Imagination Fort Worth (IFW) was originally founded in 1989 under the name, Imagination Celebration of Fort Worth, and was linked to the Kennedy Center's initiative to increase and improve arts experiences in learning. Research shows that arts learning experiences keep kids in school and ignite learning desires. During our history, we have served over 5 million students and earned national recognition. We are proud of our long history of putting "ARTS" in education by providing arts - integrated experiences to a disadvantaged population of students. Imagination Fort Worth also provides access to community cultural experiences that many students would not normally have access to!
Imagination Fort Worth knows that by offering Arts - Integrated Out of School Experiences, Arts - Integrated Collaborative Programs, Arts - Integrated In-School Experiences, and Arts - Integrated Programs, we accomplish these important goals:
Build creative capacity, imagination and innovation in thinking and problem solving
Increase student and teacher understanding, skill level and learning of core subjects
Increase student and teacher knowledge, skill level and appreciation of particular art forms
Students will demonstrate an increased capacity, commitment and desire to learn
Teachers will apply Arts -Integrated teaching strategies in their classrooms
Students will gain an increased focus in college readiness/career development
Social and emotional relationships improve between students, teachers and within the community
Outputs this fiscal year: Serve an average of 70,000 students , grades Pre-K - 12th grades, including all 9 FWISD districts with in person programming, and all areas of Texas, the United States and Canada with virtual programming, Provide a minimum of 20+ unique arts experiences for students and teachers
Our Needs
Thank you for your consideration of giving. With the impact of COVID19, we are offering both in person and virtual programs that educate students in a fun and educational way. Your donations will help us further our mission and ensure teachers and students have creative classroom curriculum to spark and nurture learning.
Imagination Fort Worth made a quick and successful pivot to virtual programming in March of 2020. While producing all programming locally with mostly local artists, we expanded our community reach to families, homeschools and schools all over Texas, 15 other states in the United States, and even to Canada. The number of "repeat customers" signaled that what we are offering has educational and artistic value. Texas Cultural Trust recent research showed that the communities in Texas with the least access to arts experiences are the communities with high poverty and remote location. We were pleased to see that those very communities are registering for our program offerings. The following feedback from a Librarian in Devine, Texas shows that we are providing value to the very group communities that the Trust's research revealed:
"Good morning!
This resource has been a god-send when planning for my classes, especially for my virtual classes . My students, as well as their parents, have truly enjoyed the variety of materials that I have been able to present to them. It is like taking a field trip across Texas every week. Absolutely wonderful!"
Thanks again,
Mandy Geries
Teacher from Upstate NY about StoryBook PAL Virtual Program integrating Literacy with the Arts:
“Really - excellent work! They were shared with us from our Distance Learning Specialist and all the elementary teachers in our program used the "books" and loved them. The instructional specialists were so impressed - they thought we had purchased the curriculum!”
“We were able to send home devices with the links to the videos in Schoology and the students shared with families. More than one family commented on multiple children in the family enjoying the videos”!
Recent research shows that introducing meaningful arts in education experiences to students living in high poverty areas, makes a lasting impact in their lives and in our community. For example, Placid N. and his family immigrated to the United States from Zimbabwe. He participated in the IFW-TAFA Summer Teen intensive and this was his feedback:
"Hello, my name is Placide and I'm going to be a senior at Diamond Hill Jarvis HS. I would like to than you for providing the opportunity for me to experience the TAFA workshop this summer. During the learning session, I learned a couple new things which I didn't know. I learned how to use the plum line which is just a string and something heavy at the end. It is used to measure the proportions. The other thing I learned is accuracy. I still struggle with that but I'll work on it. The other thing I learned is working from dark values to light and background to foreground. As a person, I've developed by having confidence in my own