The ArtsBridge program has serving the children of California since 1997.  Scholars have been placed in elementary, intermediate, and high schools. The program has also served special-needs schools.  Projects have been conducted in association with nonprofit youth organizations, hospitals, symphonies, and theaters. UC ArtsBridge projects have received the highest evaluations from teachers and pupils.

Sample projects for elementary school students have included:

  • story-writing and storytelling classes for development of vocabulary and expressive skills through the visual arts, such as photography, painting and papier-mâché
  • photography projects introducing pupils to pictorial composition (disposable cameras provided by ArtsBridge)
  • dance classes relating basic dance to geography, history, and minority cultures
  • theatre residencies in which pupils learn about characterization, projection, movement, improvisation, even projects in which pupils author, design, and stage their own ten minute plays
  • music classes in choral singing and appreciation to enhance students' ability to identify various styles of music
  • instrumental music workshops in technique and performance presentation
  • compositional music classes that identify meter, rhythm and structure through mathematical skills


Sample projects for middle and high schools can:

  • adapt any of the above projects
  • teach development of multimedia presentations
  • teach workshops in basic computer software or game design
  • work with theatre classes (teaching improvisation and other acting techniques)
  • creating short screenplays and films
  • instruct dance classes in various forms and styles from ballet to modern to jazz
  • send instrumentalists to work with bands and orchestras in refining advanced technique in various instrumental groups

UCSD ArtsBridge has participated in both San Diego City and San Diego County schools. Click here to see past ArtsBridge hosts.

ArtsBridge emphasizes flexibility. Past Scholars have responded to the needs of a special school (with pupils with severe learning disabilities) by designing a variation of a storytelling project tailored to the potential of the students. One project led high school students through a landscaping design project while another helped pediatrics patients create a mural in their hospital ward. Schools may request a repetition of an existing project or our Scholars will create a new one tailored to the needs of your students.

All ArtsBridge scholars are under the supervision of a UCSD faculty mentor and work with the input of the classroom teachers to design their projects.  A formal set of guidelines for both host schools and institutions and scholars is available on request and must be agreed upon in advance by both parties. 

Recent Projects!

Amber Hamer, Dance, Birney Elementary
My project "Mapping the Moves" is an imaginative and interactive journey across the continents where students discover and explore the existing dance forms relevant to each continent.  Our journey begins in South America where we discover Salsa Dance, followed by Europe where we explore Ballet, North America to discover Jazz and Modern dance, African Dance in Africa, and on the last leg of our journey this quarter we ended up in Asia to learn about the ancient practice of Yoga.  By combining geography and dance, students have a more worldly understanding of dance and culture.  Students demonstrated their knowledge and dancing skills at Birney's Holiday Party where they presented their salsa dance from South America to friends and family members.   

Louise Ly, Visual Arts, Lafayette Elementary
My project aims to move the conceptualization of visual art as something intrapersonal (such as individual reflection and exploration of the meaning of art as well as our personal self(s)) to something interpersonal--seeing art as a vehicle of collective voice, such as a mural depicting the history of native peoples, a biblical event, a significant social movement, or the everyday activities of the students. Students will be introduced to muralists and murals of today and yesterday. They will have the opportunity to develop their own mural of their choosing. Before embarking on this larger project, they will have assignment that will prepare and guide them in what they need to know and do for the project. They will utilize fundamental art techniques, such as contour, positive/negative space, and grid to plan their work.   

Elika Winter, Music, Garfield Elementary
I am working on a music history project with a fifth grade class at Garfield Elementary. I am teaching the concept of folk art through the study of a Mexican music genre called the corrido. The students are able to learn about their own culture as well as the Mexican culture by creating corridos and performing them to their class. The lessons on folk art also involve the opportunity for students to express their creativity through mural painting and short plays.

See videos and pictures of our projects.