ACT has launched Stay Home & Stay Creative, a weekly YouTube series to engage students, hosting free, family-friendly art lessons. Every Friday, ACT Teaching artists will guide viewers through 3 to 8 minutes of art instruction utilizing everyday materials that can be found around the home.
ACT, originally known as VSA Arts of Grand Rapids, MI, was founded by the Junior League of Grand Rapids in 1986. ACT serves thousands of local individuals by providing enriching recreational, social, and skill-building art programs for area people with disabilities each year.
Through the interactive videos, activities led by professional ACT Teaching Artists focus on visual, musical, theatrical, and creative movement activities. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many of ACT’s Teaching Artists have transformed and adapted their teaching methods to accommodate a wide array of needs from afar. Stay Home & Stay Creative offers a unique digital platform for ACT and the artists to continue connecting with students and the greater West Michigan community.
"The Stay Home Stay Creative series increases accessibility to Artists Creating Together’s creative programming. They are available at no cost to individuals of all abilities. Each lesson requires no artistic experience and everything that you need to create can be found within your home," said Executive Director Angela Steele.
Stay Home & Stay Creative Fridays launched March 26, 2020 with a brief lesson in rhythm and harmony by Josh Dunigan. The videos have since expanded to 30 teaching artists and staff sharing art, dance, theater, creative writing, music, and more in 46 videos thus far. These videos can be found on the Artists Creating Together YouTube channel and are usually posted once a week.
"Creativity can take place anywhere, and our Stay Home & Stay Creative series is a great example of that. It shows people of all ages and all abilities that, no matter where they are, they are surrounded by things that can help them create beautiful, unique art," Program Director Shay Kraley has shared.
Virtual lessons will continue through at least June of 2021 and are made possible through support from Steelcase, Inc. All Stay Home & Stay Creative lessons can be found on ACT’s YouTube channel: youtube.com/ACTinGR
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