VISUAL ARTS
Imaginative. Accessible. Enriching.
One of our goals at OSB is to provide and promote the tangible benefits of art education, museum visits, and art making for our students who are visually impaired.
In the classroom, OSB Art Teacher Susan DiFabio makes the art process a tactile, multi-sensory experience. Touching different mediums and textures - which can mean working with clay, making quilts and collages, and even finger painting with scented paint - allows the student who is blind, visually impaired or deafblind to explore through touch or smell. Students have many hands-on opportunities to create their own artwork, which develops physical and cognitive skills, stretches their imaginations, and gives them another means of communication. Tools and techniques are adapted so that everyone can participate in an art project, thanks to consultations with OSB’s team of occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech, and orientation and mobility specialists, to make the art room and materials obtainable for all of our students.
At OSB, we seek out opportunities for our students to experience the life-enriching power of art. Through external partnerships with organizations such as Art Matters, Philly Touch Tours, the Main Line Art Center, the Barnes Foundation, and the Van Gogh Museum, OSB students can take part in verbal imaging and touch tours which allow them to see art in their minds’ eyes - and demonstrate that there are many ways to experience a work of art.
PERFORMING ARTS
Performances
The arts have always played a pivotal role at Overbrook School for the Blind. Each school year our auditorium is filled with thunderous applause and standing ovations thanks to our annual Winter and Spring Concerts, planned, hosted and performed by Overbrook's Music Instructors, Chris Sapienza and Jim Palmer, and our talented students. Performers include our junior choir (for students ages seven to 11), our bell choir and our mixed ensemble (for students 12 and older).
In addition to our annual Winter and Spring Concerts, Overbrook has also played host to the Eastern Schools for the Blind Music Festival (most recently in 2014) and, under the direction of Sapienza and Palmer, our students also perform out in the community, where notable performances have included concerts for the residents of Granite Farms Estates in Media, PA and treating holiday shoppers at the Shops at Liberty Place in Center City to seasonal favorites courtesy of our Bell Choir.
Art Partnerships
Beyond our renowned junior choir, mixed ensemble and bell choir, Overbrook also partners with arts providers to offer classical guitar lessons and, most recently thanks to Art-Reach, a hands-on art-making opportunity to work alongside Philadelphia's world-famous Magic Gardens to create and install a tactile mosaic called "A Place to Be Free", which hangs in our rotunda.
Art in the Classroom
All of our students also have access to a high-quality arts education in their classroom, as well. Artwork created by Overbrook School for the Blind students has been on display at Philadelphia International Airport, at art galleries along Philadelphia's famed South Street, and in front of the Art Museum.
Music Program
Inclusive. Empowering. Fun!
Music abounds at Overbrook School for the Blind. On any given day at OSB, you can hear the distinctive harmonies of our comprehensive music program. Ensembles, choruses, bell choirs, voice lessons, instrumental lessons, guest artists and music therapy occurs every day at OSB. Music is, and always has been, a big part of OSB’s history. In fact, the annual student holiday concert is over 100 years old!
OSB students greatly benefit from the therapeutic qualities of music. For many students, music improves gross motor skills like coordination and rhythm, increases language skills, develops space awareness through movement, and improves listening and following directions. In addition to developing an appreciation for all types of music, OSB music classes help students develop a mode of self-expression and encourage positive expressions of feelings. Studies show that choral singing improves a student’s mood by decreasing stress, depression and anxiety. Yes, it’s a proven fact that singing in a chorus is more fun when surrounded by friends, belting it out at the top of your lungs.
External musical partnerships and collaborations create another dimension to the OSB Music Program. Organizations like Musicopia, Music Works, the Philly Pops, the Philadelphia Orchestra, Amaryllis Theatre, and Art Matters, have played a valuable role in strengthening the instructional and pedagogical expertise in OSB.
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