Chatham Arts Council Expands Arts Access for Chatham County Students

Celebrating 10 Years of Artists-in-Schools

Pittsboro, NC – Over the past decade, Chatham County has seen rapid expansion–in housing, in business and industry, in public school enrollment. At the same time, Chatham Arts Council (CAC) has been quietly doing some expanding of its own–specifically, expanding arts access for the children and youth of Chatham County. Now in its tenth season, CAC’s Artists-in-Schools Initiative, once comprised of just two artists in two schools, has grown to include nearly twenty artists who will visit fourteen Chatham County schools in the 2024/25 academic year. In celebration of National Arts in Education Week, CAC is thrilled to announce its exciting Artists-in-Schools roster for this season, expanded to include residencies at every Chatham County Schools elementary, K-8, and middle school! 

The Artists-in-Schools season roster welcomes, for the first time in two seasons, original AIS artists EbzB Productions (theater), fresh off the world tour of their award-winning film “The Problem of the Hero.” Grammy-nominated Pierce Freelon will return with Blackspace (hip-hop/rap, jazz, soul, and poetry) for a second season, joined by long-time program favorites Mike Wiley Productions (theater), Diali Cissokho (West African music), Black Box Dance Theatre (modern dance), The Magic of African Rhythm (African drumming, dancing, and visual art), and Phillip Shabazz (poetry). Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana (flamenco dance) will kick off all the AIS fun at North Chatham Elementary and program newcomer Pollard Middle School in October

Expanding to All Places Chatham

Last season, Chatham Arts Council’s Artists-in-Schools Initiative made its debut at the program’s first middle school, Chatham Middle (CMS) in Siler City. Through a partnership with Shakori Roots in the Schools, Pierce Freelon and Blackspace introduced CMS seventh graders to their Beat Making Lab during ten days of classroom workshops. Participating students were then given the opportunity to show off their new-found skills at an assembly for their school, and from the stage at Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival for Music and Dance. CAC firmly believes the arts provide necessary paths to student success, and after the Blackspace-CMS residency, students and educators alike confirmed that belief. Angela Boone, a seventh-grade ELA teacher at CMS, said “some ‘fly below the radar’ kids began to engage and participate.” Boone continued, “Our students who are not regularly spotlighted for academic and athletic achievements were given a chance to shine.” One seventh grader told us they loved “being able to be myself,” while another said they were happy the residency “let us share our beats with other people.” Teacher Mark Spring even observed that the assembly “created a moment of unity and positivity for everyone, and the students’ musical creations were the spark for that experience.” 

This season, Chatham Arts Council will add two new middle schools to the Artists-in-Schools Initiative. Spanish dance troupe Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana will perform for seventh graders at Margaret B. Pollard Middle School in October, and West African musician Diali Cissokho will conduct a 5-day workshop with seventh graders at George Moses Horton Middle (GMH) School in the spring semester. The GMH residency will culminate in a student performance for parents and fellow GMH students. 

“We’re so excited to expand our Artists-in-Schools Initiative again this year,” says Cheryl Chamblee, CAC Executive Director. “There are tons of studies out there that all tell us about the importance of arts education,” Chamblee continues, “and we get to see it in action. We get to see a child at the back of the room on day one, and then see that same kid at the end of the residency in the front of the class leading a dance, or reading their poem, with all this newly discovered confidence and pride. That’s why we’re committed to this big long-term vision to bring Artists-in-Schools to every school in Chatham County, every single year.” 

It’s a lofty goal, even with two more schools added to the roster this year. There are twenty schools in the Chatham County School system, plus three public charter schools. However, with presence in fourteen schools already, Chatham Arts Council is on track to make Chatham the first in the state to have such a program in every public school in the county, at no cost to those schools. Currently in every elementary school, every K-8 school, and all three middle schools, the Artists-in-Schools Initiative is projected to impact more than half of all Chatham County Schools students enrolled in grades kindergarten through eighth in the 2024/25 school year.

Expanding Access to Expression

Studies from around the world show that engaging in the arts can help boost confidence, help kids feel more engaged, more resilient. “Art helps people express experiences that are too difficult to put into words,” Heather L. Stuckey, DEd wrote in the American Journal of Public Health.

When asked about their experiences in their AIS workshops, students shared the joy, relief, and freedom they felt through self-expression. One Pittsboro Elementary fourth grader wrote, “I liked how much free space we had to explore ourselves.” Another replied, “I liked that I could just express myself.” After drumming with Diali Cissokho, one fifth grader said, “When we played the drums really fast, it helped me relieve stress.”

With a residency in every public school in the county, CAC hopes to overcome one of the biggest barriers to arts access in rural counties– geography. After the Mike Wiley residency at Bennett School last season, principal Dr. Carla Neal wrote CAC a thank you letter. “Our community faces the geographic challenge of not being in an area where there are opportunities for students to engage in positive arts or enrichment activities,” Dr. Neal wrote. “Doing this workshop during the school day was an experience that allowed ALL students to positively interact with professional artists that they might otherwise never experience,” she continued. Her students seemed to feel just as delighted: A Bennett fifth-grader stopped Dr. Neal in the hall and asked “When can we do this again?!”  

Expanding Pathways for Learning

Not only do the arts help create a sense of well-being in students, the arts help kids learn in new ways. Our AIS teaching artists all link their art form back to core curriculum. For example, Black Box Dance Theatre created a series of educational raps featuring topics like the Revolutionary War and Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. And even Einstein, a violinist himself, understood the connections between art and study, once saying, “The greatest scientists are always artists as well.” CAC’s AIS artists will be creating deeper connections to curriculum this season in a number of ways:

• • • • • Nationally recognized theatre artist Mike Wiley: social studies, writing, history
        • Modern dance company Black Box Dance Theatre: science, math, history, dance
        • West African musician and storyteller Diali Cissokho: math, social studies, dance, music
        • NC poet and educator Phillip Shabazz: writing, poetry
        • Spanish dance company Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana: social studies, math, dance
        • The Magic of African Rhythm, a group who focuses on the African concept of Ngoma, the “rhythmic thread” that links drumming, dancing, storytelling and visual arts together: social studies, science, dance, music
        • Blackspace featuring GRAMMY-nominated Pierce Freelon: electronic beat making, history, culture, technology, entrepreneurship

These professional teaching artists invest deeply in Chatham’s kids. “Despite uncertainty and hesitation that was palpable on day one, by day ten the entire fifth grade was fully committed, focused, excited, and so proud of themselves and each other! That’s why we do what we do: to see that kind of transformation,” noted Natalie Morton of Black Box Dance Theatre, after a ten-day residency at Virginia Cross Elementary. And after his week-long residency at Bonlee School, Diali Cissokho remarked “I was so proud of the work the students did. We connected and communicated well and joined together with trust…They were engaged, laughing, having fun, and clearly proud of the music they created together. For me, it was a joy to see that.” Chatham County students agree with Diali. “Fun” was a word that appeared in more than half the student surveys completed after the residency!

A full Artists-in-Schools schedule can be found on the Chatham Arts Council website.

CONTACT: Andrea Akin, Marketing/Public Relations Leader of the Chatham Arts Council, andrea@chathamartscouncil.org

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