Community Collaboration

Penn State Altoona and the Altoona Housing Authority collaborated for the third year in a row to bring the Summer Youth Fine Arts Program to the Fairview Hills Community Center.

Penn State Altoona faculty members donated instruction time to engage youths aged six through fifteen in the arts of poetry, dance, theatre, and sculpture. Art was used as the vehicle for establishing, building, promoting, and maintaining positive developmental trajectories for young people residing at Fairview Hills. Three interns from Penn State Altoona assisted the faculty artists during the one-day instruction, and then worked with the youth the remainder of the week. At the end of the six-week program, the instructors were invited back to see a gallery of their students' work.

Faculty included Erin C. Murphy, assistant professor of English, working with poetry, KT Huckabee, assistant professor of integrative arts, instructing dance, Jonathan C. O'Harrow, Penn State Altoona webmaster and local performer with Altoona Community Theatre, working with the Altoona Public Library theatre to introduce acting to the youth, and Rebecca Strzelec, assistant professor of visual arts, offering sculpting.

The Fine Arts Program is made possible in part by a Community Outreach Program grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.