Artsbridge Institute

9January2010

A Taste of Peace in the MIddle East

Posted under: Events.

A Taste of Peace in the MIddle East - January 31st 2010 event

18August2009

Artsbridge Inc. 2009 Final Film Projects:

The Collision
By Tony, Inbal and Jad

Mad World
By Inbar, Rafik and Yonatan

The “I” in Team
By Natashe, Hamzeh and Yasmin

The Runaway Journey
By Muna and Yarden

No End
By Noor and Chen

Artsbridge 09 The Fun Version
By Yazan

4August2009

Gala 2009 Flyer

Posted under: Events.

2009 Artsbridge Show-off Event Flyer

3August2009

The Jewish Advocate, July 31, 2009

Posted under: Other.

Artsbridge in The Jewish Advocate - July 31, 2009

29July2009

Trust: Sharing Ideas and Support - Summer Program 09

Posted under: Artsbridge.

Trust: Sharing Ideas and Support - Summer Program 2009 - Monday, July 27, 2009
It’s the start of a new week at Artsbridge Inc., and we’re all feeling like we could use some fresh legs after this weekend’s hike up Mt. Monadnock. Since Friday, the students have gotten comfortable with their schedule and the way they navigate through the course of their day. They travel and work as a community. It was this mode of cooperation that helped to guide them up a mountain and back down again on Sunday.

At around 9:30 in the morning we reached the white dot trail at Mt. Monadnock. We commenced our journey on the rocky path and found that we would have to do a little more than fast walking to make it up the steep incline. Calling out encouragements to each other, we stayed positive and kept on moving to higher elevations. This was not just a hike, but also a test of how well we could watch out for each other in the face of a challenge.

I am happy to say that the group succeeded in reaching our goal: getting to the tree line of the mountain, which was at about 2,500 feet. The view went on for miles. On the way down, not a single hand went ungrasped when it reached out for help. Needless to say, by the time we returned to the base of the mountain many students were chanting, “We Are the Champions” on the walkie-talkies. Everyone glowed with a sense of accomplishment.

After we left the mountain, we traveled to a teen dinner in Marblehead at the Jewish Community Center of the North Shore. It was hosted by the North Shore Teen Initiative, which prompted many teens from different communities to come and meet the students of Artsbridge. They all enjoyed swimming and getting to know each other, and several students only left the pool at the final whistle. It was quite a fun-filled evening, and the students were happy to have a place to relax after a hard day’s work.

Friday and Saturday had normal schedules, which means that there are only two more days for the students to be in their original morning classes! Film students will begin taking classes in art, and vice versa. Already, many students have lists of materials they need for their group projects and will conference with the art teachers about finalizing their designs. Their visions range from sculpture and diorama to two-dimensional pieces. With the trust they built this weekend, they will be able to aid each other in realizing their shared visions of art.

This week features some of our most exciting evening activities, so check back with us about roller skating, drumming, a whale watch, and a whole lot more!

All our best,
Debbie Nathan and the Artsbridge Staff

28July2009

Latest Photos - 2009 Summer Program

Posted under: Artsbridge; Events.

The 2009 summer program is going very well and we would like to share with you some student photos form this event, please click here and see the students at work and having fun.

Debbie

25July2009

Teamwork: Building a New Community

Posted under: Artsbridge; Events.

Teamwork: Building a New Community - 2009 Summer Program Update
Friday, July 24, 2009

Here at Artsbridge, we’re wrapping up the first week of classes, trips, and conversation. It is hard to imagine that only four days ago the students arrived in Logan airport rubbing their eyes and lugging suitcases. Monday morning passed by in a blur, followed by staff introductions and a tour of the campus. By Tuesday, though, things had already begun to slow down. Students managed to catch up on their jet-lag, and everyone at Artsbridge piled into a bus to New Hampshire to find out more about the team we had just gathered.

We arrived at the University of New Hampshire’s Browne Center to begin a day of adventure and team challenges. The Browne facilitators greeted us with smiles and warm up games, and the kids began to learn about cooperation and teamwork. They supported each other as they took turns climbing high ropes courses and jumping off posts three storeys high. They scaled trees and climbed on wires suspended twenty feet off the ground. You can imagine how tired we all were upon returning to Boston College that night. On Wednesday, once regular classes began, the support system that had already formed was still there, but classrooms and cafeterias replaced the trees and nets of the day before.

When we began a regular schedule on Wednesday, the students adjusted well to the assignments and workshops administered by our instructors. Keren Shecter, an expressive therapist, works with the students when they meet together for the first time in the morning. From there the students leave for art class with Sara Roisen or film class with Christopher Gaines. Boston College has provided us with beautiful facilities, complete with a computer lab and four light-filled art rooms. After art and film, the students have time to research the art projects that they will complete in pairs by the end of the program. In the afternoon, students can take workshops with our tri-lingual drama instructor, Ibrahim Miari, or photography workshops with Simone Salvo. We are excited to observe the process of creative thought that is so quickly emerging from our participants.

Lastly, the dialogues that are such an important part of the process at Artsbridge are going smoothly. We are pleased to be working with talented and experienced dialogue facilitators Shai Fuxman, Ohad Hoffman, Dyana Ryzek, and Haneen Magadly. The students are cooperative and receptive, and we are confident that they will continue to challenge themselves with new ideas and perspectives while being fueled by their art.

An Artsbridge Gala will take place on August 6th at Boston College as the program winds to a close. We sincerely hope to see you there and share our students’ artwork with the community. Please look for our flyers in and around the BC campus, or request a postcard with information by signing up on our website.

That’s all for now, but keep checking this blog for updates!

All our best,
Debbie Nathan and the Artsbridge Staff

24July2009

2009 - 3 Week Program begins in July

Posted under: Artsbridge; Events.

Our 3-week Leadership Development Program will be held at Boston College this summer. Artsbridge is bringing 15 Israelis and 15 Palestinians together to learn to understand the suffering that is being experienced on both sides of the conflict. While students do not always agree about the “facts” of the past or the exact solution for the future, they do come to respect each other’s experiences and empathize with each other. One Israeli participant said that when he was having a hard time with the dialogue, the first person to comfort him was a Palestinian, which was something he said he never expected to happen. Other participants told us that however difficult the dialogue was, they were still able to come together to work on their art projects—sometimes in silence, sometimes continuing the conversation as they worked. Their shared vision of something new always enabled them to come back together.

24July2009

Artsbridge founder speaks in Jordan

Posted under: Artsbridge; Press.

Artsbridge founder speaks about youth reconciliation - February 26, 2009

King’s Academy, February 26, 2009—Debbie Nathan, founder of the Israeli and Palestinian youth reconciliation organization Artsbridge, told King’s Academy students during school meeting yesterday afternoon how her organization is impacting regional and global youth.

Artsbridge, a non-profit organization founded in 2007, brings 15 Israeli and 15 Palestinian high school students together each year for a three-week long summer camp at Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts. At the camp, the youth address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through facilitated dialogue sessions and collaborative art projects. Each Palestinian student is paired with an Israeli student and together they create paintings and short movies and develop photographs.

“I am pro-Palestinian, and I am pro-Israeli,” Debbie Nathan began her speech, immediately engaging the audience.

She then projected a painting and asked the students what they saw. Some saw two faces, some saw a candle stick while others saw something totally different in the projected image.

This exercise, which Nathan conducted last summer with the first Artsbridge students was aimed at proving that each of us has a different perspective. Nathan explained to the King’s Academy students that the Israeli and Palestinian students came to accept or at least respect one another’s perspectives by the camp’s end. What is certain is that students from both sides overcame many of their prejudices and many actually formed friendships.

“These were kids who had never met one another,” Nathan said. “Israelis who had never met a Palestinian, never heard a Palestinian’s story. Palestinian’s who had never met an Israeli; never heard an Israeli’s story. Through art, the students learn each other’s stories”, she added.

Nathan went on to discuss the unique and specific type of dialogue used at the camp and how they were combined with the extensive use of art. She explained the therapeutic healing powers of various art forms that help people overcome traumas.

The Artsbridge founder concluded her speech with a silent film created by an Israeli student, Omrie, and a Palestinian student, Hasan, who became best friends through their paired project.

That evening Nathan ate dinner in the side Dining Hall with members of the King’s Academy Peace around the World club. They watched another Artsbridge student film and the students had an opportunity to discuss further peace and reconciliation efforts between Israeli, Palestinian and even Jordanian youth.

Source:
http://www.kingsacademy.edu.jo/public_pages/News.aspx?newsID=177&page_id=548&flg=tbl_16&indx=0

26March2009