ArtReach

Program Calendar: ArtReach is an annual program with new participants each year. Activities roughly coincide with the spring high school semester, beginning in February, and ending with the ArtReach exhibition at cWOW in June through July.

Grade-level focus: ArtReach was specifically designed for high school students, preferably juniors and seniors. The program has often been praised for tackling a difficult, and under-served constituency.

Student Participant Income Limits: As a community-based organization attentive to the needs of our Newark home, the ArtReach program includes numerous students from families who fall within the "low-to-moderate" income levels set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. ArtReach was designed from the outset to include inner-city children and we require income verification as a part of the application process.

Stipends: Because many of the students targeted for this program are from low income families, they are often compelled to contribute to family income through after-school jobs. To make it possible for them to participate in ArtReach, and devote the necessary time to the program, we offer each student artist a modest stipend of $400 which includes the cost of art supplies and is paid in four installments during the semester. The Artist Mentors also receive a $400 stipend to cover some of their expenses in creating work for the exhibition. Each ArtReach lecturer receives $100 for their high school presentation. Each student Intern receives $100.

Measuring Success: The students in the program have consistently used their ArtReach experience and materials to enhance applications for college and employment. The Interns, for example, use the cards and catalogues they design, as well as their work experience, and have had success marketing the computer skills gained in the program. One Intern from 1996 credits her ArtReach experience for being accepted to a college computer art program and a summer internship at the Walt Disney Company. In 1997 a student received a NAACP Gold Medal for artwork created in the ArtReach Program. The students in the ArtReach exhibition use the artworks they created to enhance their portfolios and use the catalogues and press reviews as self-promotional materials (New York Times and Star Ledger).

Program Awards: The ArtReach Program has received the prestigious "CITATION OF EXCELLENCE" award for receiving the highest evaluation from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. It has been called a "model" education program by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. ArtReach was featured in the 1995 Prudential Foundation annual report and received the "Excellence In Service and Commitment To The Community" award from both Prudential and the Stephen & Mary Birch Foundation.

Program Independence: ArtReach is operated solely by cWOW with recommendations and assistance from teachers and principals as to the selection of students and the monitoring of their success. All funding for ArtReach is raised by cWOW, which administers the program. No fees are paid, or funding received, by the participating high schools to cWOW.

Program Coordinator: handles scheduling, conducts interviews, acts as liaison with artists, students and teachers, monitors progress of art projects, and provides an annual narrative that forms the basic text for the exhibition catalogue designed by the Student Interns.

Selection of Students and Artists: Students are selected through an application process involving application forms, interviews, and teacher recommendations. cWOW, in operation for over 30 years, has one of the largest artist databases in the entire state and region, and exhibits the work of over 200 artists each year. Our vast experience in dealing with artists enables us to select the best of a very large pool for participation in ArtReach, which is done through a process of interviews with cWOW's director, participating high school teachers and administrators, and our ArtReach Coordinator. ArtReach is an equal opportunity program.