Young Artists at Centrum

Centrum needs your help

Dear Centrum supporter and arts education advocate:

We urgently need your help.

For 37 years, Centrum has provided tens of thousands of Washington students life changing experiences through arts programs at Fort Worden State Park.  During this time, Centrum has received partial state funding ($170,000 per year) for these programs through the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI).   Even with the need to reduce Washington's state budget, both Governor Gregoire and the Senate understand the value of Centrum youth programs and have kept Centrum in their respective 2010 and 2011 OSPI budgets.

Unfortunately, Washington's House of Representatives has removed Centrum funding from its version of the budget. The loss of this funding would result not only in the termination of these valuable education programs, but would also seriously threaten Centrum's future as one of Washington's leading cultural institutions.

As well, these programs provide substantial income for the State through additional park fees.  During the last biennium (two year) budget cycle, Centrum paid the State $1.2 million in park fees through its programs.

If you or your children, or someone you know have benefited from Centrum's programs, we ask that you take a couple of minutes to send an email or make a phone call (ideally both) to your Washington House representatives.  It's easy; just follow the links and the steps outlined below.

Thank you for your consideration and for your support.

Sincerely,

John A. MacElwee

Executive Director
Centrum

   1. Link on to  Find Your Legislator (link provided below)
   2. Enter your address or  zip code
   3. Select your representative
   4. Click on email  (you may also want to take down their phone number)
   5. You will need to reconfirm your address or zip code
   6. Enter your contact information
   7. Check if you would like a response (recommended)
   8. Check if you would like to cc other legislators in your district (recommended)
   9. In the subject line please write:
      Please Reinstate Centrum Funding in House Budgets for 2010 and 2011
  10. Type your note in the comment section (sample provided below)

    BIG BONUS: Follow up your email with a phone call

FIND YOUR LEGISLATOR

SUGGESTED NOTE:

Dear Representative (Last Name):

I am writing to ask you to reinstate funding for Centrum's youth programs at Fort Worden State Park in section 511 of the House budgets for 2010 and 2011 as its appears in both the Senate's and Governor's budgets.

For 37 years, Centrum has provided tens of thousands of Washington students "life changing" experiences through the arts during residencies at the Park.

(Personally, Centrum has offered (me, my child, our community) the chance....)

(I feel strongly about Centrum because....)

Thank you for your consideration.

(Your name)

Join us at Water World

Program Manager Martha Worthley describes Water World, our program in art and marine science for elementary school students in grades 5-6, presented in partnership with the Port Townsend Marine Science Center.

News Report on Orcas Passing by Fort Worden

Anchor Dennis Bounds of Seattle's KING 5 television said, "This most recent visit was first reported by a volunteer at the Port Townsend Marine [Science] Center who was letting a visiting class of third graders listen to some hydrophones when they suddenly heard dozens of approaching
orcas." Click image to go to KING 5 video.

Centrum and the Port Townsend Marine Science Center are presenting Water World  - a workshop in art and marine science for 5th and 6th graders from throughout Washington state in April.

...and if you are fascinated by orcas and are a student age 10-12, there is no better place to learn about them than here at Fort Worden. We'll be presenting WHALE CAMP in August, with special emphasis on orcas and gray whales.

Space is still available in both workshops. For more information, contact Martha Worthley at 360-385-3102 or email her at martha@centrum.org.

Starting with the Natural World

The artist Darwin Nordin has spent virtually his entire life at the edge of water. From the Great Lakes to the ocean, Dawin has found inspiration and work fishing, bird-watching, practicing biology, and doing laboratory work, Darwin brings his love of the natural world and scientific inquiry to his work as a visual artist.

Darwin's embodiment of both art and science is why we asked him to be one of the artist faculty for our Water World workshop for 5th and 6th graders in April.

"Darwin is incredibly versatile as a visual artist," says program manager Martha Worthley. "He starts with the natural world in all of his work. From there, he layers imagery in very interesting ways. Maybe it's the echo of bug casings, or perhaps the shape of a leaf--it's all very interesting and incredibly beautiful."

Darwin has worked collaboratively with poets, writers, actors, dancers, filmmakers and set designers. He has facilitated the creation of large, mixed-media artwork for organizations like The Children’s Museum, Port of Seattle, Pacific Northwest Ballet and the Museum of Glass. His integrated approach to art and learning has led to work as an arts integration consultant, and he provides professional development to teachers and teaching artists. He has taught for Washington State Arts Commission, Powerful Schools, Gage Academy of Art, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and is an adjunct instructor for Lesley University in Cambridge, MA.

