Arkansas Learning Through the Arts recently held its "Poetry In Motion" event at Hot Springs Country Club featuring Arkansas' first lady Susan Hutchinson as guest speaker.
ALTTA, a nonprofit organization, provides learning opportunities that generally might not be accessible to schools by bringing workshops that "consist of three to four one-hour sessions with teaching artists," Craig Welle, ALTTA executive director said.
When the arts are infused into all aspects of learning it "increases the power of the brain," Hutchinson said, relating her story of learning to play piano at a young age, saying instruments connect the body and the brain, "left hand, right hand ... moving the feet ... left hand, right hand, it builds the brain. Singing, marching, tapping on a drum, tapping on spoons ... it doesn't matter. It builds the brain," she said.
Hutchinson recounted her personal journey growing up with a love for the arts, music in particular, and how that appreciation grew into an advocacy for arts in education.
"Music was always historically present on my dad's side of the family," Hutchinson recalled, "I grew up with his beloved aunt. She was a prolific pianist, she could play anything she wanted to. It was quite impressive. And I really liked that."
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Hutchinson remembered the first piano in her home, "all the pedals on it didn't work. A lot of the keys stuck," she said. Despite her family being lower-middle class, she said her mother took her and her siblings to piano lessons.
Because of these memories, Hutchinson says she learned how "valuable music was."
The event also showcased poet and author Kai Coggin, Arkansas Governor's Award recipient for Arts Education, and featured the Hot Springs World Class High School Dance Troupe, directed by dance instructor Amy Bramlett Turner.
Coggin performed an original poem, titled "Wings," which she uses to encourage students when she visits classrooms.
"I know sometimes you are faced with many difficult choices," Coggin said in the poem, "and it might sound like there are too many parents and teachers' voices yelling at you, telling you just what to do, but always remember, you have wings, too. Always remember, You have wings, too."
Turner performed an improvisational dance to an excerpt from "Phenomenal Woman" by Maya Angelou, read by Coggin.
"Amy doesn't teach, she leads by example," Coggin said. "She gets her students to learn but also to learn how to teach. Her students not only learn the choreography and the poetry, but they turn around and teach their peers which takes it to another level and that's why she's such an amazing teacher."
Coggin was brought into Turner's dance class by ALTTA to collaborate with Turner's 7-12 dance troupe to give students an opportunity to create their own original poem and choreograph an original dance piece set to poetry.
"Students had the opportunity to choreograph their own dances in an academic way," Turner said. "I know that most of my dancers aren't going to become professional dancers. That is not the point. Our point is to create active citizens of our community that know how to be a citizen and know how to be a member they should share and participate."
Students performed their original dance set to poetry, titled "Can you hear me," written and choreographed by Moriah Thacker and performed by dancers Jariah Selman and Serenity Cupples.
"Children are intrinsically drawn to the arts and connected to reading, writing, and speaking as a natural fit," Welle said. "The past couple of years have been tough on all of us, especially for kids. In short, the arts are social, the arts are emotional. Using the artist to foster social-emotional health is something our artists have all done innately for years and are now doing with greater intentionality."
Steve Lux, ALTTA vice chair, presented Martha Smithers, chair of the board of directors, with a copy of a certification by the National Board of Young Audiences for Learning, which makes ALTTA only one of 28 affiliates of this national network of arts-in-education agencies.
"We are proud of your accomplishments and look forward to working with you in the future to ensure the continued success of the Arkansas Learning Through the Arts," David Dik, national executive director of Young Audiences Arts for Learning said in a certification award letter.