Students Introduced to Place Game Concept
March 01, 2008
When Omaha Performing Arts brought the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra to the Holland Performing Arts Center for a series of performances last month, students from throughout the metro did more than enjoy the show. They were challenged to think about their city, how it grows and changes over time, and the importance of adding their voices to this process.
The activities are part of an Arts Exploration Project that’s giving teachers and students an opportunity to extend the educational experience into their classroom and connect the arts to other curriculum concepts. “Cities, Culture and Community: The Art and Improvisation of City Planning” is using the history of New Orleans – from its role as a port city through the rise of the jazz culture and the impact of Hurricane Katrina – to examine the factors that affect a city’s growth and development.
“The arts offer such a wonderful springboard for students to learn more about the world and the community of which they are a part,” said Michael Miller, education manager at Omaha Performing Arts. “At Omaha Performing Arts, we strive to create multilayered learning opportunities for students and educators to discover history, cultural traditions, philosophies and other complex ideas through music, dance, theater and other performing arts. This ‘Art & Improvisation of City Planning’ project starts with discovering jazz and its origins, and then goes much deeper and broader to challenge young people to recognize the connections between cultures and cities and how they might be a part of it all.”
After attending one of the orchestra’s February performances, the students have begun taking a look at Omaha – its growth, the challenges it faces and the tools that can help it become a stronger community.
Enter the Place Game, a free service of Omaha by Design. The workshop is an organized way of planning improvements to any neighborhood by listening to the people who use its public spaces.
Later this month, Omaha by Design will take its Place Game workshop to Crestridge Elementary School, Girls Inc., Skinner Magnet Center and Westside Middle School. The students at each location will explore a specific site there, taking note of how it looks and feels as well as how it’s used. A team of Omaha by Design’s Place Game facilitators will then lead a discussion of what the students liked and disliked about each site, and what three things they could do to improve the site. Following the discussion, the students will be asked to either illustrate or write down their suggestions. The suggestions will be compiled and featured on Omaha by Design’s web site later this spring.
“We’re excited about introducing the concepts outlined in the Place Game workshop to a younger audience,” said Teresa Gleason, program manager at Omaha by Design. “It’s never too early to learn how you can become an advocate for positive change in your community.”
Miller said he hopes the Place Game exercise will help the students think about ways to approach their larger assignment, which is creating proposals for how to improve their neighborhoods and the city as a whole. These proposals will be on display at Omaha Performing Arts’ annual Day of the Arts celebration Sunday, May 4, at the Holland Center.
Omaha by Design conducts Place Game workshops from March through October. There is no charge for the service. The host organization is responsible for securing a location for the workshop and recruiting participants. For more information or to schedule a workshop in 2008, contact Teresa Gleason at 402.342.3458 or teresa@omahabydesign.org.