Songwriting

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Let’s talk about songwriting! In our Songwriting class at Arts Connections we write songs inspired by existing music, as well as original songs that come from our own imagination. It’s really fun to get creative when it comes to putting together the music and lyrics that we each write. Plus, it can be fun learning and singing our own songs as well.

Every Thursday I work with the Songwriting instructor, Hope, to help teach the students by showing them different scenes from musicals or movies. This gives us inspiration to write our own versions or original songs. 

I also attend Rock Band class at Mountain Dojo every Monday. The class is for people on the Autism Spectrum. Many of the students also attended the summer camp, Camp Rising Sun. We listen to music to get some ideas for writing our own songs.

I really enjoy Songwriting class, because I get to learn a lot about different types of music and come up with new music of my own. Check out our Songwriting class at Arts Connections and you can all join over zoom. You can sign up for all of our in person and virtual classes on bookeo. Hope to see you all there!

4th of July Collage

Hello everyone! My name is Alexandria and today I am going to be blogging about the collage I made, inspired by the 4th of July. 

My inspiration for this collage was the 4th of July holiday we celebrated earlier in the month, since it’s a tradition that all Americans celebrate. I celebrate it every year at my Dad’s house, since my Dad is a great cook who likes to barbecue and cook awesome meals for us. What I also enjoy about the 4th of July, is that we light up fireworks every year as well.

The Materials I used are:

1. Stickers

2. Construction Paper

3. Pictures from Magazines

4. Scissors

5. Glue

 

This collage took about 2 hours to accomplish. For example, I picked out the pictures I wanted starting at 1:00pm, cut them out and then I started to glue and paste them at 2:00pm. Which means I was done by 3:00pm.

I chose stickers, pictures of food, and things that are random because I not only wanted to match the theme but I also wanted to match my personality and the things I like.

Our Collage Workshop instructor, Hope, helped with the flag. She used a cutout from a magazine of a starry sky and red and white construction paper to make an American flag. It really ties together what I like about the 4th of July and all the fun that I am going to have this summer. You can join me and Hope for a Collage Workshop at Heights Community Center, which is on 823 Buena Vista Dr SE. It’s on Tuesdays from 1:00pm - 3:00pm. I hope to see you

Disability Pride Month: Why It Matters to Me

Hello everyone! My name is Alexandria, and I’m the Program Apprentice for Arts Connections. Today I want to blog about something that means a lot to me — Disability Pride Month.

The reason I felt inspired to write this is because this month reminds me that people with disabilities, like myself, deserve to be treated fairly and with patience, just like anyone else. We are people too, and we all want to feel like we belong and are cared for.

Disability Pride Month is about accepting people with disabilities and treating them like you would treat anybody else — with kindness, love, and respect.

For example, I haven’t always felt like I was cared for the way I should’ve been. There were times where people were really impatient with me, and that didn’t feel good. So if you’re someone who doesn’t have a disability, my advice is: show people like me a little more love, a little more respect, and try to be more patient. It really goes a long way.

This special month happens every July. We celebrate it to help all people with disabilities feel accepted, supported, and proud of who they are.

At Arts Connections, we celebrate Disability Pride Month by doing all kinds of creative art activities with the people we work with. It’s a fun and positive way to let people express themselves and feel included.

One way I describe this holiday is that it’s about making sure people with disabilities get to live their best life. That means not being too strict with us, but instead, giving us the right kind of patience and encouragement.

The word “pride” to me means feeling proud of everything we’ve done — even the small things. Like doing our best in art class, or trying something new. For example, in collage, we get to choose pictures and themes that show what we love or how we feel. We also have songwriting and acting classes, where we get to take ideas from movies or music and turn them into our own songs and scenes. It helps us be creative and tell our stories.

At Arts Connections, the goal is to help people with disabilities express themselves through art. That’s really important, because sometimes we don’t feel good about ourselves. But Pride Month reminds us that we are good enough — just like everyone else.

Thank you for reading! Let’s remember to lift each other up, and celebrate who we are — this month and every month.