Impact 2013–2014
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Columbia College Chicago’s strategic
plan, developed in 2014-2015, lists
Community Engagement as one of six
focus areas, stating: “We will be known as
an animating force in our communities, in
the city of Chicago, and in the larger world
beyond.” In fact, the College’s continued
commitment to community engagement
“will encompass a wide range of reciprocal
partnerships that help to sustain diverse
forms of socially engaged creative practice,
scholarship, advocacy, and activism.”
This report spotlights the impact of
CCAP’s work in 2013–2014. We hope
that the numbers (pulled from program
evaluations) and stories (of a diverse
range of participants) paint a compelling
picture of the breadth and depth of CCAP’s
impact as an animating force through our
partnerships with the city, schools, and
community-based organizations.
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CCAP Partners 2013–2014
In 2013–2014, CCAP worked with 79 partner
organizations: 43 public schools and 55 communitybased organizations, as well as 30 departments and
units at Columbia College Chicago.
Organizations
Schools
About Face Theatre; Access Living; Alternatives;
Avalon Park Elementary School (ES); Burley
Archi-Treasures; Art Schools Network; Arts
ES; Calmeca Academy of Fine Arts and Dual
Alliance Illinois; Association House of Chicago;
Language; Chicago High School for the Arts;
Auditorium Theatre; Chicago Arts Partnerships
Chute Middle School; Claremont Academy;
in Education; Chicago Children's Choir; Chicago
Crown Community Academy of Fine Arts; Dawes
Commons; Chicago Park District; Chicago Public
ES; Dixon ES; Dr. Bessie Rhodes Magnet School;
Art Group; Chicago Youth Centers; Chicago Youth
Foreman High School (HS); Gillespie ES; Gray ES;
Voices Network; Common Sense Media; DePaul
Haines ES; Haven Middle School; Herzl School
University; E.A.T. Chicago; ElevArte Community
of Excellence; Juarez Community Academy
Studio; Englewood Community Cultural Planning
HS; Kellman Community Academy; King Arts
Council; Ensemble Español; Free Spirit Media; Free
Magnet School; Kipling ES; Lake View HS; Lenart
Street Theater; FUSE; Gary Comer Youth Center;
Elementary Regional Gifted Center; Lincoln Park
Hive Chicago; Hubbard Street Dance Company;
HS; Lindblom Math & Science Academy; Mahalia
Illinois Campus Compact; Illinois Federation for
Jackson ES; McCutcheon ES; Morgan Park HS;
Community Schools; Ingenuity, Inc.; Kuumba Lynx;
Morrill Math & Science School; New Sullivan ES;
Latinos Progresando; Little Black Pearl Workshop;
Nichols Middle School; North Lawndale College
Matli Dance Academy; Marwen; Najwa Dance
Preparatory HS; Oakton ES; Perez ES; Pulaski
Corps; National Coalition for Community Schools;
International School of Chicago; Ruiz ES; Sabin
National Guild for Community Arts Education;
Magnet School; Schurz HS; Solorio Academy HS;
National Performance Network; News Literacy
Sullivan HS; Tilden Career Community Academy;
Project; People's Music School; Plug-In Studio;
Walker ES; Washington ES; and Wentworth ES.
Puerto Rican Arts Alliance; Redmoon Theater;
Snow City Arts; Storycatchers Theatre; Street-
Columbia Departments, Offices, & Centers
Level Youth Media; The Peoples Cook; TrueStar;
Advertising & Public Relations; Art & Activism;
University of Illinois at Chicago; Urban Gateways;
Art + Design; Audio Arts & Acoustics; Business
Yollocalli Arts Reach; and Young Chicago Authors.
& Entrepreneurship; Cinema Art + Science;
College Advising; Creative Writing; Dance
Center; Dance; English; Fashion Studies; FirstYear Seminar; Humanities, History, & Social
Sciences; Interactive Arts & Media; Journalism;
Learning Studio; Library; Multicultural Affairs;
Music; Photography; Portfolio Center; Radio;
Science and Mathematics; Student Employment;
Television; Theatre; Undergraduate Admissions;
Center for Innovation in Teaching Excellence
(CITE); and Sherwood Community Music School.
