2012-327 Arts - Chapel Hill Carrboro Children's Museum $1,500

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Kidzu Children's Museum 2012-2013 OCAC Application Narrative:Building Community Through Mosaic III Ms.Brossart is well-known for her vibrant public art installations,such as her glass tile mural in Charlotte,NC,and for her expertise in facilitating workshops with children and adults.She partnered with Kidzu throughout 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 in leading and planning the"Building Community through Mosaic I"and"Building Community through Mosaic II"workshops,designed to introduce young children(ages 4-12 years)to mosaic-making techniques and to provide them with the opportunity to learn from a practicing professional artist. The resulting mosaics will be integrated into Kidzu's new facility,together with the hundreds of mosaic tiles created in prior years'workshops. Project Goals: 2012-2013 We have three goals for Building Community Through Mosaic project in the coming year: 1) Serve 200 or more children,with a focus on Orange County children from diverse backgrounds,including those from low-income backgrounds,English Language Learners,children with special needs,and those facing other life challenges. 2) Deepen and expand our partnerships with community organizations to allow Kidzu to enhance our services to children in need. 3) Begin planning to integrate the children's mosaic panels into the design of Kidzu's new museum. The third year of the project will dovetail with design workshops for our new museum. We propose using a small portion of the project funds to enable the artist,Ms.Brossart,to participate in one of more design workshops with our architect team,exploring options for incorporating the mosaic tiles into our new museum. Target Audience While the majority of children participating in the program will likely be from the Chapel Hill and Carrboro area,as in years past,we also plan to conduct workshops in northern Orange County(Hillsborough)with our Head Start partners. Based on prior experience,children are expected to range in age from 4-12 years,with the bulk of the children(-80%)in the 4-8 year old range.We expect to have a mix of ethnicities,reflecting the diverse children served by our partner organizations(see below). More than 60%of children participating in 2011-12 were non-Caucasian. Gender distribution is likely to remain fairly even. Workshop Format We anticipate holding a total of at least 6 workshops.Each program will allow participants to produce(a)a glass mosaic square and(b)a take-home paper counterpart,which provides more flexibility for figurative and other compositions. Working with local mosaic artist Jeannette Brossart,children will produce 6"geometric tile mosaics,designed ultimately to be installed in our new facility. The most secure method for making sections of mosaic that can be stored and installed at a later date involves reusable tile trays and tile tape,a clear adhesive mounting paper that allows the colored glass tiles to be arranged and then"set"in place,temporarily adhered to the adhesive mounting paper.These assemblages are backed with wax paper and stored until installation at the future museum site.Reusable 12"square tile trays have already been purchased for the 2010-11 and 2011-12 program series,each of which can simultaneously accommodate 4 children,who can each organize square tiles into a 6"geometric pattern.In 2010-2012,a portion of our tile was generously donated by Hakatai Enterprises,Inc. We have had initial discussions with Hakatai about the prospect of continuing support for this project. Hakatai has indicated potential interest in continuing its donation of tiles,if this project is refunded. The aim of the workshops is to expose children to the art of mosaic.Aside from the intrinsic aesthetic value of the mosaic and the artistic lessons provided by hands-on art experiences with a professional artist,the exploration of color patterning and geometric properties provides an additional mathematical component to the series,and the process of mosaic creation itself facilitates fine motor development. Display At the conclusion of the program,we will set up a temporary installation to display the mosaics with photographs of the creative process.We will offer a reception for the young artists and their families to view the works at Kidzu. Ultimately,the entire set of mosaic panels will be integrated into Kidzu's new facility.There are a wide range of options for incorporating these mosaics into our new site.They may be mounted on or in a wall,become part of a flooring feature,be included in benches or water features or integrated in many other ways yet to be determined. Design meetings with our architect team and Ms.Brossart will allow us to explore these options in greater detail. Program Partners Kidzu anticipates partnering with at least 6-10 organizations on our 2012-2013 mosaic program.All ten organizations participating in our 2011-2012 program have indicated interest in taking part next year,should this grant be approved. These partners include: The Chapel Hill Public Library;the Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA,the Orange County Health Department and Orange County Partnership for Young Children's Healthy Kids Day;El Centro Hispano;the Family 2