“After the huge success of last year’s program, requests for
the ArtMobile have tripled for this summer,” said Sean Conklin, assistant
curator and museum educator at the Quick Center. “We have library visits
planned almost every day in July and the first four weeks of August, along with
additional community outreach activities, summer camps and visits to local
family festivals.” Summer programming is supported by three summer arts
education assistants, Brittany Winans of Bolivar, a recent B.F.A. graduate of
Alfred University; Jacqueline Philp of Randolph, a recent B.S. Ed. graduate of
St. Bonaventure; and Joshua McGraw of Allegany, a recent B.S. biochemistry
graduate of St. Bonaventure.
Conklin said the arts education team members have an
excellent mix of backgrounds and skillsets. “I love my job,” said Winans, who
is returning for her second year with the program, “I wake up every morning
excited to head to work and see what new and fun things we are going to do.”
Libraries were offered five different programs to select
from for their visit, each specifically designed to incorporate STEAM education
pedagogy with a focus on artistic expression.
· Project one,
“Northern Night Light Landscapes,” teaches participants about the reactions
that cause the colors of the northern lights; they use this information to create
their own landscape designs complete with their own interpretation of the
bright dancing lights of the aurora.
· Project two,
“Planetary Probabilities,” teaches participants about the Drake equation,
developed to determine the odds of finding intelligent life in the universe. Participants
construct their own forms of intelligent life relying on the probability of
rolling a specific dice number to secure each part of their extraterrestrial
being.
· Project
three, “Black Hole Boomerang,” has participants explore the concept of black
holes, regions of spacetime exhibiting a gravitational field so strong that
nothing can escape from them, theorizing where items that enter a black hole
travel while designing what it looks like on the other side of the tunnel.
· Project
four, “Oh My Stars,” teaches participants to construct their own star finder
and learn how to position it to discover different constellations throughout the
year visible from their own backyard. They will then map out an entirely new
constellation, adding it to their star chart while constructing a new design
around their star outline.
· Project
five, “Comet Atcha,” teaches participants about a comet’s path around the sun
using three dimensional geometry to build their own comet wind socks.
The ArtMobile will stop at the following libraries in
Allegany County throughout the summer:
Wednesday, August 14
Bolivar Free Library
11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Richburg Colonial Library
1:30-2:30 p.m.
Thursday, August 15
Cuba Circulating Library
3-4 p.m.
Tuesday, August 20
Angelica Free Library
1-2 p.m.
