highlights

IU1 Campuses

One of 29 Intermediate Units across the state, IU1 serves students in Greene, Fayette, and Washington Counties. IU1’s three campuses, Colonial, Laboratory, and Waynesburg, offer a variety of special education services not available in the public school setting. These services include Alternative Education, Autistic Support Services, Therapeutic Emotional Support, Comprehensive Therapeutic Emotional Support, Multi-Disability Support, Life Skills Support, Occupational Therapy, and Speech and Language Support. Teaching Artists work closely with IU1 administrators, teachers, paraprofessionals, and social workers to create an inclusive environment where all students are able participate and encouraged to explore new artistic processes. PCA&M is proud to have completed Artist Residency Projects with students at all of IU1’s campuses. To unify the projects, Resident Artists explored themes of recycling, reusing, and sustainability in each project.

Resident Artist Lindsay Woge partnered with IU1 Principal/Supervisor of Special Education Kristin Szewczyk to create a permanent art installation at the IU1’s new campus in Waynesburg in the 2017-2018 school year.

Artists in every grade level collaborated to create the sensory mural, designed to appeal to the senses of touch, sight, and sound. Students integrated reclaimed materials, including dismantled wood shelving, water and soda bottles, recycled cardboard and paper, outdated carpet and fabric samples, scrap bamboo, and salvaged bottle caps and lids. The learners explored concepts of sustainability and creative reuse while celebrating the new recycling initiative at the IU1 campus! With Visiting Artist Lindsay Huff, students in younger grades created tactile and reflective art pieces using layers of cardboard and aluminum duct tape, and created miniature collages inside of jar lids. Older students hammered bottled caps and created aluminum can collages for another sensory element for the installation.

Resident Artist Tom Sarver worked with students at IU1 Colonial in Grindstone, Pennsylvania in Fayette Country and with IU1’s Media Coordinator, Sarah Durzo. In another example of collaboration, PCA&M partnered with Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art to provide project support.

Resident Artist Katy DeMent worked with thirty core group students at IU1’s Clark and Laboratory Campuses (the Clark campus was closed at the end of the school year as programming was shifted to IU1 Waynesburg and a facility housed within Washington Park Elementary School). Students explored papermaking, relief printing, and personal imagery and their framed works of art were showcased in an art exhibit at Citizens Library in downtown Washington, PA.