Any Given Child Fine Arts Programs

KinderTales
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Ensuring the Arts for Any Given Child, a John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts program, is designed to assist communities in long-range planning to provide an equitable arts education for all students in grades K-8.  Iowa City was selected in 2012 as the eighth Any Given Child site to participate in the program.

Since that time, the Any Given Child (AGC) Board and the AGC District coordinator have actively been assessing the arts education needs at all grade levels in our schools and have added programming to ensure all students experience the arts every year.

We are so excited to kick off the 2022-23 School Year and we have some outstanding fine arts programs that your children will participate in through the Any Given Child Program. AGC is an initiative of  the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Iowa City is one of 28 communities across the U.S. with this distinction. The goal of the program is to use local resources to provide equitable access to diverse, interactive, and inspiring fine arts experiences for every K-8 student in the district. Our programs are fully funded by the Foundation for ICCSD and would not be possible without the generous support of our community and donors. Please consider supporting Any Given Child through the Foundation. 

Any Given Child supports several arts programs in our schools, including:

KinderTales

KinderTales is presented in partnership with The Iowa Children’s Museum (ICM). KinderTales is an active learning dramatic arts and story-telling experience at the ICM designed to help students strengthen their abilities to communicate thoughts and feelings in an articulate, confident manner—at school and at home. This program is for kindergarten students.

James Theater

The ICCSD second grade classes will be traveling to the newly renovated James Theater for a ballet performance by Nolte Academy. Prior to the Ballet the students will spend time during their music classes learning about music and movement associated with the ballet. The performances will be in October ’23.

African Art at The Stanley

In partnership with the University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art, district third graders will tour the newly built Stanley Museum and explore African artworks. Trained docents and museum staff will lead students through the museum and facilitate thought-provoking discussions of historical and contemporary African art. This program runs throughout the school year to provide a small group experience for students. This program is for 3rd grade students.

Symphony Goes to School

Symphony Goes to School is presented in partnership with University of Iowa Arts Share. The program is a field trip for all fourth graders in the district to the University of Iowa’s Voxman Music Building to experience a live performance by the University of Iowa Symphony Orchestra. The performance is thoughtfully programmed with a variety of musical styles and pieces intended to appeal to the students. Arts Share provides materials in advance of the performance to help familiarize the students with the orchestra, the music to be performed, and appropriate audience behavior. This program is for 4th grade students.

M.C. Ginsberg Artist in Residence

The M.C. Ginsberg Artist in Residence program has brought a local artist to our District elementary schools since 1991.  Mark Ginsberg, owner of M.C. Ginsberg Objects of Art and founder of the program, has long believed in the integration of ART in our schools and that ART is necessary to make education complete.  Annually, local artists are invited to apply for the M.C. Ginsberg Artist in Residence position in the Iowa City Community Schools.  Artists must provide details about how their presentations will integrate their discipline into core academic subject areas, such as language arts, math, science, or social studies.

LiveArts

Live Arts is presented in partnership with Hancher. The program is a field trip for junior high students in the district to Hancher to see a theater performance.

For more information about Any Given Child, please visit www.iowacityschools.org/anygivenchild.

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