Vision:
To support education of the fine arts for youth from communities in need in the Hamilton area, as every child deserves a chance to realize their full potential regardless of finances, ethnic background, religion or region of living.
Mission:
To showcase the importance of children and the arts through a free, interactive arts festival where children and families can learn from professional artists and authors through discovery and creative expression.
The Imagine in the Park is a Children’s Art Festival that is FREE to all guests and visitors.
This festival encourages experiential learning for children; it provides the opportunity for families to work with artists in their discipline.
By Lauren Martin
1. Creativity. This may seem like a no-brainer, but the arts allow kids to express themselves better than math or science. As the Washington Post says, In an arts program, your child will be asked to recite a monologue in 6 different ways, create a painting that represents a memory, or compose a new rhythm to enhance a piece of music. If children have practice thinking creatively, it will come naturally to them now and in their future career.
2. Improved Academic Performance. The arts don’t just develop a child’s creativity—the skills they learn because of them spill over into academic achievement. PBS says, A report by Americans for the Arts states that young people who participate regularly in the arts (three hours a day on three days each week through one full year) are four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement, to participate in a math and science fair or to win an award for writing an essay or poem than children who do not participate.
3. Motor Skills. This applies mostly to younger kids who do art or play an instrument. Simple things like holding a paintbrush and scribbling with a crayon are an important element to developing a child’s fine motor skills. According to the National Institutes of Health, developmental milestones around age three should include drawing a circle and beginning to use safety scissors. Around age four, children may be able to draw a square and begin cutting straight lines with scissors.
4. Confidence. While mastering a subject certainly builds a student’s confidence, there is something special about participating in the arts. Getting up on a stage and singing gives kids a chance to step outside their comfort zone. As they improve and see their own progress, their self-confidence will continue to grow.
5. Visual Learning. Especially for young kids, drawing, painting, and sculpting in art class help develop visual-spatial skills. Dr. Kerry Freedman, Head of Art and Design Education at Northern Illinois University says, Children need to know more about the world than just what they can learn through text and numbers. Art education teaches students how to interpret, criticize, and use visual information, and how to make choices based on it.
6. Decision Making. The arts strengthen problem solving and critical thinking skills. How do I express this feeling through my dance? How should I play this character? Learning how to make choices and decisions will certainly carry over into their education and other parts of life—as this is certainly a valuable skill in adulthood.
7. Perseverance. I know from personal experience that the arts can be challenging. When I was trying to learn and master the clarinet, there were many times when I became so frustrated that I wanted to quit. But I didn’t. After practicing hard, I learned that hard work and perseverance pay off. This mindset will certainly matter as they grow—especially during their career where they will likely be asked to continually develop new skills and work through difficult projects.
8. Focus. As you persevere through painting or singing or learning a part in a play, focus is imperative. And certainly focus is vital for studying and learning in class as well as doing a job later in life.
9. Collaboration. Many of the arts such as band, choir, and theater require kids to work together. They must share responsibility and compromise to achieve their common goal. Kids learn that their contribution to the group is integral to its success—even if they don’t have the solo or lead role.
10. Accountability. Just like collaboration, kids in the arts learn that they are accountable for their contributions to the group. If they drop the ball or mess up, they realize that it’s important to take responsibility for what they did. Mistakes are a part of life, and learning to accept them, fix them, and move on will serve kids well as they grow older.
article taken from: https://www.learningliftoff.com/10-reasons-arts-in-education-important-kids/
July 2011 was the inaugural year for Imagine in the Park, the free children’s arts and literature festival. Gage Park Hamilton was chosen as the venue where it has been held annually since then because of its accessibility. It is held each year on the first Saturday in June.
Festival partners in 2011 included the Hamilton Children’s Museum, Frontier College who provided free books for all children attending as well as the Hamilton Literary Council who with the Children’s Museum were responsible for volunteers. Arts Hamilton was our charitable partner and provided invaluable assistance in many ways.
Partners changed as the festival grew over the five years with the Hamilton Academy of Performing Arts remaining our charitable partner since 2012. It is an excellent partnership as the festival complements the vision and goals of the arts curriculum of the school. The Children’s Museum remained an active partner until 2015 and will continue to participate in the event by providing a Kid’s Zone throughout the day.
Alliances were forged with many loyal sponsors and donors the initial year, a number of whom have remained with us since then. As well, Frontier College has continued to provide free books for the hundreds of children who have attended the event over the past five years. The Hamilton District School Board has supported the festival (and continues to do so) by encouraging the distribution of announcement postcards to students who bring the cards to the festival in exchange for free books.
A large number of individuals volunteer at the event each year including high school students who assist the artists and receive credit towards the community hours they must accrue in order to graduate.
Professional artists for the free event must apply through a call and are selected by the festival committee. All workshops are hands-on and interactive. The first year approximately 1000 workshops were delivered, and by 2015 the number had increased to approximately 3600.
Each year has seen the event grow in popularity and size with positive feedback from families and children alike.
