Host a "battle of the bands" at a local coffee shop,
eatery, outdoor park or church.
Host "Family Day at the park" offering a variety of
arts experiences like face painting, leaf rubbings, sing-a-longs or instrument
making! Invite local musicians, actors, storytellers and dancers to participate.
Organize a storytelling session at a local bookstore, library
or school for both children and adults to share their personal tales of life
in your community.
Hold a public poetry reading. Invite local writers, teachers,
students and parents and grandparents.
Hire an artist from the Illinois Arts Council's Artstour or STAR
program for the week, providing space for the artist to demonstrate and exhibit
his/her work.
Host performances by theater groups, singers, storytellers and
dancers.
Have a parade with school or community marching bands and other
school/community groups.
Hire an artist to design a mural and invite community members
of all generations join in its creation.
Sponsor a mask festival in which participants create masks and
hold a parade through the community or display them in school hallways or other
public buildings.
Sponsor an open forum/discussion and the role of the arts in your
community.
Donate goods and services to local arts organizations. They could
use your support!
Organize a storytelling session for children and adults and invite
older adults to share stories of your community's past.
Put together a tour of local artists' studios. Consider partnering
with other communities.
Encourage local performing groups to hold open rehearsals during
Arts Week.
Host an informal reading of a play.
Have children and artists design Arts Week posters and ask local
businesses to judge and display them during Arts Week.
Hold a festival featuring demonstrations of traditional crafts
practiced in your community.
Sponsor performances by artists in senior centers, local hospitals
and nursing homes.
Contact your local Arts Council or Park District! Explore the
opportunities around you and discover the arts all around us!
Have students write their own poems and compile them into a book.
Invite parents to observe art, music, theater and literature classes
at an Open School Art Day.
Host an open house in your school and invite parents to visit
music, theater, arts and literature classes.
Encourage students to interview local artists for the school paper.
Make a self-guided walking tour map of local cultural sites and
buildings with special architectural features like court houses, religious buidlings
and older homes. Ask local businesses to distribute maps.
Assign students a group research project to find, meet and interview
a local artist then learn more about their art form. They can create posters,
stories and skits about their project and present them to the class.
Organize an exhibition of student artwork to be displayed at the
school or in a local business, mall or coffee shop.
Hire an artist-in-residence during Arts Week using the STAR or
Quick Start program from the Illinois Arts Council.
Create a family tree album with photos and stories.
Take a group of children to hear a children's concert at a symphony,
church or library.
Research Illinois' rich artistic heritage on-line or at the library.
Encourage silent reading time in the classroom or at home.
Arrange a field trip to a local theater, museum or gallery where
students can observe exhibits, tour the facility and even go backstage!
Set aside an area of your house or classroom as a quiet reading
place or a messy art zone.
Create a Halloween costume.
Check out a book of fun arts and crafts activities from the library
and bring them into the classroom!
Design and create Thanksgiving or Christmas cards to send to your
friends and family.
Find a classic story on tape and let students draw and sketch
while listening.
Invite a representative from a local theater, dance company, museum
or other organization to talk about their organization or to present a lecture/demonstration.
