How stARTSomething Invests Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Gifts To Transform Our Schools-BIG and SMALL.

As we near the end end of year, your company may be looking for options to donate their Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) gifts. I wanted to share with you how those gifts enable stARTsomething Arts In Education to transform our schools through artist residencies.

THE BIG 

Talented multi-media artist Justin Ayala and the supportive staff at West York High School came together in a 65-day artist residency to create a mobile mosaic mural embedded with technology-the first of its kind.  Almost 1,000 students and 90 faculty members used content from 14 classroom disciplines and 16 different art forms to design, construct and execute the mobile mosaics and the digital content.

THE SMALL

Andrew Steed, gifted storyteller and teaching artist, joined the Central York High School student journalist team for a 10-day residency. The student writers were stuck, rigid, in their approach to  newswriting.

As Andrew led them through highly untraditional exercises, the students brainstormed new strategies to make the formerly “ho hum” school paper into a more interactive platform.  Students abandoned their traditional news gathering techniques and experimented with new ways of thinking/ writing.  After ten days, the paper added several new sections and the students reported new attitudes. “He was inspirational. He put a positive twist on everything—even some of our concerns,” said senior Prowler editor, Kayla Smith. “He helped us open our minds—not just with the newspaper, but with life in general,” said public relations editor Jordan Nittinger.   

EITC gifts enable us to make this difference in students’ lives – whether they are BIG or SMALL. Please donate your end of year EITC gifts to the Cultural Alliance of York County and its stARTsomething Arts In Education program!
 

Create Community

While I am excited to announce our 14th annual campaign "Create Community" I am even more excited that Joe Crosswhite and George Hodges are chairing it.  Their enthusiasm and strategies have energized us AGAIN.

We have a public community celebration on January 15 at 6:00PM at the Strand.  Our partners will be there and our Creative Impact Award winners from last year and this year (hint hint we will announce them from the stage).  It will be a true celebration of how far we have come in 14 years.  Not only are we still raising money and in-kind services for our partners, but we've expanded to designing the Creative Impact Awards that serves any artist, arts organization, or non-arts organization with a creative project throughout York County.  We funded projects all over York including the Hanover Lancers and New Freedom Heritage.  What a thrill for us to be able to fund in all corners of the county.

We are also an official partner with the Pa Council on the Art - that means we help grant state funds in four counties - York, Adams, Franklin, and Fulton counties.  We are also the Pa Council on the Arts' Arts in Education partner funding artists' residencies in the same 4 counties.  Gayle Cluck manages that program and has been recognized by the state for her distinct and effective residencies.

So - here we go - and it is not a "oh, here we go, ugh" it is a true "HERE WE GO".  Come to our celebration of our creative community on Tuesday January 15 at 6:00 PM.  We have an awful lot to celebrate!