(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music fades) - In this edition of WLIW Arts Beat, giving Families a space to create.

- [Megan] I think it's important to do this kind of programming for families in any community.

Families coming together with art materials, making stuff alongside each other.

(gentle music) - [Diane] An inspiring chamber orchestra.

- It's constant laughter.

We love each other, we take amazing care of each other, and it happens on stage and off.

(upbeat orchestral music) (audience applauding) - [Diane] Books Transform.

I don't pre-plan anything.

I try to ask myself a question, what would happen if I tried thus and so?

(gentle music) - It's all ahead in this edition of WLIW Arts Beat.

Funding for WLIW Arts BEAT is made possible by viewers like you.

Thank you.

Welcome to WLIW Arts Beat.

I'm Diane Masciale.

Educator Megan Hallett leads Family Art studio, a free afterschool program that allows families to come together to create art in a welcoming environment.

We head to Utah for the story.

(gentle music) - [Megan] What do we need in order to make a pet portrait?

Do we need to be just perfect at drawing and be able to make something look like a photograph?

Kesong, what do we need?

- Shape - And?

- Details.

- Yeah, we just need shapes and details.

And in fact, tonight we have so many shapes for you in case you have any concerns and your students know how to start their first moves with some shapes because we're gonna be working big.

So you'll need shapes and you need details.

And in this case, you'll need each other, all right?

Get ready to work together.

My name is Megan Hallett and I am the visual arts specialist here at Escalante.

I've been here for 12 years.

I'm also the director of Framework Arts, which is a local nonprofit.

And so I bring in programming at night.

And so when I'm here at night, I'm both the students' art teacher during the day and then I'm also doing an art lesson for families at night.

Tonight's theme, it was for the third grade classes and they were doing pet portraits, and they could do pets that they actually have, or pets that they wish that they had.

And they're encouraged to experiment with drawing big.

So that's really their task, to help their parents draw big so that we can use oil pastels, so then also they're teaching their parents how we use the oil pastel.

(indistinct chatter) Prior to being an art teacher at Escalante, I was a curator of education at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, and part of my job there was to do family programming.

So when I became an art teacher, I love working with the students, but I also have always loved working with families and getting a chance to see the students interacting with their parents.

So I started a nonprofit called Framework Arts in order to apply for grants and get funding and to be able to not only bring in other artists from the community, but to pay for food so that we can have snacks and food while we're working and to pay for the supplies.

And Framework Arts does not just Family Art Studio, it also does other community based work.

And occasionally I'll work with adults or I'll work with the city library.

I've done Family Arts Studio even at other schools.

But for the most part, it's our main program and we've been doing it since 2014.

We're trying a different model this year.

And so we'll do eight total for the year.

And there have been times in the past where we might do a multi-week one.

So I've done a ceramics class that lasted four weeks.

So the same families come every Wednesday for four weeks.

This year, the difference in our model is that I'm doing it by grade level, the kids know the assignment ahead of time and are learning it during the day so that they are then the support/co-teacher for their parents at night.

It gives the kids a sense of empowerment, but it also, I mean, I think the kids are relatively comfortable making art.

I don't know how comfortable their parents are.

And so I let the kid negotiate that with their family member instead of me trying to figure it out when I have so many people in the room.

And so I tell the kids during the day, this will be your job.

These are the few things that you'll have to go over.

You should talk to your parents before they get here and let them know we're gonna be using oil pastels, you know, this is what we're gonna be drawing so they can prep a little.

And so, yeah, I'm just trying it with varying degrees of success, I'm sure, depending on how old the kids are or how familiar they are with whatever we're doing, but just trying to use them as co-teachers.

(speaking faintly) - It's so hard to move it.

- Okay, I'll hold it in place.

- From what I've seen the results, we are getting more and more people want more community getting involved, which is not always the same ones that we usually get.

Now it's more new ones.

And the result is, I mean, we get good reviews on it.

They come back and they want more.

