Celebrating the New Media Arts Semester Long Residency Program

A couple weeks ago I woke up and, as morning routines sometimes tend to go, my son had a meltdown. This one was a little different, though. He was really down on himself and started talking about how many shortcomings he had so I decided to keep him home with me that day. The hang up was that I had a showcase for Crockett High School to attend for work. The mama side of me knew these two did not coincide on accident.

The showcase at Crockett that day was the celebration of the 4 months of work by Ian Fry and his colleague Christina as part of our New Media Arts Semester Long Residency Program. They spent this semester teaching kids freshman aged and up about percussion and ended it with an ensemble performance where parents and teachers as well as other students could attend.

The child of a teacher, Ian told me that he started teaching 25 years ago when he was just 10 years old. He has a performance degree in Jazz and Classical Percussion and a Master of Arts and uses his skills to teach transitioning kids how to connect with music, specifically percussion. Ian is a staple in the VSA Texas family and seeing him interact with his students is something that is truly inspirational. I observed his ability to tune into what they needed individually and that is what a true teacher does. I got to chat with Ian today about his experience at Crockett and I want to share some of that interview with you today for our blog.

Percussion teacher Ian, dressed in black pants and a black shirt, uses a cowbell for rhythm as he warms up for the showcase with his students playing various types of drums.

Why is learning about music so important?

“It’s a shared human experience that we all literally resonate with and enjoy to some degree. It’s part of our life no matter what. I think that you don’t have to be objectively good at an instrument to benefit from it. Making those sounds and vibrations is so important to having a shared language.”

The first day vs. the last day:

“We didn’t know anyone, we had only met the teacher, but I remember them being receptive. It was really cool to walk in and have them be so welcoming. The students seemed so excited to be exposed to a drumming class, I don’t know if they ever had it before or not, but they were super excited, eager and focused. When we left that last day we were part of their family. It was great to, in those 4 short months, really connect with them and see them build their skills.”

What kind of things did you teach them?

“The program has an aspect of music literacy as well as learning rhythms and music by copying things. People tend to learn really well by repetition and in that repetition we ingrain those skills that we want to master. Each class, we ended up going over the same routine and that helped with the retention of knowledge. We learned a lot about Brazilian, Cuban and hip hop styles of percussion. It was all carnival rhythm.”

What was one of the most impactful things you saw through the semester?

“There were two guys that stood out to me. One who was extremely non-verbal and the other one just seemed like he was on the spectrum, verbal but sometimes not very active. What was amazing for us to witness was from the beginning one would take his medication during the day and when he got to the class he was very tired; he’d be napping a little bit but when everyone started playing he would snap out of it and start playing energetically. The other one was super non-verbal, barely ever played at all, but by the end he was playing and not only making noise but playing a really cool triplet pattern that sounded really nice.”

At VSA Texas, our mission is to make art accessible to everyone, no matter their abilities and our program at Crockett did not fall short of fulfilling that mission. I am so glad I got to expose my son to everyone that day because a bad morning was made better by just being there and that is a priceless experience. I can’t wait to see how many more minds we reach by continuing to do what we do!

Crockett High School New Media Arts

Hi blog readers! This is April letting you know what I have been up to lately. For most of this semester I have been visiting Crockett High School on many Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday afternoons to be a part of our New Media Arts Program there. For five years now, the wonderful Mrs. Jane Comer has invited us into her Life Skills classroom to teach New Media Arts classes that combine traditional arts and technology. This year, we had a powerhouse team of teaching artists including Johnny Villarreal of The Edge of Animation Station who brought in his portable stop motion animation studio. We had Jo Ann Santangelo teaching photography skills with photo assignments in the classroom and outside around the school. And we had Stephen Sprague teach the process of filmmaking from storyboarding to filming to editing. I came in to tie it all together with art lessons and everyone’s favorite: quizzes!

Co-teachers Johnny, Jo Ann, and Stephen

The group of 15 students did a great job in all aspects of this class, which they were graded on. The showcase this week was a big success with parents, friends, and administrators in attendance. They were impressed with the photos, storyboards, and artwork on display in the classroom.

Student photos

And in the library, the students led the presentation of their movie premiere with each student standing up and talking about what they learned. Their film was called “The Big Show in the Big Storm” and included a tornado, a talent show, a theft, and a capture. Animation was included in parts of the movie, and a short reel of the student’s animations was also shown. I am very proud of all of the Crockett Life Skills students who participated in this program. We look forward to doing it again next year!

If you want to see the movie, subscribe to our VSA Texas YouTube Channel here, and you will be notified when it is ready to watch online.

A sign welcoming guests to the movie premiere

The Creative Crocketteers

This Spring semester, for the fifth year in a row, we are partnering with Crockett High School in Austin, TX to host our New Media Arts Class for high school students in Mrs. Jane Comer’s Life Skills classroom. We have 15 eager students who are learning about still photography, filmmaking, and stop motion animation. Our team of teaching artists includes Jo Ann Santangelo, who spent the first few weeks working with the students on camera skills such as portrait vs. landscape, street photography, still life photography, and studio photography. They even got a chance to get a closer look at her large format 4x5 camera.

Dominic looks through the lens of the 4x5 camera
as Jo Ann assists.

Jo Ann says, “introducing and teaching photography to the Life Skills students at Crockett High School, has been a beyond amazing experience so far. I am inspired by their energy, eagerness and curiosity to learn. I’m looking forward to working on their film and seeing the final piece at the showcase in a few months!”

Jo Ann and Chris prepare to take a still life photo.

Currently, the class is working with Stephen Sprague on their ideas for a short movie that he will help them film. So far, their ideas include a talent show, a storm, a superhero, and a thief. Sounds exciting! I can’t wait to see what they come up with. Some students are interested in behind-the-scenes work, while others are stars waiting to shine.

Connor, Genevieve, and Chloe in the portrait studio

And on Fridays, the students work on animations to include in their movie with The Edge of Imagination Station’s Johnny Villarreal. His unique stop motion animation technique has been a hit with the students. They are currently creating animated credits for the movie.

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel here so that you are the first to be notified when their short film becomes available for public viewing in May.