Arranmore Center for the Arts, OFEE Getting Students InspirEd

In honor of Oswego Community Unit School District 308's 50th anniversary, students will soon have the chance to be inspired.

The brain child of Shannon Greene Robb, founder of the Arranmore Center for the Arts, InspirEd is an “opportunity for students to fuel their passions through collaboration and creativity,” she said.

The event will kick off with a series of dance, music, theater, visual arts, and creative writing workshops, which will be free and open to all high school students and culminate with the final performance, incorporating the best work of the seminars. The final performance will be held Friday, April 29, at Oswego East High School.

“Maybe a great song from the songwriting workshops will performed,” Greene Robb said. “The dance piece InspirEd Movements will use things from the creative-writing workshop.”

She is working with the Oswego Foundation for Educational Excellence to make the event happen.

Deborah Jones, OFEE president, is very excited about the project.

“I could go on about this for hours,” she said. “It's a phenomenal opportunity. … [Kids can learn] how art motivates them, how it can inspire them to go above and beyond the status quo.”

The director, Lara Filip, will oversee the workshops and coordinate the pieces for the final event, Greene Robb said. Filip is an actor, singer, writer and director working in the Chicago area, according to the InspirEd website, inspired.arranmorearts.org.

High school students began signing up for the programs Tuesday via the website, following a school assembly where Greene Robb explained the program to the students. Teachers will also be making announcements, mini-commercials will air on Panther TV and email blasts will be sent out.

Any student can participate, Greene Robb said, but the space is limited in most workshops so it is first come, first served.

The workshops include the following, according to the website:

24-Minute Film Festival: Students will learn the basics of video cameras and montage editing.

Contact Improv: Dance company Core Project Chicago “will lead participants in a series of exercises meant to challenge their notions of group communication and interaction.” They will explore “everything from rolling on the floor to being lifted or lifting to fast and furious movement exploration.”

Crafting the Solo Monologue: Students will craft a 5- to 10-minute dynamic monologue through journalling and other in-class exercises.

Creative Contexts: Creative writing “will lay the basic foundation of storytelling for writers of all levels and will encourage collaboration in the production of each student's final work.”

Digital painting: Students will create digital versions of an oil painting, a pastel and a watercolor, and keep the print outs at the end of the day.

Hip Hop: Erin Rehberg of Core Project will lead the action-packed workshop on this freestyle dance.

Improv: Second City Chicago will teach the “fundamentals of improvisation through exercises that help to develop strong ensemble and character work.”

InspirEd Movements: Dancers from Core Project Chicago will “combine movement and written word to explore the foundation of Inspiration through creative choreography.

Playwriting: “Students will explore the fundamentals of playwriting, including character development, plot structure, language, setting and conflict.”

Secrets of a Killer Portfolio: Students will learn several ways to create digital and print portfolios to be used in college admissions.

Songwriting: Lead by Liam Davis, who was nominated for a 2011 Grammy, students will learn the “ins and outs of songwriting, incorporating lyric content with literary devices and collaborative creation of musical elements.”

“How can you go wrong with songwriting,” said Jones, who was a music background. “And the Secrets of a Killer Portfolio is such a pragmatic way to prepare for college.”

She hopes that her oldest daughter will participate in the portfolio workshop and that her oldest son will be interested in the writing seminar.

The final and biggest workshop will be World Music. It will be led by composer Tom Sharpe, who has composed one piece in honor of District 308's 50th anniversary. This class is open only to students in the music ensembles. They will perform the pieces at the April 29 event. Sharpe will work with the students over the week prior to the performance.

“We will also have pieces that we'll make actually in the moment,” Greene Robb said.

There will be live art, created by Fox Valley artist Francis Joseph Gagnepain IV. He will be working with several students to create a large installation the day of and during the final performance at Oswego East. Greene Robb hopes to have a live video feed of the work in progress.

Younger students can contribute art or poetry for the art show.

While Greene Robb and Jones want to alert the community to their organizations — Arranmore Center for the Arts and Oswego Foundation for Educational Excellence — their main goal is to get children involved in art to help them in whatever they want to do with their lives.

“We want to know what inspires you to do what you want to do in life,” Greene Robb said.

InspirEd is asking students to submit art or videos that say just that. Work can be shared on the website. Eventually Greene Robb would like to have a community of artists available to offer feedback to those who post to the site.

The site will soon have a spot as well for the community to get involved with donations of money, time or goods to help with the workshops.

“Someone may want to chaperone a workshop, or a local business might want to donate some pizzas,” Greene Robb said. “It's not just about money.”

They will take donations as well to fund the artists who will be teaching the workshops. The money will be collected and distributed by OFEE, Jones said.

“Soon we will be going face to face and door to door,” she said. “We are seeing donors throughout the community.”

To learn more about InspirEd, visit inspired.arranmorearts.org.