Arts Coordinators
Our UICS Arts Coordinators collaborate in creating an arts-focused curriculum rooted in visual, musical, and dramatic arts that integrate seamlessly into our school’s creative curriculum. This includes daily classroom instruction, teacher training, and family engagement activities. Our Art Coordinators also work collectively with each Center’s Licensed Clinical Social Worker to address the special needs of students who have experienced trauma. Having two dedicated Arts Educators who plan closely with our faculty ensures students benefit from the arts through:
- Evening arts and culture experiences
- Monthly Artists-in-Residence
- Field Trips
- Art experiences with activities designed to align with developmental needs
- Stay and Play Studio, a weekly art and play studio for parents and children to experience the joy of creativity together
- Conscious Creativity, a program that supports students who need extra help with their social/emotional development
- The Studio, a UICS-St. Mark Center makerspace designed for creative thought & group/individual art experiences
UICS welcomes a monthly series of Artists-in-Residence to share artistically and culturally-enriching experiences year-round as part of our Creative Curriculum. Artists that have been welcomed and are now a part of our school family include Starlight – Just Imagine (improv), SugEasy Singleton – Break Free Kansas City (breakdance and hip hop), Amanda Garner (yoga), The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (visual arts), Heart of America Shakespeare Festival (interactive storytelling), Kansas City Public Theatre (creative dramatics), Theatre of the Imagination (graduation play and movie), J.T. Daniels (muralist/visual arts), Drum Safari (interactive percussion performance), Kansas City Ballet (dance-a-story) and many more.
Our Tiny Tuesday Concert Series brings the world of art and performance directly to students. Participants have included the Kansas City Ballet, the Kansas City Civic Orchestra, Alvin Ailey Trio, and the American Jazz Museum’s Jazz Storytelling. Our Fall Festival (a community block party held annually in October) and other arts and culture events are often larger in scale and provide opportunities for engagement with families and the broader community.