Kiawah Art & House Tour

The Gibbes Museum of Art will continue “It Starts With a Dot” at St. John’s High School during the 2019 – 2020 school year. The program, which encourages literacy and creative expression, was begun in 2017 as a pilot project funded by Arts, etc., and is a collaborative effort between the Gibbes Museum of Art and the College of Charleston creative writing Master’s program.  Funding will support outreach to more than 300 St. John’s High School students, and the program will include museum visits, a published anthology of the students’ creative writing and original artwork as well as a student art/creative writing show at the Gibbes. The program will expand within St. John’s to include other disciplines such as science, history and music.

Engaging Creative Minds seeks to provide creative learning opportunities that encourage imagination and innovation to help students achieve academically, stay engaged in school and succeed in life. Arts, etc. provides scholarships to third-graders from Johns Island to participate in a 6-week summer STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) camp. This nationally recognized program was created to address summer learning loss and provide opportunities for students to engage in meaningful experiences that keep them on track for the next school year.

Chamber Music Charleston is dedicated to introducing young audiences to classical music through chamber music concerts and educational performances of high artistic quality by musicians of the Lowcountry, presented to students during school hours. Chamber Music Charleston has built excellent relationships with the schools on Johns and Wadmalaw Islands; through these concerts, they will continue to educate and delight students through the magic of music.

The mission of Project Inspire is to combine the power of the arts with nature, enhancing the learning experience and retention of knowledge for children of Johns and Wadmalaw Islands. With a goal of building creative thinking and problem solving skills, Project Inspire provides a unique experience for third and fourth graders through field trips to the College of Charleston’s Dixie Plantation, where they learn ecology and STEM subjects through the power of the arts.

Ballet Evolution’s mission is to promote the development of collaborative arts in the Charleston area through professional ballet performances. The Artistic Director and Ballet Master bring a troupe of dancers to area elementary schools to perform selections from their current season. Following each performance they conduct a lecture/demonstration, introducing the students to the world of ballet and encouraging them to discover the joy of movement.

Each spring, opera students from the College of Charleston Department of Music perform an age-appropriate opera at schools throughout Charleston County. Operas are created and set to existing classical scores, and familiar children’s stories are adapted to focus on matters that have educational value for elementary school students. Performances are planned at Johns and Wadmalaw Island elementary schools.  Following each performance, students have the opportunity to engage with the singers and learn more about the art and craft of producing an opera.

With the assistance of a professional visiting artist, this Halsey program will be an immersive educational opportunity for students at Haut Gap Middle School. Students will research the changing landscape and economics of Johns and Wadmalaw Islands through a series of workshops.  These will culminate in the creation of a communal art piece for display at the school using basic printmaking techniques.

Pure Theatre has been partnering since fall of 2018 with teachers at Haut Gap Middle School and Communities in Schools educators to hardness the power of theater training to develop critical social and emotional learning skills for student success. The pilot program has reached more than 100 students and has received positive feedback from both students and educators. For the 2019-2020 school year, the focus will include self management, responsible decision making, social awareness and relationship skills for 6th, 7th and 8th grade students.