Multimedia Class Artist: Gayle Gale

HOLLYWOOD ARTS COUNCIL’S
PROJECT SOAR
(Students Overcoming All Risks)

PURPOSE

Project S.O.A.R. (Students Overcoming All Risks) is a Hollywood Arts Council after-school and in-class art program which serves approximately 2,000 school children in eight (8) of the Hollywood area Title 1 elementary schools. Workshops are offered in various arts disciplines, e.g. ceramics, photography, painting, cultural arts, dance and creative drama.  Each workshop is free and consists of 4 two-hour sessions (one per week for four weeks).  HAC contracts professional artists to instruct the workshops, then coordinates the curriculum and scheduling with school administration and purchases all supplies for the workshops. 

Project S.O.A.R was created to provide a motivating influence and positive reinforcement through arts classes, allowing children to gain a deeper understanding of their own and other cultures as well as a chance to develop skills for self-expression, a key ingredient for positive self-esteem.  Project S.O.A.R. allows these inner-city youth, whose needs and concerns are often ignored, the opportunity to discover the power of the arts and their own potential for creative expression.

Micheltorena Elementary School Mural Artist: Joe Tierney

Project S.O.A.R. addresses the need for both after-school and arts programming by providing year-round programming to public schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District, which currently have little or no arts programming, due to budget cuts and lack of funding. 

Project S.O.A.R. workshops encourage the development of positive social behaviors by emphasizing patience, cooperation, written and oral communication, exploring imagination, creativity and storytelling. Many of our artist’s come from a variety of ethnic backgrounds (Asian, Hispanic, African, Italian, Ethiopian, etc.) and speak multiple languages, thereby enabling the children to relate to them through cultural similarities, which further enriches the learning experience. 

Cultural Arts Class Artist: Patty Sue Jones

Project S.O.A.R. serves approximately 2,000 children each year. The majority of students served by Project S.O.A.R. live in under-served areas of Council District 13 and 4 of greater Hollywood, which is a part of the City of Los Angeles in Los Angeles County.  The Hollywood Arts Council serves two constituencies:  The Hollywood community (Hollywood, a district of the city of Los Angeles, distinct from “Hollywood” the industry) and the artists and arts organizations who present work here.  With a total population of approximately 250,000, Hollywood consists of a broad socio-economic and cultural spectrum that includes the entertainment industry, and both affluent and struggling neighborhoods. The “flats” of Hollywood is a mixture of entertainment industry business and multiple family dwellings and home to a rich diversity of cultures.  All elementary, middle and secondary schools in the greater Hollywood area are “Title 1” and are designated “at-risk.”  The participating schools are of a lower socio-economic status indicated by an average of 91% of the children in the eight (8) participating schools receiving free or reduced-cost lunches; an income-based city program.

PROJECT SOAR
07-08 SCHOOL YEAR ETHNIC BREAKDOWN

ETHNIC BREAKDOWN FOR COMBINED PROJECT SOAR SCHOOLS 07-08

The direct population Project S.O.A.R. serves is comprised of the 4,837 students enrolled in eight (8) inner-city Title 1 elementary schools. The public elementary school population of the participating schools in Hollywood averages 77.6% Hispanic, 12.5% White/Armenian, 3.4% Filipino, 2.7% Asian, 2.4% African-American, 1 % Pacific Islander and .4% Alaskan; as per data provided by the Los Angeles Unified School District.  During the 2007-2008 school year, over 2,000 children in grades 3, 4, 5 and 6 were served by Project S.O.A.R. 

EVALUATION

Evaluation forms are given to school administrators and students at the completion of each 4-week workshop session. Students complete anonymous evaluation forms that give them the opportunity to “grade” their art workshop instructor. Artists, artist assistants, and coordinators, i.e. school administrators, also complete an evaluation form. This evaluation aids in determining workshop effectiveness and artist's ability to lead the students through each project. Examples of the fields listed on the administrators form include: "Workshop project accomplished, Benefits to students, Demonstrated mastery of subject, Made the subject matter meaningful through use of examples and applications, etc. Observation questions where written response is required include: "Have you observed any outstanding student successes?", "Did you notice any problems?” etc.

“The activities were interesting and stimulating.  Even the students who are normally reluctant to participate in extra activities were deeply involved.” – Maria McGuire, Vine Street Elementary

Evaluations measure whether objectives are being met and guide HAC to refine the workshops by making changes where necessary. The evaluations also give the artists the constructive feedback in terms of what was most effective and what might need to be adjusted or added.

Workshop sizes are limited to 25 students so that each child receives personalized attention from both the artist and artist assistant. Project S.O.A.R. also nurtures and supports professional artists in the community by providing opportunities to teach, to show students examples of their own work, and to serve as role models to the children.