An Update for Contributing Members and Friends of The ARTery

“To enrich our community by providing quality educational experiences in the literary, visual and performing arts, with a commitment to outreach.”

Barb Farho, Executive DirectorMarian Fey, Artistic Director

After seeing the hit documentary “Mad Hot Ballroom” at a local theater last summer, The ARTery’s artistic director, Marian Fey, immediately knew the famed New York City Dancing Classrooms program was a perfect fit for The ARTery. As luck would have it, Fey already had a trip to New York City planned and arranged to meet with Dancing Classrooms founder and artistic director of American Ballroom Theater, Pierre Dulaine. The Dancing Classrooms program is designed to incorporate ballroom dancing instruction into the school day. Students meet twice a week for 10 weeks and learn not only the merengue, rumba, tango, fox trot, polka, swing, and waltz, but also the valuable life lessons of teamwork and respect for others. Math and Social Studies skills are also sharpened as students master mathematical patterns and learn facts about the countries where each dance originated. Of course, music and physical education are also part of the experience. Several months of planning, contract negotiations, and numerous meetings with Omaha Public Schools, an independent donor, and The ARTery’s board, led to Dulaine’s arrival in Omaha. For a full weekend in January, teaching artists hired by The ARTery received personal instruction from Dulaine. Additional meetings and training sessions with the teaching artists followed, but the basics of teaching the program and what makes it successful were learned at the training session with Dulaine. The New York City program was launched in 1994 and now reaches approximately 8,000 students in nearly 70 schools. Chicago was the next city to become licensed to offer the program, followed by Omaha! And the list keeps growing perhaps due to additional notoriety resulting from the April 2006 release of the movie “Take the Lead,” a film about Dulaine’s life portrayed by Antonio Banderas. Dancing Classrooms in Omaha began as a pilot program for fifth graders in four Omaha Public Schools: Belvedere, Catlin, Fontenelle and Liberty. A total of 13 classrooms and approximately 325 students participated. Classes started the beginning of January and culminated in April with showcase events at each of the four schools followed by a district showcase with representatives from each school. Evaluation of the program is somewhat subjective; however, a lot could be gleaned from the faces of the children dancing at the

showcase events. Smiles and an unmistakable show of confidence and self-esteem prevailed. When students were asked to express the most important thing they learned, answers reflect some of the reasons this program is so successful: “Respect other people.” “Never give up.” “To not judge others.” “That it doesn’t matter if you mess up. Get up and keep going.” “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” “That you can achieve more.”

Teachers participating in the program were also asked to complete an evaluation. The majority agreed that student behavior was more manageable and respect between students developed or grew throughout the program. One teacher said, “The dynamics of my classroom completely changed starting the second week of dancing. The students were more respectful of each other and they bonded. Students that had trouble making friends, now have close friends. I have a student that is autistic and would never speak to more than one person at a time. He not only has given three classroom presentations, he danced at the districts!”

The ARTery Steps Out to Bring Dancing Classrooms to Omaha

(continued on page 2)

ARTERYTHE

Fall 2006

Join us for our fundraiser!Friday, October 6th at The Image Arts Building2626 Harney • 6:00 to 9:00 PM

Watch the mail for your invitation!

There is much talk these days about creativity. Why does one person seem more creative than another? How does one increase his or her creative potential? Is creativity influenced by socio-economic factors? While we are all forming and validating our theories regarding these matters, the ARTery seeks to inspire, connect, and support creativity in our community. In these formative years, the ARTery has collaborated with Camp Fire and scouting programs, Omaha Public Schools, and Mad Science to name a few. We’ve also brought the acclaimed “Dancing Classrooms” program from New York to our community. Anyone fortunate enough to witness the culminating event for this year’s Dancing Classrooms program saw a glimpse of our vision – that art is for everyone; that instruction in the arts helps remove cultural barriers; that critical thinking, interpersonal

The ARTery inspires creativity in the community.

communication, and empowerment increase through exposure to the arts; and that as a result, our community’s strength is directly and positively influenced. Thank you for supporting The ARTery: for our wonderful instructors, students, benefactors and well-wishers. Thank you in advance for your continued support – we’re counting on you and need your help in a variety of ways: through volunteerism at the program, administrative, or board level and through your generosity.

Matt OberstPresident of the Board

ARTERYTHE

3722 Dewey AvenueOmaha, NE 68105

If I could sum up The ARTery’s first eighteen months into just two words they would be “community” and “partnership.” The support of our Omaha community has been great and generous as we have worked to share the arts with our students. Our community partners include Camp Fire USA, Girls Inc, the Girl Scouts, and the Omaha Public Schools, and more. Good company to keep! Dancing Classrooms, The ARTery’s biggest program to date, took off in January. Thanks to a generous gift we were able to bring the Dancing Classrooms program to four Omaha Public Schools. Preparation included bringing Pierre Dulaine, Artistic Director of American Ballroom Theater in New York City and creator of Dancing Classrooms, to Omaha where he trained our Teaching Artists. After training, the Teaching Artist’s worked for ten weeks in the schools where they taught ballroom and Latin dance to fifth graders. We celebrated the successful culmination of the program in a Showcase held in April at the Omaha Public Schools’ TAC building. Dancing Classrooms and its effect on children have been documented in the movie Mad Hot Ballroom now available on DVD.

Community and Partnership: Two words that sum up our first 18 months.

