Friendship

This week our theme has been Friendship. When asked what friendship is the children responded that it was a celebration, sharing, playing, love, and being kind to each other. On Friday at 2 PM we will be having a Friendship parade to celebrate!

Guest Artists

This has been a rich and lively week. The children have immersed themselves in the world of jazz. They are humming a tisket-a-tasket, talking about Charlie Parker and the Cotton Club, and "skatting" like pros. They are true improvisors. We had some wonderful guests come in to share their music with us. Pyeng Threadgill is a professional jazz artist and voice teacher. She was instrumental in bringing this week to life. She shared her passion and understanding of jazz with all of us. Carolynn Murphy also joined us this week. Carolynn is multi-faceted. She is an environmental educator and a jazz artist. She brings all of her talents to share with YPT this summer. Celia Caro is the visual teaching artist who has worked with the children this week. Chances are you have heard about Celia. The children adore her. She brings our performance work to another level by giving the children interesting materials to create art with that deepen their exploration of the theme. All of us work collaboratively and discuss the needs of the individual children and the ensemble as a whole. Our mission is the same. We want to provide the children the tools to explore, connect, discover, express, and create.

Summer Arts Program Week 3: JAZZ AND POETRY

Teaching Artist Pyeng Threadgill conducts the A-train. Children put on their fancy threads and pack a picnic lunch and head down south to Mississippi and Louisiana to listen and feel the jazz of the early 20th century. Then they make their way back to Harlem, New York City and sizzle to Charlie "Bird" Parker on his sax.





Celia, our visual artist came in and talked to us about Kandinsky and how listening to Jazz inspired him to paint. He was an improvisor. The children created art in Kandinsky's style and listened to Jazz an made art. They used crayons, creamy crayons, water to create a wash with the creamy crayons, and finally water color. It was magnificent watching them work together and create discover new way to use the materials. They listed to Thelonious Monk, Tito Puente, Herbie Hancock, and Duke Ellington. Some expressed how their moods, feelings, and rhythms changed with the different music and how this affected how they drew or painted.