Art in motion
Hoping to "[redefine] education in the digital age," the Jacob Burns Film Center has opened the Media Arts Lab in Pleasantville, Westchester County, New York.
The complex of digital studios cost about $15 million to launch and will serve as an audiovisual department for schools. 85% of Westchester County's school districts have enrolled.
But children won't be the only ones benefiting from the Media Arts Lab. Instructors regularly visit the Westchester County Jail, and a nearby homeless shelter, to preach the gospel of digital literacy. Staff members also travel to distant places — like Caracas, Venezuela — to train teachers interested in running their own programs.
"This is very much about economics, it's about competitiveness in this country," stated Jacob Burns Film Center founder Stephen Apkon. He drew inspiration for the Lab from his children, which he felt suffered from "a real disconnect between the classroom and the world they were growing up in."
It opens today, but the nonprofit's Media Arts Lab has already drawn the attention of major names, including George Lucas — father of the Star Wars films — and producer Ron Howard. (It certainly also helps that critic Janet Maslin of The New York Times is president of the board of directors.)
"Without knowing how to approach it, I’ve been interested in the idea of creative outreach programs to kids," said Howard, whose oeuvres include TV show Arrested Development and films like Changeling and The Da Vinci Code.
"I’m more excited about the problem-solving skills and exercising young people’s creativity. Creativity doesn’t just exist in a handful of geniuses — it's a muscle everyone can exercise."
The Jacob Burns Film Center has an annual budget of $5 million. Affluent public school districts pay a fee for its programs, available for free in less fortunate schools. According to Apkon, 55% of students that participate are there at no cost to themselves.
Tara Gorman, a fourth-grade teacher at Casimir Pulaski School in Yonkers, whose school participates in the program for free, stressed the importance of teaching kids to "communicate not just with words, but visually."
In an environment where social media makes a President, critically-acclaimed directors premier films online and leaders address the masses on YouTube, "Kids are really dictating what they see," she added.
The Jacob Burns Film Center focuses on filmmaking and animation programs, which incorporate math and science, but students residually improve their writing skills as a result. Of the Lab, whose reach will likely be broad, Apkon takes pains to add, "We are not a vocational program. We are not geared to the kid who wants to become the next Steven Spielberg.
"Regardless of profession, these are skills you need to learn."