Miss Hallett, what are you gonna do another art class?

And that tells me a lot, that they like classes like this, events like this, because it brings us together.

I mean, after COVID, it was bad.

And as soon as we came back to school, she was on top of it.

And it showed all of us, and I'm saying all of us, because I'm also a parent here.

My son comes here.

And I mean, we're all here together.

We all know each other and we trust each other, and that's what we love.

She did something new this year and it's an awesome outcome because all the teachers are showing up too.

That means a lot to the parents as well, because it doesn't only show, oh, only Miss Hallett's here.

It's also their own teacher, which to me it's important because they only see the teacher maybe when it's needed, which is on conference, SEPs, stuff like that.

And when they show up support, it means a lot.

I mean, and like I said, it makes it better and more welcoming.

They feel more comfortable.

Okay, the teacher's here and the parent's here, that's better for us.

- One of the things that I've enjoyed about Family Art Studio, having done it for so many years and so many different topics, is that I have, first of all, I have families.

There are families tonight that have been coming for four or five years.

And in some cases, like for example, the first class I ever did was family portraits.

And then I taught that family portraits class again seven years later.

And the family had two new kids, so they have a family portrait that's on their wall at home that is just a small family when they first started with me with that program, and then they had to redo it so that they could put in additional children.

And so it's part of their story and their experience, not just with the school, but also the neighborhood, because then those kids go on to junior high and high school, and then this is an opportunity for them to come back.

In this class tonight I have an intern and she was at Escalante for many years, and now she's in eighth grade at the middle school, and she comes back and helps me with this program.

So it just builds a strong sense of community over time.

(indistinct chatter) (speaking in foreign language) (gentle music) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music fades) What I would say about the new model that I'm noticing is a couple things.

One, it used to be that I would open it up to multiple grade levels.

Tonight is a third grade team.

The teachers are a team, the kids are a team.

They knew that this was their night and they wanted to make the most of it.

So I do think that it has increased their sense of ownership, and they all know each other, so then they are talking to each other and sharing what they, you know, they already have that relationship.

But then also next week when we get together again, and this is what I've noticed with the evenings prior to this, when we get together again, comments are made about, "Ms. Hallett, did you see what my mom did at the art class?"

Or, "Oh, that piece," 'cause the stuff is on display right now in the art room, they will then be able to say, "Oh, that's the one that my mom and I did."

And so it's just spreading that experience and just letting them take over the real estate in a way that kids should.

And I think that sometimes schools struggle with opportunities for kids to do that.

Like, they don't act like that during the day, which is fine.

It's just a slightly different feel.

And it's nice for them to, you know, it's almost like their concierge for the space.

I think it's important to do this kind of programming for families in any community, families coming together with art materials, making stuff alongside each other.

I think it's particularly important to do it in public schools.

And the reason, there's multiple reasons.

One, a school should function like a community center.

Depending on where you live, especially here in Salt Lake City, you don't have the same easy access to a lot of resources that other people have.

Like, if you were to go from this neighborhood to the Museum of Fine Arts, it's like a half an hour.

It's far outside of your zone of comfort.

And so I see public schools have an opportunity to act almost as a community hub.

And why not?

We have all the supplies, the kids are comfortable here, we've got the desks.

It's easy to communicate with parents and bring them in and to work together.

But even more importantly than that is it's an opportunity for parents to get comfortable in the school.

And the research shows that if your parents are comfortable at your school, it helps your school's success.

And it just contributes to the overall family success for them to be able to come here, and not come here just for a parent-teacher conference, or for a discipline issue, or even, I mean, we do lots of things during the day, but to just come and really settle in and take your coat off and work alongside your kid in this environment, interact with their teachers in a much more casual, fun, kind of chaotic environment.

It's just really good.

(gentle music) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) - And now the artist quote of the week.

(gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) Based in Detroit, Michigan, the Sphinx Virtuosi is a professional, self-conducted chamber orchestra that inspires and uplifts.