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Funders & Supporters 2013–2014
CCAP Staff 2013–2014
U.S. Department of Education Investing in
David A. Flatley, Executive Director
Innovation Fund and the Arts-in-Education Model
Rachel Bailey
Development and Dissemination grant program;
Courtney Bell
the Illinois Arts Council Agency; the Illinois
Toni Campbell
State Board of Education; Chicago Park District;
Katie Collins
Chicago Public Schools; Evanston/Skokie District
Margaret Conway
65; Adobe Foundation; Archeworks; Bretford;
Rachel Culich
Burberry Foundation; the Crown Family; Evanston
Mindy Faber
Community Foundation; FLOR; Food 4 Less
Aaron Golding
Foundation; Lloyd A. Fry Foundation; Maurice R.
Heather Heslup
and Meta G. Gross Foundation; Leo S. Guthman
Joe Hulbert
Fund; the William Randolph Hearst Foundation;
April Langworthy
Hive Chicago Fund for Connected Learning;
JeeYeun Lee
JPMorgan Chase Foundation; Kinder Morgan
Maurya Orr
Foundation; Lego Education; Little Bits; Louis
Sean Owens
Armstrong Educational Foundation; John D. and
Lynne Pace Green
Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; McCormick
Christin Quaye
Foundation; Colonel Stanley R. McNeil Foundation;
Liz Parrott Radzicki
National Performance Network; Pearson; Polk
Kim Richards
Bros. Foundation; Shure; TG; TOMS®; Turnstone/
Alyssa Sorresso
Steelcase®; United Way of Metropolitan Chicago;
Paul Teruel
U.S. Bank Foundation; Walton Family Foundation;
Kathleen Tieri Ton
and the Farny R. Wurlitzer Foundation.
Jacob Watson
Leslie Woods
For More Information
Center for Community
Arts Partnerships
Columbia College Chicago
600 S. Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60605
(312) 369-8850
ccapinfo@colum.edu
colum.edu/ccap
Photography by Jacob Boll (’12)
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The Center for Community Arts
Partnerships (CCAP) was founded in 1998
at Columbia College Chicago. CCAP is
committed to transforming lives through the
arts. To fulfill this mission, CCAP develops
programs that expand learning, connect
Columbia College Chicago to schools and
communities, and build a new generation of
engaged artists.
CCAP exemplifies Columbia College
Chicago’s commitment to community
engagement by building deep,
reciprocal partnerships with schools
and community-based organizations
across the Chicago metropolitan area.
These partnerships engage Columbia
College Chicago students and faculty
in real-world experiential learning
and applied research, while also
extending the learning environment to
community members.
Facing both inward and outward,
CCAP works with three focus
areas and audiences
1. Columbia College Chicago
students and faculty;
2. The teaching artist* field;
3. The community.
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Each year, CCAP works with over 750
Columbia College Chicago students,
50 Columbia College Chicago faculty
members, 5,000 children and
youth, 600 parents of public school
students, 200 classroom teachers, 30
staff members of community-based
organizations, and 150 teaching
artists in partnerships with over 40
public schools and 50 communitybased organizations.
*“A teaching artist is a practicing professional
artist with the complementary skills, curiosities
and sensibilities of an educator, who can effectively
engage a wide variety of people in learning
experiences in, through, and about the arts.”
—Eric Booth
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Columbia College Chicago
Students and Faculty
Columbia students report
that their experiences with
CCAP are different from
other learning opportunities
at the College. Many
students indicate that
their participation in CCAP
programs and communityfocused work has led to
a deeper understanding
of themselves and their
personal values. Columbia
faculty members report
that their teaching,
research, and creative
practices are deepened
and inspired by their CCAPsponsored engagement in
the community.
CCAP works with Columbia students, faculty
and administration to increase the college’s
community engagement and facilitate students’
capacity to “author the culture of their
times,” a central tenet of Columbia’s mission.
