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about us |
What's contributing to Flying Art is more than just an elementary affair. It's addressing the need for communication on a fundamental level. It's instilling in our children — tomorrow's adults — the vitality of art and the impact on an individual and community of discovering how one person's voice resonates in the context of another culture. - Young, Fly & Flux
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Board of Directors
Sarah Young, from Beloit, Wisconsin, created Flying Art in 2002 as a way to bring together the things she values most: art, travel, and children. She has directed hip-hop and choreography workshops for youth in YMCA programs, led children's summer camps at the Milwaukee County Zoo, served as an America Reads tutor for elementary school children, and continues to perform with the Treehouse Shakers, a performance company that brings tales from around the world to children through storytelling and modern dance. In 1997, Sarah participated in the Hungary for Americans exchange program in Pecs, Hungary, discovering creative ways of overcoming language barriers by through games, songs and activities. In 2003, Sarah earned her BFA in Dance with a minor in International Arts from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Through a Ford Foundation Fellowship, she traveled to Zimbabwe to study indigenous dance and perform for Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Culture. Sarah was an Education Intern at Jacob’s Pillow Summer Dance Festival in Becket, Massachusetts in 2003, through which she was invited to teach at America’s Camp, a camp created for children who had lost their parents in the 9/11 attacks. While in New York, Sarah has worked as Managing Director for Batoto Yetu, an organization which fosters an understanding of African history through music and dance for youth in New York City. Insights and ideas drawn from these experiences have allowed Flying Art to develop into an adaptable format that encourages creativity while forming positive relationships between children of different cultures. The future of Flying Art is bright as the program continues to link and weave together communities, build its curriculum and raise its expectations of what our youth are capable of achieving. Sarah will be serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Small Business Development in Morocco from September 2008 – November 2010. She aims to keep the art flying during this time; certainly hoping to involve young artists in Morocco. And to ensure our continued success, Katie Friis, Vice President extraordinaire, will be maintaining the organization at our “home office” of New York City.
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