Marian FeyArtistic Director

We have continued to hold art, dance and juggling classes after school through Camp Fire at Jackson, Liberty, and Castelar Elementary Schools. These programs ranged from beginners to more advanced, pre-kindergarten to sixth grade. Our jugglers, through the leadership of teacher Jek Kelly, plan to move their club to Columbus Park Community Center this fall where students can train to become a performing juggling troupe. Many thanks to Camp Fire for their support of this growing program! Last summer Mary Gibilisco enjoyed working with our Girls Inc. campers so much that she went back to teach a six week art class this winter. The Girl Scouts invited Jek to come and teach juggling at two of their camps this summer. The ARTery also held several Girl Scout badge workshops throughout the year. A Midwest Mardi Gras visited The ARTery this year as music teacher Jenni Wallace led a group of strings students in the art of Cajun and Zydeco music. We continued this theme into our summer camp where campers learned the Cajun two-step, how to make a “stained glass” magnolia, and where we partnered with Mad Science for a full week of the art and science of Louisiana! We kicked off our 2006-07 theme with an informance at Babe Gomez Heritage Elementary. Summer School students do-si-doed around the gym as we learned the art of folk dances brought to Nebraska by immigrants the past 150 years. Opportunities to learn these dances as well as to create your own Nebraska folk art are available at the Benson Community Center this fall. Strings students will learn traditional American folk music at fiddle clubs and beginning juggling is always looking for new students.

During the summer of 2004, Marian Fey, The ARTery’s artistic director, presented her idea of an arts education organization to me. By January of 2005, we had a name for the organization, a board of directors in place, and were hosting a grassroots fundraiser. Fast forward to today and it’s hard to believe that The ARTery has accomplished so much in such a short time! We have held numerous camps, classes and workshops and facilitated the Dancing Classrooms program, bringing the arts to hundreds of kids. Our Dancing Classrooms program, licensed to The ARTery by American Ballroom Theater in New York City, was by far

Yet another said, “The students improved in their manners and in the way that boys treated girls. It was an activity where all students could participate. Students that were academically slower could find success in dancing. Dancing helped the students to be more disciplined in listening and following directions.”

The ARTery Steps Out to Bring Dancing Classrooms to Omaha(continued from page 1)

Statements like these reinforce The ARTery’s premise that instruction in the arts helps remove cultural barriers, leads to better critical thinking and communicating, empowers individuals, and is directly related to the strength of a community. The ARTery is moving forward with plans to continue and expand the program and appreciates the continued support of the community.

The ARTery’s First 18 Months is a FAST Forward From Inception – Thanks to Your Support!

our largest and most visible project, however, other smaller programs had big impact, helped by our on-going relationships with other organizations like the Omaha Public Schools, Camp Fire USA, Girls Inc., Girl Scouts Great Plains Council, and Boy Scouts Mid-America Council. Reaching people through art – that’s what we’re all about. At The ARTery, we believe art is for everyone. Continual effort to secure grants and other funding sources allows us to meet our mission, “To enrich our community by providing quality educational experiences in the literary, visual and performing arts, with a commitment to outreach.” We truly appreciate the support, financial and otherwise, received by the community and look forward to your continued support! Please join us for our upcoming fundraiser on Friday, October 6. Watch your mail for details and a formal invitation.

Barb FarhoExecutive Director

Thank you very much to the following organizations who gave the ARTery grants:• Omaha Venture Group – 2005 Summer programs• Edward & Mary Lee Fitzsimmons – 2006 Summer Camp Scholarships

Special thanks to partnering organizations: • Camp Fire USA• Girls Inc.• Omaha Public Schools• Girls Scouts Great Plains Council• Boy Scouts Mid-America Council• The National Parks Service

Special Thanks to the following individuals/organizations for their donations:

• Pizza Hut, 50th and Underwood, donation of six pizzas for kids in Jek’s juggling class at Jackson Elementary.• No Frills, 820 North Saddle Creek Road, food certificate for Dancing Classrooms showcase reception.• Mark Kresl, discounted photography services for Dancing Classrooms showcase event.• Carol McBryant, In-kind donation of lumber, creative ability, and time to build a float for The ARTery.• Mark Goodrich, In-kind donation of lumber for The ARTery’s float.

Financial Donors since last newsletter:

Richard and Maureen AnderlDr. John MackielFirst National Giving CircleMary CampbellLuanne NelsonDon and Shelley EriksonSam and Jenny PfeiferCheryl Roche in the name of The Perry Wiseman Family, The Mark Rath Family, and the Tom Fisher FamilyDon and Jan RiggenbachDavid and Laura FeyMatt and Nancy OberstJudy and Skip BlazekBarb and Jim FarhoElizabeth AndrewsWinston and Carolyn BaldwinWendy Wiseman Gustafson

To give to The ARTery or find out how to teach, take a class or volunteer, contact The ARTery at

www.ArteryOmaha.org or 556-7608

Dancing Classroom trivia:• Dance the kids liked most: Swing

• Dance the kids liked least: Waltz

• Dance most difficult to learn: Waltz

Percentage of 5th graders who think fifth graders should do Dancing Classrooms again next year: 85% however some of the kids who disagreed said it was because they wanted to participate again!

THE ARTERY IS A 501(C)(3) ORGANIZATION. DONATIONS ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE.

B O A R D M E M B E R S

President: Matt OberstVice President: Judy BlazekTreasurer: Wendy WisemanSecretary: Christian Burk