Comprised of Black and Latinx artists, it recognizes the power of diversity in the arts and transforms lives in the process.

We visit Sarasota, Florida to catch one of their performances.

(upbeat orchestral music) (audience applauding) (upbeat orchestral music) - The Sphinx Virtuosi is an 18-member ensemble of musicians of color and Latinx, and they speak the language of today's composers.

(upbeat orchestral music continues) When the opportunity came along, we thought, absolutely, it made great sense for us to be a host presenter because of the wonderful tradition of the arts here in Sarasota.

- The Sphinx organization was founded in 1997 by Aaron Dworkin.

At the beginning it was just the strings competition, the Sphinx Competition.

- It was really the first to showcase African American and Latinx string players in this country.

It was always an opportunity for these musicians to be heard, to network, to be able to meet other musicians of color, which is huge, because in this industry, you stand out.

- We were looking at the idea of founding Sphinx and beginning this work in this field, which didn't really exist.

It was how can we bring about systemic impact?

- Some of the statistics that we've seen from the League of American Orchestras have shown that there's 1.8 to 2.5% representation of Black and Latinx musicians in American orchestras.

- I think that a lot of the ways music has been presented has turned it into a bit of a closed off of medium, when in fact, the communicative power of the music is quite vast.

(upbeat orchestral music) - I don't think I realized how much I stood out until going to Sphinx, because you're just kind of conditioned, this is just how it is.

Nine times outta 10, so to find that one time out of 10 where all of a sudden it's like, "Oh, you look like me.

That's great."

(upbeat orchestral music continues) - [Bill] A performance by Sphinx Virtuosi is not like any other orchestra performance.

For one, we are a self-conducted string ensemble.

We use that word intentionally.

Self-conducted, not unconducted, 'cause each one of us is our own conductor.

It's a hyper democratic process or rehearsals.

Are we ghosting that on?

- Every single person shares something?

I never played in anything like that.

Like, I was very shy in the beginning.

I said, (indistinct), what do you think about this?

And I was like, really?

They really want to listen to my opinion?

- Balancing 18 idea and personal opinions can be tricky, but I think what's so amazingly unique about this group is that we do it.

It's peaceful, it's respectful, and in return, the performances we give, they're live.

And the audience I think really enjoys to see the way that we communicate on stage.

- When we get together at the beginning of our tours, there's no real like icebreakers.

When I perform with other groups, other orchestras, other places, you kind of have to like have small talk.

You talk about the weather, you talk about traffic, all that kind of boring stuff.

Here, we drop all of that because we already know why we're here.

- It is truly a family.

I mean, you'll hear everybody say that like, "La familia," but it's true.

We are the crazy family.

We are the Thanksgiving that gets outta control every night.

And it's just because it's constant laughter.

We love each other, we take amazing care of each other, and it happens on stage and off.

- [Bill] We feel like it represented in each other because we've had to climb over similar obstacles to be at the level that we're at.

- What makes a family is sharing good moments and bad moments.

All the struggle that each person had makes us stronger.

And when we share these struggles, we unify our strengths.

(gentle orchestral music) - Well, music in Sarasota's been a long tradition here.

In fact, the Sarasota Orchestra is the oldest continuing orchestra in Florida.

I've been here at the orchestra 22 years.

So I've seen this evolution of the institution, the ability for us to serve a broader and larger demographic region.

It's really been fun to be part of a community where you're part of the growth and the evolution of the art scene, and that's exactly what's happened here over the last several decades.

(gentle violin music) - It means a lot having this group come to our Sarasota community and bring their passion and their love for the music and their love for all people.

- That's really the key, is really making sure that we bring organizations like the Sphinx Organization to these communities so they can see what is possible.

- For me, I have a mission with music to encourage people from my country that they can pursue what they dream.

By Zoom, I teach students that are very far from the big cities.

And my goal in life, actually, it's to do a similar organization in Brazil, I'm working-- - Our community is not just Detroit or Michigan.

