DCCA: Contemporary Connections

Contemporary Connections is supported, in part, by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency committed to promoting and supporting the arts in Delaware. This program is also supported by ING DIRECT Kids Foundation, JPMorgan Chase Foundation, Principal Financial Group Foundation Inc., and the Wilmington Flower Market.

Contemporary Connections

For more than fifteen years, the Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts has implemented its Contemporary Connections interdisciplinary arts program in Delaware public schools as a vehicle to expose students to the connections between art and other core subjects such as math, science, and the humanities. In 2008, the DCCA has paired four Bancroft Elementary School teachers with two professional artists to develop arts-integration units in math, science, and social studies. In February, artist Penni Gioffre worked with Bancroft 5th grade teacher Elizabeth Van Aulen to develop an illustration and design unit called Drawing and Design with Science in Mind that explored the intersection of science and art.

Currently, artist Penni Gioffre is working in another Bancroft 5th grade classroom, with teachers Pat Holland and Lauren Fontana, to create a mural that fuses geometry and art. Philadelphia artist Stephanie Beck is working in two Bancroft classrooms—with Brandie Stasney’s 5th grade class and Amy Maher and Katie Rhoad’s 3rd grade class. Beck, whose own work deals with mapping, is excited to begin exploring social studies and geography themes through art projects with both classes.

For more information about participating in the 2009 – 2010 program, or to bring students for a guided tour of the DCCA galleries, call our education department at (302) 656-6466 ext. 7120