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By Antonio R. Harvey | OBSERVER STAFF WRITER
The Sojourner Truth Multi-cultural Arts and Development Center (STMADC) held its first Sojo Arts Festival behind the incubator on 24th Street and Florin Road.
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Serafine Simien, who brought her 2-, 3- and 7-year-old children to the Sojo Arts Festival, delivers a poem. |
The event featured an array of activities such as face painting, a magic show, games, music, food, poetry and a talent show. In addition, children and adults participated in doll making, masking making, jewelry design, computer design, mural painting, textile painting and paper mache collage.
The event also featured a tutorial service provided by Pyramid to Success Family Services. Pyramid to Success also offers health, HIV awareness, parenting, mentoring, sports and volunteer assistance programs.
The Sojourner Truth Multi-cultural Arts Development Center is a sector of the Sojourner Truth National Youth Art Alliance. The organization's mission is to educate the children of the inner-city community through visual and performing arts. The Alliance and many educators are aware that most educationally-challenged children have made substantial improvements once art was made a part of their curriculum.
Based on this fact, the organization had undertaken the task of introducing a large variety of arts programs with the notion that these programs will make many students well rounded participants in the educational process.
Visual artists Shonna McDaniel, who has been a professional artist for 25 years is the director of the Development Center. McDaniels has held art classes locally for inner-city youth for more than 10 years and she taught art in Germany for more than four years.
"We feel that this is a positive way to expose kids to visual and performing arts," McDaniels said. "With cutbacks and the elimination of art programs at schools, it's hard kids to learn about art and their art skills."
Art instruction resumed Oct. 11 at 3400 9th Ave. featuring visual arts, graphic design, linguistic art, folk art and choral and voice training for youth choir. |