We've embarked on this global mission that is the entire world that identifies with our goals.

So if the Sarasota Orchestra or whomever can identify that there are people who can be impacted by having a more global reach and effort in our goals of inclusion, then you shouldn't just stop at your town or your neighborhood.

You should be able to go all the way.

(upbeat orchestral music) (audience applauding) - Learn more at sphinxmusic.org.

Now here's a look at this month's fun fact.

(gentle music) (gentle music continues) Gene Epstein transforms books into works of art by cutting and folding their pages into a variety of shapes and designs.

Up next, we meet the artist and find out more about her creative process.

Gene Epstein has been altering books for nearly 20 years, cutting through the pages and folding them into unique shapes and designs.

- My method of working is I don't pre-plan anything.

I try to ask myself a question, what would happen if I tried thus and so?

What would happen if I folded the books in a certain way, if I made a cut and then made two folds in the book?

- [Diane] She says she first started altering books when a friend offered her and several others some old books a local library no longer needed.

They found new life for those books as art.

- The group of us met every month, and we still do, this is like 17, 18 years later.

We still meet every month and do something with books and make art out of them.

- [Diane] Epstein has created pieces that hang on walls, as well as sculptures and works you page through.

- Mostly, when I'm doing an altered book, these days I'm using a knife, and sometimes I use a straightedge or a ruler.

Often I'll use a bone folder to make the creases, but often I just use my hands for that.

So those are my main tools.

Knife is the main tool and I go through a lot of blades.

- [Diane] While this rendering of Mother Earth is intentional, many of her carvings are spontaneous.

She's currently working on a series using travel books with colorful photo spreads.

- I cut out parts of the pictures and then layer down to other pictures and other pictures in the book and get a palette of color coming through.

I use the shapes that are in the pictures themselves as a starting point.

- [Diane] The daughter of two artists, Epstein received her master's in fine arts from Kent State University.

She's worked in a variety of mediums throughout her life.

And in addition to altering books into works of art, she also creates art books.

- The difference between book art and other forms of visual art is that you have the ability to make a sequence of things.

It's not just something that you either look at on a wall necessarily, although it could be, or walk around it.

It's something that you experience in time.

There's the element of time in it, as if it's got pages that you turn, you're turning pages and getting experience over a period of time.

- [Diane] As a member of another group, Art Books Cleveland, Epstein says she develops new ideas often around a theme the group explores together.

- People think artists are, they can do anything they want.

They have this expansive list of possibilities, but when you have an unlimited amount of possibilities, it's very hard to do anything.

You know, where do I start?

So having a focus, like a topic to work toward is really helpful.

- Her book Art includes different A, B, C books, including one about books, weaving in some of her background in binding, which she also does professionally.

- I came across some wood veneer in a, I think it was a furniture store we were in, or a hardware store, I think it was a furniture store.

And I thought, wow, you could make book pages out of this.

So that was the impetus for that.

And then I thought, well, I'll just put the letter, you know, cut out the big letter and then do something related to books or paper for each letter, each of the letters has its own little explanation of.

And in book binding, when you have the gold letters on the spine, that's done with gold foil and a hot stamp press.

- [Diane] Whether creating new books or designing something new from old books, she compares her process to music improvisation, as she also plays jazz.

- I get surprised all the time, and that's the fun of it.

I think if there weren't those surprises, if it were, you know, I'm going to do a book and then this is what it's gonna look like at the end, and then I just go and do the steps, that I would get bored real quick with that and I would lose interest.

(gentle jazz music) - And here's a look at this week's art history.

(gentle music) (gentle music continues) That wraps it up for this edition of WLIW Arts Beat.

We'd like to hear what you think, so like us on Facebook, join the conversation on X, and visit our webpage to watch more episodes of the show.

We hope to see you next time.

I'm Diane Masciale.

Thank you for watching WLIW Arts Beat.

Funding for WLIW Arts Beat was made possible by viewers like you.

Thank you.

(gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues)