Cultural connections: celebrating creativity around the world.The International Child Art Festival, sponsored by the International Child Art Foundation, was held September 9-12, 2003, on the National Mall National Mall: see National Parks and Monuments (table). in Washington, DC. The three-day event three-day event a competition in the pleasure horse sport comprising usually one day each for dressage, cross country and show jumping. was a celebration of the creativity of youth around the world. The festival brought together youth, parents, and teachers from more than fifty countries and twenty-eight states. Harriet Mayor Fulbright, the chair of the festival, has written that the International Child Art Festival was a natural outgrowth of the International Child Art Foundation's (ICAF ICAF International Child Art Foundation ICAF Industrial College of the Armed Forces ICAF International Comic Arts Festival ICAF International Capoeira Angola Foundation ICAF International Committee on Aeronautical Fatigue ICAF Indo Cine Appreciation Foundation ) mission and work. Born out of the desire to bring the world's children together for creative and collaborative activities, the festival showed children and adults alike that the basic human need for companionship, collaboration, and creativity is as essential as food, water, and shelter. The participants--ages eight through fourteen not only painted and played with each other, but spoke fervently about their longing for peace. The whole experience renewed ICAF's determination to nurture the creativity and imagination of the children of the world. ICAF transformed the National Mall into a tented tent·ed adj. 1. Covered with tents. 2. Sheltered in tents. 3. Resembling a tent. arena for arts learning and global education. The tents housed the international children's art exhibition on the theme "Me in the New Millennium," an arts and crafts arts and crafts, term for that general field of applied design in which hand fabrication is dominant. The term was coined in England in the late 19th cent. as a label for the then-current movement directed toward the revivifying of the decorative arts. studio, a performance stage, and a school for educational workshops and leadership training conducted by international experts. Artist and author George Rodrique directed the child artists in building a pyramidal mural focusing on the universal themes of Mother Earth, Children's Wellness, and Children's Peace. Among the art educators participating in the events were Dr. Martyna Bellesis (Indiana), Dr. Kathleen Thompson (Georgia), Dr. Lou Everett and Dr. Cynthia Bickley-Green [North Carolina North Carolina, state in the SE United States. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean (E), South Carolina and Georgia (S), Tennessee (W), and Virginia (N). Facts and Figures Area, 52,586 sq mi (136,198 sq km). Pop. ), Dr. Robin Clark (North Dakota), and Sergey Gagauzov (Russia). As with any international gathering of this nature, the most important activities were the conversations and sharing among the participants. Art teachers from all over the world were able to share their concerns and interests. They were enlightened by seeing the work of the children and learning about the endeavors of their peers in other parts of the world. For more information about the festival and other activities of the International Child Art Foundation go to www.icaf.org. Cynthia Bickley-Green is a professor of art at East Carolina University East Carolina University is a public, coeducational, intensive research university located in Greenville, North Carolina, United States. Named East Carolina University by statue and commonly known as ECU or East Carolina in Greenville, North Carolina
Greenville, one of the fastest growing cities in North Carolina, is the county seat of Pitt County, and is the principal city of the Greenville, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. . |
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