It began when music Teacher Clyde Quick introduced the Davis Joint Unified District (DJUSD) to the Education Through Music program (ETM) and suggested that they provide ETM staff development for the fourth-grade music teachers. Mr. Quick then went further, suggesting the Davis School Arts Foundation (DSAF) collaborate with the district by providing a grant for one to one teacher mentorships, additional materials, demo lessons and community involvement for school families. DSAF and DJUSD, ()who regularly work together), quickly agreed, and DSAF approved a three-year support grant for Education Through Music: Reaching the Next Generation.

The Davis School Arts Foundation is pleased to announce our collaboration with The Davis Arts Center and the Davis Joint Unified School District to provide Art Kits for all 5th grade students throughout the district. This onetime block grant, estimated at $40,000, will take the place of our usual grant program for the 2020-2021 school year.

ABOUT THE KITS:

• Kits will be made available a variety of materials delivered directly to all 5th grade students, accompanied by printed lessons and backed up by video support. 
• The art activities will build on one another, include art history, technique and cultural diversity.
• Classroom teachers, science teachers and other artists will also receive kits so they have the option of developing projects and sharing them throughout the school year. 
• Art Kits and lessons can be incorporated into online lessons with teachers, used offline to compliment online instruction such as science drawing, or simply for fun. 
• Written materials will be translated into Spanish and reviewed for cultural relevance. 
• The Art Kits will also include Sing-A-Long videos with local artists. The songs will be from a variety of cultures, and genres with closed captioning included. 
• All materials can continue to be used when and if schools return to site based instruction.
• California Arts Standards will be used in determining projects and materials for the kits.

PROCESS AND TIMELINE:

• No application will be necessary – all 5th grade students and teachers will receive kits.
• Distribution will be through each school site’s existing materials pickup system.
• Availability is targeted for mid-December or early January for use in the second trimester. 

In addition to the Art Kits we hope to develop Dance Curriculum sets for K-6 grades. Each set of videos will be available to all elementary school teachers. They will be taught by diverse instructors from the region and include teacher guides to each video. This portion of the project will require additional funding. We are exploring funding options including school district funds, PTA’s, community donors and more. 

Covid19 and the move to online instruction made individual DSAF 2020 – 2021 grants problematic. DSAF recognized a new approach was needed that was easy, equitable, relevant and fun. We believe the Art Kit Project meets that goal and our mission to provide partnership and support of culturally relevant arts education for children in our public schools. 
Questions regarding the project or DSAF can be sent to: [email protected]

Conductor Angelo Moreno has done a wonderful job in demonstrating that can still bring art and music into our children’s lives during these difficult times. Below are links to Davis school art in action at a distance:

Virtual Rock Orchestras featuring Legendary Rock Violinist Mark Wood, Drums by Anthony Corbett

• We Will Rock You, Davis All City Elementary Orchestra, Directed by Lydia Cooley
• Wood’s Bolero, Holmes Intermediate Orchestra
• Any Way You Want It, Holmes Advanced Orchestra
• Carry On My Wayward Son, DHS Chamber Orchestra
• Inferno, DHS Symphony Orchestra
• Full Length Concert Video.

Virtual Vivaldi Performance:

DHS Baroque Ensemble featuring World Class Virtuoso Violinist Rachel
Barton Pine and her 8-year-old daughter Sylvia Pine.

• Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Violins in A Minor RV522, DHS Baroque Ensemble

DHS & Holmes End of the Year Program Videos:

• Holmes Orchestras’ End of the Year Video
• DHS Orchestras’ End of the Year Video
• DHS Orchestras’ Program Senior Class of 2020 Recognition Slide Show
• DHS Orchestra Program Senior Class of 2020 Message Video & Moreno’s 20th Anniversary Roast

The Davis School Arts Foundation is deeply concerned for the wellbeing of our community and the many nonprofits and artists who keep art alive in our schools and everyday lives. Many of these organizations rely on income from rentals and events. Some have paid staff support, others operate as a purely volunteer organizations. Both have ongoing costs and dwindling resources during this difficult time.

Davis public schools and teachers receive yearly grants from DSAF to support art in the classroom and school wide. Due to the early closing of our local schools many teachers were unable to benefit from the grants they were awarded, and local artists who relied on income from these grants will not be paid.

DSAF benefits from 3 major donor/fundraisers, The Davis Music Fest, the Home for the Holidays Concert and the Watermelon Gumball Music Grant, as well as from private donors and modest fundraisers. We have the good fortune of being backed by an investment fund, begun by our founders, in honor of Patricia Hershberger and Richard Brunelle. We are an all-volunteer organization operating mostly online with minimal overhead expenses. DSAF will not escape some financial loss during this difficult time, but we will remain whole and recover.

The DSAF Board of Directors want to help those who are not as fortunate and are attempting to help as we’re able during this time. As such, the DSAF will not ask for or accept donations from The Big Day of Giving Platform this year, and instead ask that donations be given to other arts and culture nonprofits in Davis, which are viewable as a filtered search via this link.

One of the good things that has come from this period of social distance and separation is how much art, music, performance, poetry and writing can help sustain us, express our deepest feelings and desires and work toward change. DSAF will be quietly working in the background over the next several months to strengthen our organization and focus our direction in new and more rewarding ways. Meanwhile, stay safe, stay well, and look for the small blessings that can be found in each day.

Warmly,

The DSAF Board of Directors

DSAF is proud to present Harmony in Our Lives – our annual choral concert – on Sunday, January 26, 2020. The performances will be held at DHS Brunelle Theater and will honor the 2019 Harmony in Our Lives award winner. Shows will begin at 2:30 pm. This event will be the celebration of the 40th anniversary of DSAF. It will be open to the public for free.