Story by Jonah Weinberg 

The Progressive Arts Alliance All-Stars will be on the mic and on the turntables mixing things up at the 2010 Star-Spangled Spectacular show, on Thursday, July 1 at Cleveland’s Public Square.  This free public program has become an Independence Day celebration staple, featuring the Cleveland Orchestra and a fireworks show, but this year the show will also highlight the talents of regional youth, including the five All-Star performers from PAA’s annual RHAPSODY Hip-Hop Summer Arts Camp.

The primary sponsor for this year’s show is Cuyahoga Arts & Culture (CAC), which was created by the voters of Cuyahoga County in 2006 to provide public funding arts programs all over the county.  PAA, the orchestra, and all of the other groups performing at the Star-Spangled Spectacular are recipients of CAC funding this year.  “We were very excited to be able to sponsor the Spectacular this year,” said CAC Executive Director Karen Grahl-Mills.  “We thought this would be an excellent opportunity to share the spotlight with some of the talented youth performers that we help fund.  It was hard to narrow the selection to just four, because there are so many wonderful performance groups, but we feel the lineup really represents a great variety of the great young people we’re helping to support.”

The pre-concert youth performances begin at 5:00 p.m. and the PAA All-Stars will take the stage at 7:30 p.m. to present original songs, dance, and turntable routines, as a demonstration of how the dynamic artistic expressions of hip-hop culture can be a positive, uplifting outlet for people of all ages. 

(more…)

Above: The PAA All-Stars with Jahi on October 16.

By Dawn Einsel

“Hip-hop and Harvard don’t seem like they go together,” said Rolanda Carter. But Carter and the rest of the PAA All-Stars proved why hip-hop has its place at the Ivy League school on Friday, October 16.

The fundraiser, appropriately titled “No Sleep til Harvard”, raised over $2,000 and allowed the group of nine students from the RHAPSODY Hip-Hop Summer Arts Camp to showcase their skills locally before traveling to Boston to perform at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education’s Continuing the Conversation: Building Community Conference on Oct. 31.

“I am most excited that they will be able to share their work with an international academic audience,” said Santina Protopapa, Executive Director of Progressive Arts Alliance.Protopapa, who founded the summer camp in 2002, was inspired by work she had done at her previous job at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.“As a musician and an arts educator, I was deeply moved by the personal histories that shaped the beginnings of hip-hop culture,” she said.

“After launching the Progressive Arts Alliance, I thought it would be interesting to give students an intensive experience to learn more about hip-hop’s history and to have the chance to have hands-on instruction in each of the culture’s art forms.” The four elements of hip-hop are DJing, graffiti, breaking and MCing.

This summer the instruction came from international emcee and Cleveland native Jahi, among other artists at the camp. Ten years ago, Jahi made the decision to become an emcee full-time. Since then he has toured with icons such as KRS One and Public Enemy, spreading his positive and socially-conscious brand of hip-hop.

“It (working with Jahi) was really inspirational,” said 6-year hip-hop camp veteran Connor “Urbindex” Musarra. “I felt I was a good performer, but working with him made me reach a new level. It forced me to go beyond my limits.”

Jahi, who believes the best way to teach youth is by example, noticed the progression too.“It’s a constant evolution and that’s really what artistry should be,” he said.

“You should be evolving, and as you evolve, you unlock new things about yourself.”

All students said they have enjoyed the learning experience, and have attributed positive changes, as performers and on a personal level, to their involvement with the camp.

“I have definitely become more outgoing and I have definitely improved my skills,” said Tristen Hall who joined the group five years ago. “I stopped doubting myself.”

PAA’s presentation at the Harvard conference will showcase its work within the community and the use of hip-hop as a powerful and positive art form.

There is currently a $2,500 funding need to help make the trip a reality. To make a tax-deductible donation to help cover travel costs click here.

Progressive Arts Alliance is one of only 14 members of the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts and the only organization in Ohio to receive a grant through the MetLife Foundation Partners in Arts Education Program.  The program’s goal is to improve teaching and learning in the arts by supporting and promoting exemplary partnerships between community arts education providers and public schools.  MetLife’s funding will support the PAA-George Washington Carver School Arts-Integrated Residency Partnership that has been in place since the 2006-07 school year, allowing all 462 K-8 students at the school the opportunity to engage in meaningful arts learning activities.

The PAA-Carver Arts-Integrated Residency Partnership pairs professional teaching artists with K-8 classroom teachers at Carver.  Artists and teachers collaboratively create dynamic arts lessons that integrate the arts with non-arts curricula content and meet Ohio Academic Content Standards in Fine Arts and other subjects.  In addition, the funding provides for teachers and artists to participate in arts-integration professional development workshops, and for residency activities to be designed to increase parent and community involvement at the school.  Students engage in a variety of residency activities, including music, printmaking, poetry, and media arts workshops.  Each semester will conclude with a community exhibition/performance to share the students’ achievements.

Please join us in thanking the MetLife Foundation and the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts for supporting the PAA-Carver partnership, and for enabling more than 11,500 students in 8 cities to participate in quality arts education programs in school.

Teachers and PAA Staff planning at Carver.

Group to Demonstrate Positive Nature of Hip-Hop;                     Benefit Concert for Trip October 16 at Idea Center