Partnerships

Artists in Residency

Colin Miller

Director, Global Arts
Adjunct Instructor, World Music

cdmiller@udel.edu

Frank Waln Native American Lekota hip hop musician with child patients at Nemours hospital

Our Partnerships

Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children

AiR partners with Nemours Child Life Program to bring artists into the hospital setting to work with patients and their families, as well as staff members. Artists develop and lead activities designed to help the youngsters think beyond their illnesses — identifying themselves, at least for a time, as children and not patients — and to promote stress-reduction and self-care for the adults.

The partnership, by engaging with the arts, seeks to bring cultural diversity into the healthcare context and artists' from diverse cultural backgrounds is a key component of the program. According to Jennifer Sciolla, director of child life, creative arts therapy and school programs at Nemour's "That cultural piece brings something unique to the hospital and lets us share the diversity of the world with our patients and our families."

English Language Institute

AiR partners with the English Language Institute with the clear intention to advance cultural understanding and creative expression. This partnership has developed into Art Bridging Cultures, a collaborative initiative aimed at creating a campus in which the lives of students are enriched through meaningful, experiential exploration of diversity.

The increased presence of students from diverse racial and cultural backgrounds presents numerous challenges, but more importantly it provides unique opportunities for cross cultural exchange among the diverse groups on campus.

Visiting artists in residence, with support of faculty, create platforms for students to communicate and engage with each other through the medium of the arts. The activities are designed to be lively, interactive and fun. The best education is often a collaborative experience and the university campus is the ideal environment to stage thoughtful, provocative and creative interventions.

Community Engagement through the Arts

The Artist-in-Residency program partners with a wide range of community based organizations in the State of Delaware and particularly n the Wilmington area. Many of these organizations are affiliated to The Partnership for Arts and Culture (PAC), one of five partnerships of the Community Engagement Initiative (CEI) at the University of Delaware.

Artists have collaborated with or conducted workshops at: