Time-In Children's Art Initiative
Changing Kids’ Perceptions of the World – and of Themselves
The Difference They Make/Why We Fund Them
To develop independent, imaginative, flexible minds, participation in the arts at an early age is essential. Yet in many of our schools in New York City, arts instruction is being curtailed, or eliminated altogether.
A practicing artist and professional opera singer, Cyndie Bellen-Berthézène grew up with a love of the arts and knew how much her own life had been enriched by her experience. In 1997, Cyndie introduced New Yorkers to HiArt!, an introduction to high art aesthetics for very young children that combined opera through hands-on art with museum visits and gallery hops specializing in 20th century art, and that would soon be named as the Best Children’s Arts Program in New York. Although Cyndie personally provided scholarships to the program for children whose parents couldn’t afford the tuition, she quickly realized that an entire sector of New York City children - those in at-risk, underserved sections of the city – had no possibility of partaking of this vital, empowering enrichment. Plan in hand, Cyndie undertook to raise the funds necessary to make sure that the city’s neediest, most at-risk children would be given the same opportunities as their more fortunate peers. In 2006, a tiny Time In Children's Art Initiative program debuted, providing the exact same HiArt! enrichment and materials to one of the most failing schools in Harlem. Cyndie has progressively shifted her focus almost exclusively to Time In and today, sharing her love of the arts with at-risk kids has become her life’s work; Cyndie now teaches 200 kids who otherwise wouldn’t have instruction in the arts.
A Morning at Time In
The group then moves to the creation phase, where the children are immersed in drawing, painting, collage, sculpture, among other art forms in small groups with specially trained resident teaching artists. The classroom frequently expands past the studio’s walls to include many of New York City cultural institutions. On regular field trips, children attend performances, museums, and galleries for the first time in their lives.
As children interact with the plastic and performing arts, they also develop and refine motor skills, hone their powers of observation, and gain a sense of themselves as independent, self-motivated learners. Their knowledge of real world works of art, music, literature and dance increases their self-esteem. And past experience has shown that the Time In methodology results in quantifiable improvements in children’s academic performance and sense of social well-being.
Our Goal for Time-In
As more and more kids in poor neighborhoods are denied a life-changing education in the arts, the need for organizations like Time-In will only grow more urgent. The Catalog will provide significant funding to Time-In for three years so that the organization can expand its reach into these schools. We hope to double the number of children whose lives are transformed by Time-In by 2014.MISSION STATEMENT
