Cervilio Amador, principle dancer for the Cincinnati Ballet always enjoyed the freedom of movement he found in ballet. But "freedom" took on a new meaning when he defected from Cuba to the United States. Architects at kinneymorrow architecture explain how they transformed an old home into their Houston Texas-based office space. Mequon, Wisconsin, oil painter Pamela Ruschman shares her great love for Wisconsin's landscapes and livestock in her paintings. She brings out the personalities of her beloved farm animals in her works. A person-to-person cultural exchange in Colorado where a music teacher connects with a violin student in Rwanda from inside a re-purposed shipping container with high-tech connections.

Located in their own historic house built in 1842, the Weavers Guild of greater Cincinnati offers classes, workshops, and programs to people of all skill levels. Music therapists work at a children's hospital in Sacramento, California. Learn about the art of Japanese drumming from the performers of the Tampa Taiko ensemble. A series of artworks help Houstonians connect on the bayou.

Welder Jim Moffitt of Fernley, Nevada, has transformed his passion for metal working into 360¡ works of art. See how he creates intricate fire pits with an artistic flair. The City Girl Farm is a place from which chicken footstools emerge. And they donÕt go for chickenfeed either. TheyÕre serious pieces of fiber art. A question of faith lies at the heart of Disgraced , a Pulitzer Prize winning play. ItÕs a wrenching conflict given that the main character at the center of it is at pains to conceal his background because heÕs Muslim. Karen Barsy has been a dance therapist for over 25 years. She works in different places throughout metro Detroit. LetÕs check out Karen and the amazing advances dance therapy can achieve.

Artisodes honors Zachary Botchen, our Student of the Week, from Mainland High School in Daytona Beach, Florida. Roots of Knowledge is a wall of windows at Utah Valley University's library entrance highlighting the events and people that shaped humankind from the days of wooly mammoths and cavemen to the iPhone. The North Market in Columbus is home to a family-run shop specializing in chocolates infused with herbs and spices, resulting in creative flavor combinations like cardamom and orange, and Jamaican curry. Born in Colombia and adopted by a Minnesota family, painter Paul Peterson is creating a Colombian themed series to help his recently found biological family.

The Amenda Quartet is a group from Rochester, New York that is dedicated to performing all of Beethoven's many string quartets. Aspen, Colorado, artist Tania Dibbs explores humanityÕs complicated relationship with nature though her artistic works in oil and encaustic painting, and sculpture. The exhibition called "Stories of a Workforce" celebrates the people who built the Houston Ship Channel as it celebrates 100 years as a deep-water port. Discover how, in his quest to show the world something different, artist Gerry Simpson has done acting, singing, modeling, fashion design, and more Ð and is now helping kids tap into their creative gifts.

Donna Darby, Historic Hudson Valley Visitor Services Coordinator, gives a tour of Kykuit, the Rockefeller Estate, located in Pocantico Hills, NY / Westchester County just north of New York City. Edmond, OK, painter Reian Williams was selected as the artist featured in the 2017 Oscar swag bags. We go inside his studio to meet the man who wooed Tinsel Town with his emotive realism. Now let's hit the ice, where you'll see skaters combine creativity with athleticism like you've never seen beforeÉ check out Michigan Showcase Skating. Meet printmaker Katherine Case of Reno, NV, who creates linoleum carvings. She hand-sets metal type and prints using an antique SP-15 Vandercook proof press; fusing history, art, and textile patterns.

A struggling Cleveland, Ohio, artist finds success documenting the lives of others, who, like him, are trying to get by. At MOPCO Improv Theatre in Schenectady, New York, Kat Koppett runs a consultancy that specializes in using the principles of improv to train and coach business leaders. Kathy Flynn shares stories of discovering Works Progres Administration (WPA) art works lost over time in New Mexico. Reno, Nevada, artist Gina Iwahashi specializes in Shibori, a Japanese tie-dyeing technique resulting in a variety of one-of-a-kind patterns.

Regina Benson uses ancient mark-making techniques, applying rust to fabrics. Ray Tomasso shreds old blue jeans and canvases to make art. They create independently, but often show together. Teo Castellanos' one man show depicts his family and the tragedies he and his brothers faced together. Jazz pianist Eddie Moore is a proud proponent of the Kansas City jazz tradition, he's not one to stay stuck in the past. Lea Rizzo is a tattoo artist who has participated in Rochester, New York-based mural project, Wall Therapy. She dedicates herself to getting art into the streets and into our everyday lives.

