June 20, 2011
Washington, DC
By Victoria Hutter
Video courtesy of The Right Brain Initiative
Go to the web site of the Right Brain Initiative and you know immediately you?re in for some serious fun. Arrows fly across the screen as a dog descends from above. A smiling, puffing smokestack encourages you to join the mailing list. And moving the cursor makes objects spin, pulse, and leap. It?s a wonderful introduction to an organization deeply committed to teaching kids about and through the arts.
The Right Brain Initiative is a program of Portland, Oregon?s Regional Arts & Culture Council. The arts council recently received a $25,000 NEA Learning in the Arts grant to support this innovative project and its mission to give every K-8 student in the region access to the arts and to create long-term change in the local school system.
Program Manager Marna Stalcup was gracious enough to take time away from the busy preparations for the summer session to talk with the NEA about our brains, the arts, and learning.