All in Learning Through the Arts
Before we can explore this, it seems a good idea to back up and explore first: what exactly is critical thinking? Why is it such a hot topic currently?
Critical thinking is the process of thinking systematically, utilizing cognitive skills to listen, learn, think, understand, question, retain, justify, and evaluate. Critical thinking has less to do with intelligence and more to do with a process of sifting through and evaluating new information.
Looking for a seasonal craft that you can do with your family? This paper stain glass pumpkin craft will brighten up your home (without having to dig through pumpkin guts!)
This series of fun educational activities and projects aim to help you cultivate curiosity and creativity in your children using arts-based learning, inspired by the same learning techniques and activities used in the award-winning ConocoPhillips Hub for Inspired Learning program.
The Ledge Gallery at Arts Commons is the current home of Nurgül Rodriguez’ exhibition In the Vessel of my Skin, which delves into the coexistence of body and soul and the conflict that can arise from both sharing space––a concept born and exemplified to her during the pandemic. Immigration, gender disparity, and the desire to belong in a new country are all touched upon in a multitude of ways, each expressed using carefully molded porcelain.
The seed of the Incubator program at Arts Commons had a slow cultivation – it was important to move with measured intentionality and match the best individuals possible to bring the concept to reality. While there have been numerous mentorship programs in the performing arts, few have provided support to a group as broad and interdisciplinary as the one the Incubator program at Arts Commons has committed to; a year-long performance, exhibition, and professional development opportunity that creates a space safe enough for artists who move between disciplines to thrive.
“Petroglyphs, rock carvings, pictographs, rock paintings…they represent visions of the spirit beings. Spirit beings make their home amongst the hoodoos, and rock art connects the physical and the spiritual world.”
Hali Heavy Shield paints a picture with her words, revealing a multifaceted perspective of Writing on Stone Provincial Park that goes deep into her roots as an Indigenous artist. Hali Heavy Shield or Nato’yi’kina’soyi in Blackfoot, which means Holy Light that Shines Bright, is a local multidisciplinary artist as well as PhD student at the University of Lethbridge researching Blackfoot art and storytelling. Her talk was part of a professional development session for Arts Commons Emerging Visual Artists earlier last month.
It’s been 10 months since Arts Commons teaching artists started to navigate virtual instruction and adapt their livelihoods to the virtual realm, unable to work directly with teachers and students in schools and onsite at Arts Commons or in their studios. And with growth mindset in mind, they have inevitable developed new best practices for creating interactive virtual arts education.
We reached out to teaching artists from the visual and performing arts to talk about what sort of constraints they have overcome and new joys they have discovered in keeping children and youth inspired and connected through the arts.
The Day of the Dead (November 1st) is approaching, and so is the day of the Faithful Departed (November 2nd) two days that are particularly important in several Latin American cultures. Although there are variations in the traditions, one common thread among all the celebrations is that those days are meant to be about remembering, and visiting those we lost... or rather allowing them to visit us.
Art has power. Studies have shown that engaging with arts and culture reduces stress and leads to longer, happier lives. As we move into the sixth month of the global pandemic, the arts have never been more important, to our children, our elderly, ourselves.