Space is still available in our Water World workshop. For more information, contact Martha Worthley at 360-385-3102 x 120, or email her at martha@centrum.org

What If?

The writer Nisi Shawl is one of the artist faculty for our Water World workshop for 5th and 6th graders in April. One can really get a sense of the common creative spirit that links science and artmaking by looking at Nisi's work and how she encourages young learners.

"Nisi is fascinated by science and relishes taking ordinary phenomena and asking the simplest of questions 'What if?' , says program manager Martha Worthley.

Indeed, that simple question helps students take the world they know, and encourages them to reframe it--to play with the observations and connections that surround them. That small shift in perception is a hallmark of great scientific inquiry as well as bold artmaking.

Nisi's most recent short story collection Filter House (Aqueduct Press) was chosen one the Best Books of 2008 by Publishers Weekly magazine. It contains three previously unpublished stories and eleven reprints, plus an introduction by Nebula Award-winner Eileen Gunn. In an interview with Jesse Vernon, Nisi describes how she came up with the title for the collection, a process that illustrates her own "What if" journey:

I like ocean things, I like marine biology [and] I enjoy anything oceanic. I found this article about appendicularia and was reading about them and then looked at other articles on the web and found out about filter houses. They are so, so gorgeous. They are so beautiful. And I was just really attracted to the idea of something that was so ephemeral and beautiful.

So [a filter house] is sort of like an underwater, 3-D spiderweb that [appendicularia] use to trap food. They are filter feeders but they build these filters outside their body that last for about two or three hours, until the appendicularia outgrows it or they become clogged, useless. Then they release them and they drift down to the lower levels of the ocean. If you’ve read about anything in marine ecology, you’ve heard about “marine snow” – all the lower levels of life subsist on [it]; that’s the basic element of their ecology. So [discarded filter houses are] a large component of marine snow. [I liked] the idea that it was something so basic, too.

I wanted to have the title of the collection not be a story and I wanted it to be the sort of combination of words that would make people think, “Well, what is that?” I also was drawn by this idea that the structure of the short story collection is ephemeral, that it’s made up of other elements that are brought together in this moment – because they are so short, short stories are sort of ephemeral too.

Water World Scholarship Deadline Approaching

A quick note to those of you planning on attending our elementary school Water World program, April 13-18, 2009.

We have scholarship funds available to assist students who need help attending. The application deadline for accessing those scholarships is February 27, 2009. Visit our scholarship page for complete information.

CHAPERONES!

Chaperones are a vital part of Centrum's middle school and elementary programs. We appreciate the effort and commitment it takes to come to Centrum with a group of kids. THANK YOU! We also want you to have a great time while you are here.

To help you understand your role, what is expected and how it all works, we have a chaperone packet that you can download and print at http://www.centrum.org/admin/files/ChaperonePacket.pdf

One of the things that we ask is that there be no more than 2 people who switch duties during the week for a group of students. We understand this is difficult to do, considering the time crunch working parents experience these days. We have learned that less switching of chaperones works best for the program.

Young Artists' Slideshow

As we tour schools throughout the state, we show a brief slideshow that gives a flavor of what the experience at Centrum is like. We thought you might like it as well.


[Video slideshow showcasing Centrum's Young Artist Project]

Registration Open for Youth Workshops

At Centrum, we believe in the power of art to ignite, connect, and transform communities.

For more than 35 years, Centrum--in partnership with the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction--has worked with accomplished, professional artists to inspire and challenge young artists at Fort Worden State Park in Port Townsend.

We're pleased to announce that our 2009 workshops for young artists are now open for registration. Look on the top right of this page for the workshop of your choice, and then register online, or call us at 360-385-3102 for assistance.

Centrum's youth workshops provide a completely hands-on experience outside the traditional classroom for students throughout Washington in grades 5-12. The unique setting and scope of each week:

• Challenges students to strengthen both artistic techniques and critical thinking skills
• Exposes students to the work of accomplished, professional artists
• Enables students to accelerate their artistic development
• Provides hands-on teacher training alongside student learning
• Helps school districts around the state achieve their learning objectives

Centrum's youth workshops are led by Northwest artists whose work is at the center of the most vital cultural conversations happening in this region.

2009 Workshop Schedule Posted

Here at Centrum, we're busy putting together our 2009 workshops for young artists. We'll be posting complete information and opening online registration soon, but we wanted to get our 2009 schedule up on the web to help students, parents, and educators block out time to participate in these amazing weeks here at Fort Worden State Park in Port Townsend. Centrum's youth workshops are produced in partnership with Washington's Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

View the 2009 schedule.