Project: VITAL (Values in the Arts & Life) is RUACH’s unique program that combines arts instruction with lessons in positive values. Last year, RUACH sent art teachers to eight diverse institutions within the greater Milwaukee area , including schools and homes for the elderly.

Ms. Karen Reiffman created a lesson plan that, through the use of various art media, taught the value of the relationship between an individual and his or her community. Each participant created his or her own collage-based “quilt panel,” constructed of illustration board material.   Currently, all boards are being linked together to form one large community “Crazy Quilt,” teaching how each individual serves as an important link within his or her larger community. As each participant explored new art media, he or she learned important lessons in community and teamwork. Participants felt a great sense of accomplishment and pride for their work and the work of others, as they developed a stronger sense of self and community. The final quilts will be displayed at our 2015 Project: VITAL production.

The planning for this year’s Project: VITAL is off to a great start. This year we are celebrating RUACH’s 10th Anniversary. In honor of this celebration, we will be focusing on cultural and ethnic diversity and spirit (“ruach” in Hebrew). We will continue the successful community collaboration format, in which participating institutions work together on various art forms without being in the same room at the same time. We plan to send art and music teachers to schools around the Milwaukee area, seeking to educate students with respect for diversity, whether ethnic or cultural. We will focus on the importance of connecting to one’s roots, as a basis for pride in one’s self and one another, while also seeking to unite under the universal ties that bind. The Project will also teach the value of the arts in several ways, including exploration of how various art forms–whether visual arts, music or theater–can serve as an expression of “ruach” and can connect us with our ethnic and cultural roots.

In celebration of RUACH’s 10th anniversary, we will combine all the “work products” from the various artistic residencies into one final production celebrating “ruach” or spirit. The artwork created during the residencies will be used as scenery for the production, while the students involved in the other art forms will showcase their work during the production. The students involved in the various residencies from 2014 and 2015 will be invited to come to the final performance and see the fruits of their work in collaboration with other students. With generous assistance from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s Mary L. Nohl Fund and The Helen Bader Foundation, this year’s Project: VITAL promises to educate, create and inspire.

For more information or to sign up for Project: VITAL, please contact Ms. Yaffa Karan, RUACH Program Manager at yaffa@ruachmilwaukee.org, or call 414-367-4890.