Programs

Leap’s residency programs place teaching artists and architects into local schools to enhance the classroom curriculum through creative projects. The length of a residency can range from a single workshop to an entire school year, from a single classroom to the entire school population, depending on the needs of the school or program.

Leap is represented in schools by dynamic educators who are professional painters, sculptors, performers, dancers and architects. Each Leap artist/architect provides a specific expertise, providing the students and teachers the opportunity to jointly learn new concepts and skills.

Our main goal is to bring the arts into the classroom with hands-on, high quality and collaborative programs that meets the needs of students and teachers. No two Leap residencies are alike – each residency is custom designed to merge the artist’s skills and knowledge with the school’s academic curriculum or interests of the teachers and students. Different time constraints, budgets, artists/architects and areas of expertise all contribute to a residency's identity and make each child's experience unique.

Each residency is based on direct collaboration between the Leap artist/architect and each classroom teacher. The Leap artist/architect meets with collaborating teachers to exchange information regarding Leap program goals and the current classroom curricula. In addition, the artist/architect shares his/her skills and creative concepts during the residency to enhance the learning experience of the students. Each classroom engages in a custom designed residency that integrates the arts with academic curriculum, addresses grade level needs, and brings and exciting range of new activities to the classroom.

Leap programs reach students, teachers, families and administrators of many different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Residency projects are designed with this in mind and focus on enhancing cultural awareness and celebrating diversity within local communities while promoting a widened sense of self and environment for each student. Performances and culminating events executed by the artists/architects and students as well as completed visual arts projects help communities to recognize their children as individuals with special talents and newly increased levels of self-confidence, thus encouraging family involvement in all aspects of students’ lives.