Outreach
GHIA believes strongly in the power of art education and makes every effort to ensure the visual arts are accessible to all audiences, and specifically those members who come from poor socioeconomic conditions. To that end, GHIA provides free visual arts instruction to Richmond County students that do not have formal art instruction and otherwise would not, through the outreach education program, Artist in Residence.
Artist in Residence places an instructor in one or more selected elementary schools during a full school year. We are currently providing art instruction to all 3rd and 4th grade students at Monte Sano Elementary and 3rd-5th grades students at Sand Hills Elementary. We reach approximately 80-100 students at Monte Sano Elementary but are working to include the entire school through increased grant funding. Sand Hill Elementary is a school for students with special needs and our instructor works with around 20 students with disabilities ranging from learning, emotional and behavioral problems to autism and brain injuries.
In addition, when funds are available the Institute partners with the Boys and Girls Club and the Family Y of Augusta to provide after-school art lessons and rotate through several schools offering free art instruction. All outreach curriculums are modeled to reflect National and Georgia standards in Visual Arts, with interdisciplinary lessons integrating basic visual art concepts with academic curriculum in math, science, social studies and literature.
By collaborating with local schools and community centers, the Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art takes art education into the community where it is most needed. The outreach programs educate students bound by social and financial constraints and allow them to participate in a positive cultural after-school and in school activity where they experience success.
