While growing up in Hong Kong, Libby Lai-Bun Chiu’s school’s performance of a Chinese play incorporated all school subjects in the production. Under the Chinese language teacher’s guidance, students translated the literary work into English and performed it, visual arts students designed the sets and physics classes handled the special effects.
Lai-Bun Chiu’s story is an example of how the arts can be integrated successfully with other school subjects. The executive director of Urban Gateways’ Center for Arts Education, Lai-Bun Chiu was the keynote speaker to a group of 25 on Monday at an Evanston Performing Arts Coalition forum titled “The Arts, Evanston & Our Schools,” held at the Music Institute of Chicago’s Evanston Campus, 617 Grove St.
Lai-Bun Chiu said integration of arts with other subjects preserves the integrity of both disciplines. Integration is one of several types of art programs Lai-Bun Chiu discussed. These include sequential curriculum, in which students learn aesthetic skills; a utilitarian method, in which art is used to teach practical skills such as learning a second language; and discipline-based models where art is a “rigorous and intellectually challenging discipline,” she said.
Lai-Bun Chiu said parents and the community also are vital to the arts in school. “When you work with parents, you’re gaining a whole new group of teachers and supporters,” she said.
EPAC planned the forum after the issue of arts and education surfaced in an Evanston Arts Council meeting several months ago.
“We wanted to get both professional and community voices,” EPAC President Anthony Adler said. “We wanted well-informed and different points of views to make it a real exchange.”
A panel following Lai-Bun Chiu’s speech featured Dr. Allan Alson, superintendent of Evanston District 202; Anne Lefkovitz, drama chair for Evanston/Skokie District 65; Pat O’Connell, director of Shanti Foundation for Peace; and Lorian Stein-Schwaber, director of the Music Institute of Chicago’s Evanston campus. The panel was moderated by Derrick Blakley, WMAQ-TV weekend news anchor.
Evanston Township High School offers three levels of arts classes and currently is running a faculty art show in the school.
Lefkovitz said that although D65 has one of the best arts programs anywhere, some arts areas, such as dance, are neglected. She also said schools tend to look toward adjunct Chicago artists rather than hiring full-time teachers.
“There are imperfections,” Lefkovitz said. “Staffing is generous, and yet at the elementary level, it falls short of generosity at times.”