Coursework, internships/practica, volunteering,
and part-time employment deepen students’
understanding of civic engagement in the 21st
century, while providing heightened skills and
experience, mentors, and portfolio contents
that they can use as they begin their careers.
CCAP additionally helps faculty incorporate
meaningful community engagement into their
curricula, research, and creative practice.
Opportunities for Columbia students
and faculty through CCAP include:
Urban Missions
CCAP’s founding program nurtures a network of
Chicago community-based organizations and
Columbia academic departments and centers.
Each semester, College faculty members
collaborate with organizations to create handson learning courses as well as arts projects in
the community.
Internships and Employment
CCAP places Columbia students in schools and
community-based organizations as interns,
program assistants, teaching artist assistants,
tutors, and mentors, to help them gain
professional skills and experience in nonprofit
arts and youth development sectors.
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Impact on Columbia Students
2013–2014
Increased Student Retention
Columbia students who persisted into their second year.
BIGArt
In partnership with the Office of New Student
Programs, CCAP helps first-year Columbia
students learn about Chicago communities
and issues by volunteering in a public school or
community-based organization to teach art to
children and youth.
BIGArt Fellows
This special initiative in 2013–2014 brought
together a cohort of first-year African American,
Latino, and first-generation college students in
a year-long project to mentor North Lawndale
middle school students. This enhanced college
readiness for the mentees while creating an
opportunity for Columbia students to interact
with the community during their critical first year
in college.
Teaching Artists
CCAP actively solicits Columbia full-time and
adjunct faculty to extend their practice in
K–12 schools and other community settings
as teaching artists, coaches, and mentors in
arts integration, connected learning, and after
school arts (see next section).
Faculty Fellows
In collaboration with other Columbia
departments, CCAP offers Columbia faculty
members the opportunity to extend their
pedagogy, research, and creative practice
through fellowships exploring service-learning,
digital media, and connected learning.
74%
71%
62%
BIGArt Fellows Students
All Columbia First-Year Students
Comparable peer group (other first-year
Pell-eligible African American and Latino
students)
Increased Career Skills and
Community Engagement
91+9+L
89+11+L
81+190+L
100+L
91%
Columbia students in Urban
Missions programs who agreed
that the program increased their
opportunities for technical and
professional development.
89%
Columbia students in the
BIGArt Fellows program who
agreed that participation
enhanced skills relevant to
their career goals.
81%
Columbia students in Urban
Missions programs who
agreed that their participation
increased their exposure,
understanding, and commitment
to Chicago’s communities.
100%
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Columbia faculty members
in Urban Missions who agreed
that the partnership increased
their ability to meaningfully
incorporate community
engagement into pedagogy
and curricula.
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Columbia Student
Donavahn Frierson
Donavahn Frierson, Graphic Design major,
entered Columbia College Chicago with a
love of working with children and experience
with numerous community projects.
CCAP’s BIGArt J-term course was a perfect fit for his interests.
The course not only provided theory about pedagogy and child
development, but also allowed him to work directly with children by
assisting teaching artists in CCAP partner schools. “We did a lot of
studying and research and talks and we experimented a lot, but then
we actually got put in the battlefield,” he said.
The course also gave Donavahn the chance to explore different
Chicago neighborhoods. The experience opened his eyes to
gentrification, drove home the importance of community, and
provided new revelations about the value of relationships and
open-mindedness. Working in the classroom also helped Donavahn
improve his organization and communication skills.
He put those skills to work his sophomore year, when he was hired
as an after-school CCAP Teaching Assistant and Tutor at Pulaski
International School of Chicago, one of the schools he visited during
the BIGArt course. Over time he has become more comfortable and
effective, not just with the students but with the teaching artists who
run the after-school classes: “I’ve gone from assistant to coworker
to friend.” He now spends his time interacting directly with students
in the classroom, instead of mostly observing as he did at the
beginning of his placement.
Overall, Donavahn says it has been rewarding to go back to the
school, serve where needed, and learn along the way. “That’s what
made me stick with CCAP so long—I actually got to be in action.”
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