We All Need to Play

We All Need to Play: Wednesday April 15, 2009 From 6:00pm-8:00pm, Conversations on Creative Practice Series Welcomes Kath Connolly, Laurencia Strauss and Sarah Bernstein From The Learning Community Please join us Wednesday April 15 from 6-8pm for a Conversation with Laurencia Strauss (designer), Sarah Bernstein (facilitator), and Kath Connolly (administrator), about building a new playground at The Learning Community, a public elementary charter school in Central Falls, Rhode Island where a fourth grader’s letter inspired Lowe’s to fund a new outdoor play space.

How can artists navigate many voices and ideas?

What are the tensions when a guest designer enters a highly regulated public place?

What does it take to listen to and reflect a community that might not be your own?

How do we cultivate play as a central part of our creative lives?

How can schools be centers of creativity for everyone?

This Conversation shares one example of a community-based, collaborative design process in an urban neighborhood. Learn about the charter school and its unique mission, their approach to recess, and the process the school community used to create an outdoor place for imagination. Hear reflections from:

Sarah Bernstein, an educator who believes that supporting the social and emotional development of young people is crucial to their success. Since 2006, Sarah has worked at The Learning Community leading projects related to non-academic time. Sarah has a background in Out of School Time programming, and holds a teaching certificate in Secondary Social Studies from Brown University.

Kath Connolly, the Director of Partnerships at The Learning Community who is interested in public education as a civil right and in the development of creative communities. Kath was a founding board member of New Urban Arts and has held various positions in education and community work in Rhode Island over the past 20 years.

Laurencia Strauss, an artist and designer whose work focuses on negotiation of social and ecological issues. In addition to her own studio and public work, she is on the faculty at the Boston Architectural College. Laurencia holds degrees in Sculpture from California College of the Arts and in Landscape Architecture from the Rhode Island School of Design.

Conversations are located at 743 Westminster Street and are free and open to the public.

New Urban Arts Series: Conversations on Creative Practice is a series in which unique individuals share how they integrate creativity into their personal and professional lives and is made possible through generous support of the Rhode Island Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. This event is organized by New Urban Arts Fellows, Andrew Oesch and Peter Hocking.