By Evy Schiffman, Community School of Music and Arts
It?s Saturday afternoon, and the ceramics instructor at the Community School of Music and Arts (CSMA) is prepping students for their first experience with throwing clay on the wheel. One of the teen students, Jordan, is particularly excited to explore this new artistic outlet after his experience with other CSMA classes.?Jordan participates in a program providing students with special needs, including developmentally disabled and autistic students, the opportunity to explore their creativity, gain new experiences in the larger community, and become integrated into CSMA?s general course curricula whenever possible. CSMA?s music and art programs provide experiences with drawing, painting and sculpting as well as playing marimba and singing.
Jordan, shown working with his teacher Jo, loves working with clay in his class at the Community School of Music and Arts (CSMA).
So far, drawing has been Jordan?s main passion. ?I am very famous for my shading with?pastels,? he says. ?A lot of people look at my pictures and say ?wow.?? Jordan?s teacher describes him as an ideal student because he?s not afraid to ask questions and knows intuitively that with art there is no right or wrong. ?I wish there were more students?like Jordan in my class.?
Jordan is only one of many students who helps CSMA live up to its tagline as being ?the home of arts4all.? At the core of the nonprofit?s mission is accessibility to high-quality arts education for people of all ages, abilities, aspirations and financial means. And although accessibility is not synonymous with equity, CSMA?s vision and commitment are to include both in conversations about its programs and the people it serves.
Art work created by special needs students on exhibit at the Community School of Music and Arts (CSMA).
Jordan clearly loves being at CSMA. ?I like being at a place with real professional artists. I?feel at home here, and I learn a lot!? His family can see the benefits created for Jordan through his arts experience. ?Coming to CSMA has provided Jordan with a creative and therapeutic outlet to express how he feels,? says his mother, Stephanie. ?He draws every day at home and loves giving his art to others as gifts.?
With ceramics, Jordan is experiencing the intellectual as well as tactile experience of?working with clay and articulately explains that firing clay in the kiln involves science as?well as art. When asked how creating art makes him feel, Jordan thinks for a moment?and sums it up in one word, ?calm.?
?Our special needs students take great joy in sharing their work at end-of-semester exhibitions and performances,? says CSMA art school director Linda Covello. ?They are probably our most enthusiastic students, regardless of age, taking great pride in being artists and in sharing their accomplishments with family and friends.? At CSMA, students like Jordan are definitely what is meant by being ?the home of arts4all.?
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