CATALYST and SMARTS combine forces to bring

the arts to teaching and learning.

Two YSU programs have collaborated on efforts to bring the arts into teaching and learning.

The Center for the Advancement of Teaching And Learning at Youngstown STate or “ CATALYST” is a relatively new unit, initiated in 2002 to support YSU teachers and learners, and to work with other campus units in projects that include collaboration with local schools. CATALYST is currently located in the basement of YSU's Tod Hall .

SMARTS-- Students Motivated by the Arts is an arts education program in YSU's College of Fine and Performing Arts and the Beeghly College of Education. SMARTS seeks to motivate students to succeed in all areas of life by teaching them the discipline and focus that creating art requires. SMARTS provides free arts education to area K-12 students through its public classes and as an arts provider in afterschool programs such as the Youngstown Afterschool Alliance . The SMARTS Center is located in the Symphony Center in downtown Youngstwn.

Becky Keck , the SMARTS Director, has served on the CATALYST Advisory Board since its inception. Michael Theall , CATALYST Director has organized a series of campus events that included SMARTS participation. For example, Kelly Bancroft , SMARTS Coordinator, was a participant in CATALYST's 2004 “Summer Institute for Teacher – Scholars” and in 2005, was part of a team that did a presentation for 2005 Institute participants. This fall, Theall will bring his graduate education students to SMARTS for presentations and activities showing the benefits provided to local school children, and he will host a “Focus” program on WYSU, talking with Keck and Bancroft about SMARTS.

Last spring, Theall approached Keck and Bancroft with a request for help in a special project. He wanted a unique way to promote the Center's mission to support teaching and learning, and since CATALYST's basement offices do not have windows, he also wanted some art work to brighten the office spaces and create some visual interest. The idea was to create a mural that would serve both purposes. After intitial discussions, they decided that the mural could be done as a summer project by SMARTS students: local high-school students with talent and interest in visual arts.

Preliminary meetings were held with Kelly Bancroft and Angela Speece , a senior art education major at YSU who has been a SMARTS teacher for two years. The group decided that the mural should focus on learning; incorporate visual elements such as a window, images of school, and representations of learning as a vital and continuous activity; and provide the SMARTS students with opportunities for creative input. Theall and Speece then met with the group of students to discuss the basic ideas, and Speece and the students returned with suggestions and ideas for the mural. Students who participated were: Brett Banks , Volney Rodgers ; Astia Figueroa , St. Luke 's; Matia Gilbert , Youngstown Early College ; Brittney Grant , Campbell Middle; Tyler Howell-Keene , Hubbard High; Akeema Perkins , Hubbard High; Neela Vickers , Chaney . The discussions took place over the course of one week. After initial sketches and discussions about what to include, Speece and the students spent four days painting the mural. Steven Swartwood , a YSU graduate, and a SMARTS teacher and Programming Assistant, accompanied the students and assisted. Theall applied some finishing touches by installing a window frame, curtains, and lighting to add an extra dimension to the art work.

The mural has several layers of meaning. The central object is a window with the words “Learning is …” above it, providing the theme for the mural. The window is surrounded by a globe (“learning is a window on the world”) which is then enclosed by black space with stars, planets, and illustrations (“the universe of ideas”). Most of the illustrations are metaphors for learning. For example, there is an ear because “learning is listening”, joined hands because “learning is cooperating”, an artist's palate because “learning is creating”, and a space shuttle because “learning is discovering.” There are seventeen of these illustrations, all in bright colors, and each labeled with the key term of the metaphor. The combinations of elements is striking as can be seen in the photo below.