Artist-In-Residence Dances Into Farmingdale School

FARMINGDALE, NJ — Farmingdale Public School is one of 13 schools in New Jersey that was awarded a $10,000 Artists in Education residency grant in the 2019-2020 school year.

The program brings professional teaching artists in classrooms for 20-day residencies that provide professional development, and a community-based culminating event. AIE residencies focus on direct learning about the arts and the processes of creating art, including the skills, techniques and concepts of the art form.

The Farmingdale school's residency program is focused on dance, and got under way on Oct. 1.

The programs range from Latin dance to Bollywood, buddy benches to drumlines, and many different art forms in between.

The Artists in Education Residency Grant Program is a co-sponsored project of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and Young Audiences Arts for Learning NJ & Eastern PA. The program is carried out in partnership with regional partners, including Appel Farm Arts & Music Center, Count Basie Center for the Arts, and Morris Arts.

AIE has had a profound effect on schools throughout New Jersey.

In Bradley Beach last year, teacher Kirsty Sucato had a photography residency with teaching artist Erik James Montgomery. After the program, "One student said the residency was the best part of her year. She intends to join yearbook club and the school newspaper next year. She now thinks of herself as a photographer."

Sucato said the student "forged a bond with our teaching artist and other teachers who supported and celebrated her work," and improved from a C average to an A+, the highest in the class. "This would be a wonderful outcome for any student, but for this particular seventh-grader, it was transformative."

Young Audiences Arts for Learning NJ & Eastern PA is a not-for-profit organization that seeks to inspire young people and expand their learning through the arts. It was founded in 1973 and has reached more than 15 million children with essential arts education experiences.

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