Arte Postale: An International Visual Arts and Writing Exchange

Participate in an exciting cross-cultural experience that addresses education standards!

Cutting Grass Dustin, New Albany, Indiana, USA

Arte Postale is an international artwork exchange program designed for students with and without disabilities in any classroom. Students ages 7-14 years participate in visual and language arts activities based on a theme, that encourage thoughtful reflection on their lives and cultures. Students take part in multiple exchanges over the course of the program which culminates in the creation of a final piece of artwork. The completed pieces, each with an accompanying description sheet, are exchanged with a partner classroom in another country. VSA arts then selects one piece of art from each classroom to be showcased in its annual children’s exhibition in Washington, D.C.

The Arte Postale program creates valuable cross-cultural educational experiences by forming relationships among classrooms as they study and communicate about their lives. Students of all abilities learn to express themselves in artistic ways and are enriched by an inclusive approach to art in the classroom. Their creativity and views of the world develop as their imagination travels to remote lands and they discover the richness of their partner classroom’s culture.

Arte Postale engages students with and without disabilities in the learning process while focusing on educational goals by:

• Weaving seamlessly into standards-based curricula for subjects like language arts and social studies, in addition to visual arts;
• Lending itself to a variety of teaching approaches, including differentiated and scaffolded instruction; and,
• Providing resources through the teacher guide, such as tips to create and sustain inclusive classrooms where students' diverse learning needs and cultural backgrounds can be respected.

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Night of Al-Henna Eman, Jahra, Kuwait

Theme

Everyday we are surrounded by thousands of scents and the human nose can identify more than 10,000 different smells. Often we pay attention to the sights or sounds around us, but forget about the scents. Whether you realize it or not your sense of smell plays an important part in how you experience the world. In this year’s Arte Postale program you will use your sense of smell and imagination to visually share aspects of your culture with others.

What scents can you think of in your everyday life, at home, at school, at holidays, etc.? It can be a good or bad smell. Do you have a favorite scent? Maybe every Saturday morning your dad mows the lawn. Sometimes he lets you ride on the lawnmower with him and the smell of cut grass fills the air. You love the smell of cut grass because it makes you think about all of the great times you had working with your dad.

Camp Fire Kara, Casper, Wyoming, USA

Or is there a scent that immediately brings a special memory to mind? The scent of henna might remind the girl of having her hand painted the day before her cousin’s wedding, because in keeping with her culture’s traditions, she and her relatives painted each other with henna to celebrate the occasion.

Think about the scents you notice around you. The girl and her dog are sitting next to the campfire roasting marshmallows. While she may not realize it, she probably appreciated the mixed smells of the woods, campfire, and marshmallows.

What might the scents of your world tell your partner classroom about your culture?

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TIMELINE

• June 26, 2009: Deadline for enrollment in Arte Postale 2009-2010.
   
• September: Teachers receive an easy-to-follow guide with step-by-step instructions on how to successfully incorporate Arte Postale into lesson plans, allowing their students to explore different aspects of their culture through visual and language arts.
   
• September-November: Students develop skills in visual and language arts as they move through Arte Postale’s activities and participate in multiple points of exchange. Students will increase their understanding of culture and how it relates to their family, community, country, and world. In the final activity, each student plans and creates a piece of artwork to be exchanged with a partner classroom in another country.
   
• November: All completed artwork is sent to VSA arts who then sends it to the international partner classroom.
   
• December: VSA arts selects one piece of artwork from each classroom for its culminating art exhibition in June.
   
• February: Classrooms receive their partner classroom’s artwork.
   
• June: An art exhibition in Washington, D.C. takes place.

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ENROLLMENT INFORMATION

Enrollment for Arte Postale 2009–2010 is closed.

If you are interested in participating in the 2010–2011 program year, please contact Melissa Del Rios at artepostale@vsarts.org.

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EN ESPAÑOL

La inscripción para 2009–2010 está cerrada.

Si está interesado en participar en el programa de 2010–2011, por favor póngase en contacto con Melissa Del Rios a artepostale@vsarts.org.

EN FRANÇAIS

L’inscription pour 2009–2010 est fermée.

Si participation dans le programme 2010–2011 vous interesse, veuillez contacter Melissa Del Rios à artepostale@vsarts.org.

Download the Arte Postale 2009–2010 flyer in Arabic.

Download the Arte Postale 2009–2010 flyer in Arabic (Pdf format).

Download the 2009–2010 Theme in Arabic.