Embedded Files
Kate McKernan & Alissa Faber
IAA Tile Project 2018
Thanks to our amazing partnership with Burlington City Arts, the IAA was able to team up with local teaching artists potters, Alissa Faber and Kate McKernan. Through our guidance program, these artists worked with all of our classes to create individualized clay tiles. The tiles will then create a wall on the exterior of our building.
Puppetkabob 2018
We kicked off the new year with a focus on Shadow Puppets! After a whole school field trip to see the Flynn matinee Pilobolus: Shadowland
https://pilobolus.org/shadowland/ we had an afternoon shadow puppet performance by Puppetkabob http://www.puppetkabob.com/. We followed up these terrifically inspiring shadow performances with a ten day residency sponsored in part by the Vermont Arts Council. Puppeteers, Sarah Frechette and Jason Thibodeaux worked with our pre-K through 2nd grade students creating shadow puppet theaters and shadow puppets. They worked with our third through fifth graders to create unique shadow puppets and shows with each class. The residency was delightful and the final student shadow shows were absolutely compelling and creative.
Click this link to see the IAA Shadow Shows: https://vimeo.com/258111486
IAA Family Portrait Project 2017
The Integrated Arts Academy celebrates our community’s vibrancy and diversity. We care deeply that all of our students and families feel welcome at IAA. As a school that embraces family diversity, we understand the powerful impact this inclusive environment has on our students. When all families feel welcome, children aren’t singled out, excluded, or bullied because their family is “different.” When children experience being an integral part of a school and classroom community, they perform better and contribute in positive ways. We believe that students can only achieve academic success when they work together in a safe and caring environment. Hence the idea behind the Family Portrait Project.
We aspired to share this perspective with our broader community through both photography and writing. The IAA Family Portrait Project was a collaboration between IAA, Burlington City Arts (BCA) and the IAA PTO. This inclusive whole-school residency featured the family photographs of BCA photographer, Michelle Saffran, alongside family stories written by IAA students. The students read Todd Parr’s award-winning The Family Book, a children’s book that celebrates family diversity. Then they wrote essays beginning with I have a family. So do you. So does everyone. The final compositions, written by students from more than twenty countries, are examples of what makes each child’s family special from their unique point of view. We feel the IAA Family Portrait Project provided an opportunity for children from all backgrounds to feel the importance of their families, no matter what their make-up.
Taiko Residency 2010
Our first whole school residency took place in the fall of our second year of becoming a magnet school. Sensai, Stuart Paton, led the entire IAA community in a ten day residency. Each group of students learned to play taiko music and to perform Japanese folk dances and songs. One of the goals of this residency was to further our appreciation for diverse cultures and to see first hand, role models of adults expressing powerful, even fierce, creative energy in avenues that benefit the community. The residency was spectacular! The rhythms, dancing, and the final costumes and colors were especially engaging for our whole school.
Taiko
The rhythm flows through fire
and reminds me who I am
making me perfect at doing
everything.
Chris - 4th grade IAA student
Taiko
Involved with the beat.
Simple,
but sometimes complex.
My hands are on fire.
So is our community.
Jason - 4th grade IAA student
Click here to view the IAA Taiko Matsuri Festival
Click here to view the Burlington Taiko Performance at IAA
Taiko Residency December 2016
For the second time, Burlington Taiko Founder and Sensai, Stuart Paton, led the IAA community in a ten day residency. Each grade level preK through grade 5 learned to play the taiko drum. We held a culminating concert to showcase the work all of our students had done throughout this residency.
2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
Thanks to a generous donation from a local philanthropist, IAA has had the privilege of having an end of year residency with Vermont legendary singer and song writer, Jon Gailmor. Every year in May, students and their teachers work with Jon to write lyrics and create music for songs that are related to classroom curriculum. The gift was a five year bequest, and 2015 will end our journey with an artist whose gift to the students of IAA went way beyond his musica genius. Jon Gaimor is now a beloved and integral part of our IAA school community. Below you will find some recordings and video from the residencies.
Click here to watch the 2011 Jon Gailmor Concert at IAA
Jeh Kulu Dance and Drum Theater 2011
Our Jeh Kulu dance residency was a spectacular success. Over the course of ten days, all children pre-k through grade 5 participated fully in learning specific and lively dances from West Africa. Jeh Kulu drummers and dancers worked hard to bring their cultural experiences to the entire IAA family. The residency culminated in an evening performance that was an absolute stunning event filled with joy and rhythm. The IAA is particularly lucky to have provided this residency through a grant provided by the Vermont Arts Council.
Click here to view photo documentation of the Jeh Kulu Residency
Portrait Project 2012
An exploration in photographs and writing of our community of learners.
After being inspired by the Burlington Echo Center’s exhibit Race: Are We So Different? the Integrated Arts Academy decided to pursue a school wide project to celebrate our community’s vibrancy and diversity through photography and writing. Because of a generous and successful partnership with Burlington City Arts, all 300 IAA students were photographed by BCA professional teaching artist and photographer, Michelle Saffran. Michelle spent months photographing all IAA students and each classroom teacher worked with their students to create a written piece about themselves. The written work ranges from classroom to classroom, including I am From Poems, Heritage Poems, and Descriptive Word Collages. The portraits formed a stunning collection and were hung throughout the school in May of 2013. Twenty-eight duplicate copies were exhibited at Burlington City Arts as a culminating celebration of IAA's diversity.
Click here to learn more about this residency
Circus Smirkus 2014
At times, a serendipitous opportunity falls into the lap of IAA. This certainly was true in the fall of 2014 when Circus Smirkus approached the IAA about having a circus residency. Due to a grant they received from Stony Point Foundation, the Henderson Foundation, and Cirque du Monde ( through Cirque du Soleil) they were able to provide a five day school-wide residency. Students pre-K through grade 5 accessed this residency through their weekly physical education classes. Circus Smirkus residencies are designed to enhance the learning skills of all students by introducing them to a wide range of circus skills. Our students certainly loved this opportunity and gained confidence, focus, and persistence along the way. The residency culminated in a school wide circus performance at our weekly Friday Town Meeting.
No Strings Marionette Company 2015
Hands on, is minds on learning. It is our mission to engage our students in intentional art experiences that help facilitate learning in other core subject areas. We are especially focused on literacy at IAA and for this reason hosting a puppet making residency became a perfect choice for us. Research shows that all students, especially our ELL (English Language Learner) students respond favorably to the use of creative dramatics to help develop oral language. Over 30% of our students are ELL students. Puppets provide just the right connection to increasing fluency - they are are bright, colorful, tactile, kinesthetic and compel even the most hesitant speaker to use their voice. Thanks to an Artists in Schools grant and an Arts Connect Grant, both the the Vermont Arts Council and Burlington City Arts were able to fund this successful five day residency with No Strings Marionette Company.
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