Karen St. Vil
Chair
Laura Fields
Co-Chair
The Arts
Linking Art Through Transformative Programming
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The Links support of the arts can be traced to our cultured co-founder Margaret Roselle Hawkins. Her passion for creative expression helped give root to the establishment of The Arts facet in 1964 at the 14th National Assembly. (Full description found on linksinc.org)
The goal of The Greater Hudson Valley Chapter’s Arts facet is to increase and expand art appreciation and awareness of the importance of art throughout Westchester, Dutchess, Putnam, and Rockland counties. We recognize how art is an essential foundation for good mental health, can foster healthy connections, and enrich the lives of our community. Our programming includes Arts integration within our chapter and partnerships with performance and visual arts organizations, supporting art-related educational programs in underrepresented communities and hosting art-related contests.
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Our programs include:
The Emerald Book Club, in partnership with the Membership Facet, is a quarterly book club for GHV Members to read works by African American authors to elevate friendship. The goal is to increase chapter member engagement, as a result elevating friendship and empowering families through mental stimulation and thought-provoking discussion.
The Picture My World program is to promote healthy living/healthy lifestyles through the eyes of student photographers documenting their lives and the meaning of the programmatic theme. In 2023 The program will be hosted for the 7th year at Lincoln-Titus Elementary School and for the 1st year at Nyack Middle School. This enables us to serve both Westchester and Rockland communities. 5th-grade and 6 grade students (25-30 participants total), using the theme, "Healthy Living/Healthy Lifestyles”.
Classics Through The Ages is a National Arts Facet program that the Greater Hudson Valley (NY) Chapter will now be able to host, in person, through a partnership with the Rockland Conservatory of Music. The program's purpose is to expose students in the community to African American Artists and Faculty. We are pleased to launch the E=mc2 Program in Winter 2022 through Spring 2023. This music education program will be offered through a series of modules that culminates over a two weekend OR one-week music camp for youth from Rockland and Westchester communities. In partnership with RCM, our current Services to Youth Facet community partners, and local churches, the E=mc2 Program will be an interactive learning journey with student-faculty and their coaches, which includes RCM instructors currently teaching at the Conservatory to mentor the student-faculty.
Young Masters 2.0 (YM2.0):
Young Masters 2.0 program is an Eastern Area Umbrella program that offers high school students an opportunity to compete for prizes. The areas include: writing (poetry, essay, short stories), dance, music, and drama. The creative work addresses a topic provided, and the first round includes students in the GHVC service area (Dutchess, Putnam, Rockland, or Westchester counties).
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