BLINK was a four-day event that transformed 20 square blocks of Cincinnati into an open-air art gallery including large-scale, interactive art and light displays. The Art Complex Museum in Duxbury, MA just opened a show called Wood As Muse. There youÕll find a group of sculptors finding their way in and out of the wood. Painter Douglas Bourgeois employs religiou s iconography, Louisiana landscapes and tributes to musicians, writers and other artists in his work. We know Astronaut Scott Kelly from his remarkable year aboard the International Space Station. And with some of that time, he honed his artistic photographic skills.

Can a book have a second life? In the hands of Troy, New York artist Kyleen Greene it can. She takes books of all shapes and sizes and repurposes them into eye-catching paper sculptures. Artist Bassmi of Clearwater, Florida, shares how meditation influences his abstract paintings and how a chance encounter with a famous artist inspired him to pursue his passion. Sculpture Milwaukee is an annual free, outdoor urban art experience where sculpture artists from around the world showcase their works along Wisconsin Avenue, which runs through the heart of downtown Milwaukee. AlbuquerqueÕs innovative ÒWe Are This CityÓ builds community.

Celebrating 60 years in show business, Pat Boone shares his milestone moments on stage, in film and in life. Yudong Shen infuses his Asian brush paintings with color and contrast. He melds traditional tools and subjects with influences of the Minnesota landscape heÕs known for over 10 years. Real estate developer and art collector Ron Pizzuti opens the doors to the Pizzuti Collection in the Short North Arts District in Columbus, Ohio. The Rochester City Ballet of Rochester, New York, is one of just a handful of ballet companies in the United States thatÕs broken a barrier: ItÕs turned the music down and the lights up in the name of inclusion.

This lesson plan is designed to go along with a classroom reading of Hamlet for high school students (grades 9-12). This lesson is designed to help students with their close reading skills and help them to create a deeper understanding of what is going on in one of Hamlet's soliloquies in the play. The lesson can be adapted for any of the soliloquies found in Hamlet (along with other Shakespearean plays). This lesson plan allows students to come outside of the difficulty of Shakespearean language and create meaning through connecting the words to artwork. It would be appropriate as an individual assignment, as well as an assignment for partners or small groups. 

Jamila Lyiscott is a “tri-tongued orator;” in her powerful spoken-word essay “Broken English,” she celebrates — and challenges — the three distinct flavors of English she speaks with her friends, in the classroom and with her parents. As she explores the complicated history and present-day identity that each language represents, she unpacks what it means to be “articulate.”

In this lesson, students will review what limericks are, write their own Limericks, and then use iMovie to turn their limerick into a short movie.

Poetry and music have so much in common! Connect to poetry while listening to some poetry-inspired pieces of music. For grades K-5.

This Nearpod resource allows students to explore the life and history of Shakespeare and helps them prepare to read the tragic play, Hamlet. This resource has interactive discussion boards, short assessments, matching games, virtual tours, and informative videos to help students learn about Shakespeare.
This resource can be completed in a class setting or assigned to individual students as a homework assignment. This resource will give them the needed background information to understand and enjoy reading Shakespeare.

Ever need help explaining poetry to your class? This Nearpod does a great job of explaining poetry in kid friendly language. It is interactive, and helps the students apply what they are learning with pointed and timely questions.

Students in K-5 enjoy this lesson during their "Library Time" every year during the month of April, which is National Poetry Month.

RI.6.6, W.6.1a, W.6.1b, W.6.1e, W.6.4, SL.6.1d, SL.6.4, SL.6.6Voices of Native American Boarding Schools Audio Museum Performance TaskCreate a museum exhibit made up of audio recordings using narratives bystudents of American Indian boarding schools.Steps1. Select a text (a poem, personal narrative, etc.) written by a survivor of the boarding schools.2. Write a preface for the text that introduces it and provides context.3. Write a reflection that explains why the text is meaningful.4. Record yourself reading your preface, text, and reflection aloud using proper and respectful intonation, volume, and pacing.5. Review and re-record your reading, polishing it to perfection!6. Welcome guests to the audio museum! Listen to the recordings of your classmates, and answer questions about three classmates’ recordings on a note-catcher.8. Engage in a whole class discussion about the connections between the performance task and the module overall.PurposeThrough our work before and during the audio museum, we can help make sure that these powerful stories about American Indian boarding schools are exposed to a wider audience.

In this lessons students will review what limericks are, write there own Limericks, and then use iMovie to turn there limerick into a short movie