During eight years he conducted theater and writing workshops with incarcerated teens in Illinois, Garrette Horne would often notice how many of their ideas came from their own lives.
“I didn’t realize until later they were actually telling their stories,” said Horne, 38, of Hammond. “I just started noticed the process of creating was very therapeutic for youth. It was really what was happening behind the scenes that was really great for those students.”
Recently, the native of Chicago’s South Side received a $2,000 grant from the Indiana Arts Commission to develop a curriculum that will encourage high school students using theater to create projects pushing social justice issues including violence and substance abuse.
He hopes to introduce the idea to various Hammond schools such as Gavit High School or Eggers Middle School and hold additional sessions at a community church during off-school hours.
He plans to contact Hammond Schools in the coming weeks, he said. It would be open to any student, but he particularly hopes to give at-risk students a creative outlet.
He plans to use the fall semester to develop an academic plan, that could range between 25 and 30 weeks. He wants to get test groups of interested students to see what formats would work.
Hoping to fuel similar projects, the Indiana Arts Commission awarded 48 applicants, including Horne and two others in Lake and Porter counties grants up to $2,000 each.
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The purpose is to provide funding to artists, while requiring their project also emphasize community engagement, said IAC Executive Director Lewis Ricci.
“Any application that is successful…have both of those aspects in their application in a strong way,” he said.
Lake Station Edison Middle School U.S. History teacher Amy Brailey received a nearly $2,000 grant to travel to Virginia and Pennsylvania to study George Washington’s pre-war life.
She is currently penning a historical novel entitled “Jon Everett and the Hall of History” that explores Washington during the French-Indian War.
Traveling to places that have chronicled Washington’s life will be essential to her research, she said.
“It’s really like treasure hunting,” said Brailey. “One step gives you a clue to somewhere else.”
Valparaiso resident Debra Silvert, a flutist, received a $2,000 grant toward classical music recording sessions.
She and Paul Bowman, a classical guitarist, form the Valparaiso-based group Duo Sequenza.
Their plan is to do four three-hour recording sessions at a studio in Schneider were 15 to 18 people can watch from the control room.
“One of the things the arts commission (emphasizes) is community engagement,” she said. “Especially with classical music, he have got to develop a broader audience.”
The first two sessions will be held on Aug. 16 and 17, she said with later ones in November and February. A docent will also be present to answer questions, she said.
“It would be a more vibrant recording experience if there was an audience,” Silvert said. “We thought it could be interesting.”
They will record selections including “South Shore Suite,” by Indiana University South Bend music school professor Jorge Muñiz, “White River,” by Francisco Carbonell, “Duets Exhibition,” by Amin Sharifi and “Meshquanowat: Red Tailed Hawk,” by Gary-born Jerry Owen.
By using living composers with Indiana connections, they want to dispel the myth that it is primarily inaccessible and avant-garde, she said.
“That’s not the bulk of it,” Silvert said. “It’s fresh, it’s vibrant music.”
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Learn more:
For more information on becoming an audience member for the Duo Sequenza recordings, go to duosequenza.com.
For additional information on Indiana Arts Commission projects, go to in.gov/arts.