Students will be invited to complete a SMARTS application to take free classes after school and on Saturday mornings at SMARTS in visual art, music, dance, theater, and creative writing by visiting www.smartsartschool.org/classes. This is a demonstration of art-making, this is not a performance.
SMARTS AINS Highlights
Example SMARTS AINS Demonstrations
Visual Art
Ceramicist working on a potter's wheel in the cafeteria during lunch
A painter in the hallway.
A textile artist displaying the dyeing process of creating fabric designs in several classrooms.
Music
A cellist welcoming students as they arrive to school.
A guitarist practicing for an upcoming performance in the cafeteria.
A vocalist singing warm-ups and a song in several classrooms.
Dance
A ballet dancer surprising students in classrooms and showing students how ballet shoes work.
A hip hop dancer inviting students to dance during lunch time.
A tap dancer greeting students as they leave for the school day.
Theater
A theater artist acting a monologue in classrooms and inviting students to make sound effects to the emotions.
A scene demonstration during lunch in costume.
Creative Writing
A poet reading for students on microphone in the cafeteria.
A fiction or nonfiction writer explaining how they begin writing a story or essay in several classrooms.
Partner with SMARTS!
Contact SMARTS President Becky Keck, bkeck@SmartsArtSchool.org, to inquire about professional developments for teachers, Artists-in-Residence, or having a SMARTS teaching artist at your school all year with SMARTS programming.
About Us
SMARTS, Students Motivated by the Arts, is a community art school that provides classes in visual arts, music, dance, theater, and creative writing for our region's PK-12 youth with a focus on underserved populations.
Address: 25 East Boardman Street, First Floor, Youngstown, Ohio 44503
Phone: 330-574-2787
Email: info@SmartsArtSchool.org
Our Services
SMARTS hires and prepares community teaching artists with professional training and oversight so that they can provide quality arts-focused teaching and learning with lesson plans that follow state standards. Since 1997, SMARTS classes have been free and open to the public and all students are accepted through a simple application process.