Freedom Arts & Education Center
Spring 2014 On-site Workshop
A Day of Art, Fun, Respect, and Freedom Arts' Mission at Clayton Community Church.
While hundreds of St. Louisans were attending the second largest Mardi Gras celebration across the country, there was another celebration happening at Clayton Community Church. On March 1st, Freedom Arts & Education Center was hosting our first on-site day of workshops of 2014. The day began with Andrew Gibson, the day’s Lead Mentor, teaching more than 20 Scholars a new Freedom Arts chant. The chant reinforces RESPECT between the Scholars, for the mentors, for the building, for the supplies, and for themselves.
Corey Williams taught our Scholars how to use creative writing to incorporate cultural identity into hip-hop during the Break Beat Scholars. Freedom Art Scholars utilized their creative writing skills and critical thinking as they turned spoken word poems into their own rhymes.
Scholars used found percussion items to make music during the Street Drumming workshop. Miles Dela Cruz taught rhythmic counting, improvisation, and how to play as a group while using paint buckets and drumsticks. Each Scholar had the chance to practice the musical concepts of pulse and unity while leading their group.
Beth Gibson met with Scholars to develop an organized profile for each child. Scholars were asked questions to gather information like birthdates and favorite subjects in school. Freedom Arts gathered this information to guide future workshop development and organizational growth.
Each Scholar was provided lunch through the Snacks for Scholars program. The Snacks for Scholars program was developed to ensure our Scholars eat a healthy meal while attending on-site workshops. Snacks for Scholars is a newly created program which deepens Freedom Arts’ impact by beginning to address Scholars’ needs in addition to arts education and academic enrichment. The meal was graciously donated by Sarah Anderson and Anne Daniels. The Freedom Arts & Education Center Leadership Team would like to thank Sarah and Anne for their generosity.
The day of workshops ended with two very special performances. Andrew wowed our Scholars with a Street Drumming performance. A few workshop attendees joined Andrew on stage and showed off their drumming skills. Thelonius Kryptonite followed Gibson by taking the stage and performing two tracks. Following his performance Thelonius gave voice to our Scholars’ rhymes written during Break Beat Scholars. The day of workshops ended with the Scholars reciting the Freedom Arts chant.
Freedom Arts & Education Center would like to thank the following individuals for their hard work during the day of workshops. Elisa Doty, Kirsten Doty and Jonathan Walz for being Group Leaders, Regina Doty and Reuben Doty for assisting in the kitchen and mentoring our Scholars, and Sandra Doty and Tanya Terbrock for making sure our Scholars made it home safely. Freedom Arts would also like to thank Clayton Community Church for allowing us to take over the church and giving us a temporary home. And finally we would like to thank each and every Freedom Arts & Education Center Scholar. Thank you for your hard work, and inspiring us to use our time, talents and treasures to do something special in your lives.
The next on-site day of workshops is scheduled on March 22nd and will begin at 5:00 pm. If you would like more information regarding the events for that day, or to find out ways to assist with the day’s workshops or the Snacks for Scholars program, please contact info@faecstl.org.
Freedom Arts & Education Center offers 30 mobile workshops perfect for any age group in any setting! Click here to learn how to book a Freedom Arts workshop.
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