Monday, November 07, 2011

The Office of Cultural Arts at the University of North Carolina Wilmington joins New Hanover County Schools to present a week-long in-school artist residency, Nov. 14-18, at Snipes Academy of Art and Design featuring award-winning puppeteer and Kennedy Center teaching artist Hobey Ford.

The residency, supported by a grant from the North Carolina Arts Council, takes place Nov. 14-18 and includes workshops for students, professional development for teachers and free school performances for New Hanover County second and third graders.

Part of the Office of Cultural Arts' ARTworks initiative, the Snipes residency focuses on language arts curriculum goals, including storytelling and reading comprehension. Throughout the week, students will work in groups to create stage adaptations of familiar folktales. They will write their own scripts, build a cast of puppets and present their work to other students. At the same time, they will learn about the parts of a story, improve reading and writing skills, and explore concepts of characterization and literary themes.

"We are thrilled to be afforded this opportunity," said Snipes' Principal Laura Jennings. "Our students and staff will be exposed to a unique approach to stimulating student interest and building connections to core content instruction."

The residency also includes a special Family Night program for participating students and a professional development workshop in which Ford will train teachers to use puppetry in the classroom to engage students in learning. The week culminates with a free school performance at Kenan Auditorium featuring Ford's acclaimed puppet performance "Animalia."

Photo/Video Opportunities-Media Contact
Contact at least one day in advance to set-up media coverage:
Courtney Reilly
UNCW Assistant Director of Cultural Arts
reillyce@uncw.edu
910.962.2082

• Snipes students working with teaching artist Hobey Ford to create their own puppet performances based on folktales (Weds. and Thursday, Nov. 16 and 17, 2011)
• Snipes students and their families participate in a Family Night workshop led by teaching artist Hobey Ford (Thursday, Nov. 17, 2011)
• Free live school performances of Hobey Ford's "Animalia" at Kenan Auditorium (Friday, Nov. 18, 2011)