Building Creative Communities

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Building Creative Communities
by employing the visual and digital arts to heal,
inspire and unify children across the globe
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Childrens Voices on the New Millennium
Ester Yang (Virginia finalist) Second Arts
Olympiad
Samara Bittermann (Austria finalist) Second Arts
Olympiad
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Childrens Voices on the New Millennium
Narmina Veliyeva (Azerbaijan finalist) Second
Arts Olympiad
Chiela Ann Maye C. Solis (Philippines finalist)
Second Arts Olympiad
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Childrens Voices on Utopia
Eliott Frank (age 13) Utopia Project
Alejandro Goldzycher (age 15) Utopia Project
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Childrens Voiceson 9-11
Kristen, 9-11 Artworks
Nathania Caroline Candra (age 8, Indonesia) 9-11
Artworks
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Childrens Voices on the Tsunami
Humanitarian Relief
Encouragement
Qanita Qamarani (age 9, Indonesia) Healing Arts
Wildflower Elementary School (Arizona) Healing
Arts
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About ICAF

• Mission To prepare children for a creative and
  cooperative future
  
• Vision To nurture the innate creativity and
  cooperative spirit in every child on the planet
  
• History Founded 1997 by its Executive Director
  Ashfaq Ishaq officially recognized 501(c)3
  non-profit.

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ICAF Methodology
Based on model presented in Gifts of the Muse
Reframing the Debate About the Benefits of the
Arts, RAND Corporation, 2004.
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Why Creative Development?

• Instinctive capacity for creativity and
  imagination found in young people has often been
  denied or suppressed
  
• Fourth grade key point for intervention
• Encouragement of creativity from an early age is
  one of the best guarantees of growth in a healthy
  environment
  
• Self esteem
• Mutual respect
• Culture of peace

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Why Creative Development?

• Art is a universal language a language-independen
  t media to build bonds of trust and
  understanding
  
• Individual creativity is a necessary but
  insufficient condition. Children must learn also
  to cooperate
  
• Collaborative creativity is needed
• Cooperation working together understanding
  and empathy
  

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Focusing on Childrens Innate Creativity ICAF
Employs the Arts to
Art
Therapy
Heal
Inspire
Unify
Conflict Resolution
Education
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Promotion of the Arts to Heal

• Healing Arts for Tsunami Survivors
• 9-11 Collection of Childrens Art
• Utopia Station Project
• Guidance for use of artistic expression in
  cybertherapy programs

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Promotion of the Arts to Inspire

• Arts Olympiad
• A free global program to introduce children to
  the creative process and identify talented
  children with leadership potential
  
• Research and Educational Symposia
• ChildArt Magazine, publications, and conferences
  on global education and creative development
  through the arts, to advocate the importance of
  nurturing the whole child
• In concept development virtual creativity
  playground
  

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Promotion of the Arts to Unify

• Regional and World Childrens Festivals
• Talented youth experience power of collective
  creativity
  
• Set children on course to become anchors of
  sustainable, creative and cooperative
  communities, prepared to lead their peers toward
  a safer and better world
• Peace through Art
• Identify and bring together creative youth to
  develop leadership for peaceful resolution of
  conflicts and reduce trans-generational
  transmission of trauma and hatred

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ICAF Supports the Millennium Development Goals
Development Assistance
Helping Children Survive
Creativity Development
Helping Children Thrive
Creative Communities
Helping Children Strive
(applying creativity toward productive and
beneficial ends in the communities they call
home)

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ICAF Strategic Objectives

• Apply the arts as a language of imagination and
  understanding to heal, inspire and unify children
  across the globe.
  
• Encourage children to become innovators,
  entrepreneurs, artist-athletes and creative
  global leaders
  
• Lay the foundation for cities and shantytowns
  alike to become creative and cooperative
  communities
  
• Enhance human creative potential
• Promote empathy for sustainable peace and progress

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ICAF Assets

• Unique Mission  Fostering children's creativity
  and cooperation through the arts.
  
• Impactful Programs  Develop leadership and
  critical thinking skills in children regardless
  of their income, social class, formal
  education or physical ability.   
• Tangible Assets  Festival properties an amazing
  collection of art for co-branding and licensing
  traveling exhibits visibility through ChildArt
  Magazine and Sketches newsletter infrastructure
  to produce additional works.

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ICAF Assets

• Strategic Influence  Relationships
  with influential domestic and international
  organizations, legislators, policy makers and
  researchers to raise awareness that creativity is
  a basic need.
• Cross-cultural communication  Helping children
  express themselves across geographic, cultural
  and developmental boundaries
  
• Ready Response Network  In-country networks of
  artists, art therapists, teachers, parents, and
  children who can be quickly mobilized

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ICAF Accomplishments

• Founded a global network of 80 partner
  organizations to promote art and creativity
  education and programs
  
• Established the Arts Olympiad as the
  award-winning global arts initiative for 8 12
  year old children
  
• Inspired over two million children in 100
  countries to be creative and imaginative by
  involving them in the first two Arts Olympiads
  
• Hosted national and international childrens
  festivals in the U.S. and spurred child art
  festivals in more than 20 countries
  
• Brought together several thousand children from
  around the world at ICAF festivals and arranged
  for them to experience the power of their
  collective creativity

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ICAF Accomplishments

• Exhibited childrens art at some of the most
  important international meetings, including the
  United Nations Millennium Summit, the White House
  Millennium Celebration and the World Bank/IMF
  Annual Meetings
• Formed a coalition of diverse organizations,
  including the Congressional Arts Caucus and
  UNESCO, to successfully achieve ICAFs advocacy
  aims and promote a childs right to be creative
• Developed and applied a Peace Through Art
  Methodology that addresses the inter-generational
  transmission of hatred and trauma

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Schedule for the Third Arts Olympiad (2005-2008)
2005 Lesson plan distributed and competitions o
rganized Awareness building to increase partici
pation (U.S. entries due December 31st)
2006 Regional Festivals 2007 World Childrens
Festival in Washington, DC 2008 Exhibitions a
t international sports and cultural events
 
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Third Arts Olympiad National Partners
Aruba Caymans Jamaica
PNG
See notes page for list of countries by region
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Arts Olympiad Education Partners










With country-specific education and youth partners

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Arts Olympiad Alumni
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World Mural - First Arts Olympiad
www.icaf.org