Photosynthesis, We Really Need This!

Youth in Arts is so excited to release our album of songs from Photosynthesis, The Musical!

The songs are all available for free download on the Bandcamp website. Inspired by Living Sunlight: How Plants Bring the Earth to Life by Molly Bang & Penny Chisholm, the songs were written and composed by Youth in Arts staff and Mentor Artist Miguel Martinez to accompany our theater show Photosynthesis, The Musical. In this tale of a Magical journey, students and their science teacher Ms. Frizzle travel to a world where they can experience and understand the processes and importance of photosynthesis; transforming their skepticism and boredom into understanding and enthusiasm!

Join us in celebrating the magic of photosynthesis with these fun songs. Miguel Martinez, Nydia Gonzalez, together with a talented group of singers and musicians, sing songs that teach us about how plants make energy, sugar, fiber and how the sun keeps life circling ’round. Help to bring science alive and sing along with us!

Thanks to the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation for making this recording possible and accessible to all! www.moore.org

If you are interested in learning more about how Youth in Arts can bring the magic of photosynthesis to your school with arts, contact us at yia@youthinarts.org

http://youthinarts.bandcamp.com/album/photosynthesis-the-musical

`Til Dawn Opens Supervisors Meeting

`Til Dawn prior to singing at City Hall

Til Dawn sang “If You’re Out There” by John Legend as a welcome to the Marin County Board of Supervisors new year on Tuesday January 6. Incoming Supervisor Katie Rice saw ‘Til Dawn’s performance at a party and was so impressed that she wanted to honor her first meeting as Board President, with the group singing “If You’re Out There.” She wanted to acknowledge their incredible talent, and give the gift of their song through the public meeting venue. The song also provided a tribute to outgoing Board President Supervisor Kate Sears.

Here’s a story about the swearing in.

Check out of a video of the meeting, `Til Dawn can be heard at the 27:42 minute mark on the recording.

Harmela singing “Are You Out There?”

Circles at San Jose Middle School

By YIA Mentor Artist Sophie Cooper

: This fall we explored the art of circles.

: Making concentric circles with oil pastels and liquid watercolor.

: Many students have made wonderful progress on color choice and identification

: We added small circles on top, learning about color blending.

: This student discovered how to make green.

: Everyone’s circle is unique.

: A project inspired by the traditional yarn paintings created by the Huichol people of Mexico.

: It took great concentration to expand the spirals!

: And sometimes circles want to be surrounded by squiggles .

: Christina is visually impaired, and often responds to art making through engaging her in song.

: On our final day of class, we all worked on the same canvas!

: Sophie explores warm colors on her segment of the canvas.

: The completed work was a landscape of splendid color…

: Each square wonderfully unique…

: Each blending so beautifully together.

The final piece, inspired by Wassily Kandinsky’s Color Study: Squares With Concentric Circles, will be hung in the classroom to brighten the lives of the students and staff. Oil pastel and watercolor on canvas.

Inspired by Nature, College of Marin

By YIA Mentor Artist Sophie Cooper

: At the College of Marin in Indian Valley, Novato, students are surrounded by breathtaking nature.

: We did not have to wonder far to collect art objects from the natural world.

: Students then assembled their found objects into sculptural collages.

: This piece, entitled “Ghost of Wind” by Nevon was part of our study on sunsets, silhouettes, and horizons.

: We used oil pastels to explore color fades and combinations. This piece is entitled “Happy Sunset” by Christopher

: We cut horizons out of black construction paper to create a sky-scape silhouette.

: For our final project, we created color textured sheets of purples, greens, and black with gold.

: These sheets were used to cut out mountains, trees and animals for their watercolor-faded backgrounds.

: After adding several bushes to his landscape, Ron ponders what to do next.

: “Outback with Kangaroos” by Ron

: “Mount Fuji with Godzilla” By Herson

: “Highland with Falcon” by Courtney

Photosynthesis, We Really Need This!

`Til Dawn Opens Supervisors Meeting

Circles at San Jose Middle School

Inspired by Nature, College of Marin

Recent Posts

Blog Archives