The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens is proud to partner with MOCA Jacksonville to host a Start With the Arts training this November. This initiative is funded by VSA, a program of the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. Start With the Arts is an instructional resource developed by VSA Arts that uniquely combines literacy, family involvement, and inclusive strategies for teaching the arts to young children, including children with disabilities.
Museum Educator Matthew Patterson, who specializes in disabilities training for children, will work with 35 Duval County teachers who are committed to taking students to The Cummer and MOCA, providing a link between out-of-classroom learning experiences with in-classroom teaching. His session will include art making activities, combined with literary and musical components that will take place in the galleries and gardens. The MOCA component will focus on working with students with autism, based on their program in its fifth year, Rainbow Artists: Art and Autism Across the Spectrum.
The goal of the program is to increase appreciation of and involvement in the visual arts for children in grades pre-kindergarten through fifth. The trainings also directly link to the new Teacher Academy DCPS initiative and the STEAM Cultural Passport program that will give Title 1 elementary school children and their teachers access to cultural organizations throughout Jacksonville.
