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Vol. 3, No. 5 - December 18, 2003
| GE Foundation Grant Supports Tang Outreach Program “Destination: Exploration” brings multidisciplinary concepts from Tang exhibitions into classrooms and libraries throughout the region. Key issues raised by the Tang’s unusually creative exhibitions are brought to life through the “Destination: Exploration” suitcase program, in which Outreach Programs Coordinator Ginger Ertz brings vintage suitcases packed with hands-on art materials related to Tang exhibitions to dozens of schools. Under Ertz’s guidance, youngsters explore concepts emphasized in the exhibitions, then create their own works of art. Previous funding from the GE Foundation for “Destination: Exploration” helped support a busy summer 2003 for Ertz. She visited nearly 40 libraries within an hour’s drive of the Tang, going as far north as the Adirondacks, south to Castleton-on-Hudson, and west to Amsterdam and Gloversville. Many of the libraries she visited are in the Albany/Schenectady/Troy area, and a number of them host summer activities for school-age groups. Close to 250 pupils in those three cities participated in summer programming at their home libraries, while 40 pupils from the Delaware Avenue branch of the Albany Public Library came to the Tang itself for a tour. A total of 900 students were served through summer programs this year. In follow-up notes about their visits, area librarians have expressed appreciation to Ertz for her programs, in ways similar to this note from the Johnstown Public Library: “You have enriched the lives of everyone who attended, and possibly they will look at their world in a different way. Thank you for sharing your time and expertise with our young people.” During the fall 2003, nearly 1,100 pupils either visited the Tang, had the suitcase program at their schools, or both. According to Ertz, a highlight was a visit by 50 children from Schenectady’s Zoller Elementary School who participated in a suitcase activity during their visit. The children developed imaginative stories to interpret work by environmental artist Alyson Shotz and examples of art from the Chinese brush painting exhibition. After their tour, the children made “fantasy plants’ from pipe-cleaners, Q-Tips, beads, and more, in the style of Shotz’s own work, then used them as a starting point for a discussion on the beauty and richness of diversity. The new GE Foundation funds will support visits during the next year to elementary schools in Schenectady and Albany. In addition, said Ertz, “We will be able to continue to offer funding for transportation for schools that cannot afford buses for field trips, enhancing our goal of bringing more students from Albany, Schenectady, and Troy to the Skidmore campus. We also hope to design new creative and engaging activities to reinforce the learning from the museum, using the GE Foundation funds to procure materials for increasing numbers of students.” The GE Foundation (http://www.gefoundation.com), the philanthropic organization of the General Electric Co., invests in improving educational opportunity and in strengthening community organizations in GE communities around the world. All told, GE, the GE Foundation and GE employees and retirees contributed over $120 million to community and educational institutions last year. For news on upcoming Tang Museum exhibitions and events, please visit http://tang.skidmore.edu/ Skidmore
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