The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts at St. Bonaventure University is kicking off its annual partnership with the National Summer Reading Program, making stops at public libraries across New York and Pennsylvania this summer.

“After the huge success of last year’s program, requests for the ArtMobile have tripled for this summer,” said Sean Conklin, assistant curator and museum educator at the Quick Center. “We have library visits planned almost every day in July and the first four weeks of August, along with additional community outreach activities, summer camps and visits to local family festivals.”

Summer programming is supported by three summer arts education assistants, Brittany Winans of Bolivar, a recent B.F.A. graduate of Alfred University; Jacqueline Philp of Randolph, a recent B.S. Ed. graduate of St. Bonaventure; and Joshua McGraw of Allegany, a recent B.S. biochemistry graduate of St. Bonaventure.

Conklin said the arts education team members have an excellent mix of backgrounds and skillsets.

“We’ve already run some events and you can see how excited they are to be a part of the ArtMobile team and they engage so well with the community. It’s going to make for a spectacular series of summer programming.”

“I love my job,” said Winans, who is returning for her second year with the program, “I wake up every morning excited to head to work and see what new and fun things we are going to do.”

Philp, also returning for her second year with the program agreed. “Working with the Quick Center is a perfect summer job because it combines my passions of art and teaching. I love being able to work with children and give back to the community.”

For the library program each day, staff will load the ArtMobile with works from the university collection, educational resources and art supplies and make an hour-long visit to each of the 33 participating libraries. Each visit will include a lesson and activity aligned with the Collaborative Summer Reading Theme, “A Universe Of Stories.”

Libraries were offered five different programs to select from for their visit, each specifically designed to incorporate STEAM Education pedagogy with a focus on artistic expression.

• Project one, “Northern Night Light Landscapes,” teaches participants about the reactions that cause the colors of the northern lights; they use this information to create their own landscape designs complete with their own interpretation of the bright dancing lights of the aurora.
• Project two, “Planetary Probabilities,” teaches participants about the Drake equation, developed to determine the odds of finding intelligent life in the universe. Participants construct their own forms of intelligent life relying on the probability of rolling a specific dice number to secure each part of their extraterrestrial being.
• Project three, “Black Hole Boomerang,” has participants explore the concept of black holes, regions of spacetime exhibiting a gravitational field so strong that nothing can escape from them, theorizing where items that enter a black hole travel while designing what it looks like on the other side of the tunnel.
• Project four, “Oh My Stars,” teaches participants to construct their own star finder and learn how to position it to discover different constellations throughout the year visible from their own backyard. They will then map out an entirely new constellation, adding it to their star chart while constructing a new design around their star outline.
• Project five, “Comet Atcha,” teaches participants about a comet’s path around the sun using three dimensional geometry to build their own comet wind socks.

“This year we really wanted to create experiences that would feel engaging for the varying ages and stages that attend these library programs,” said Conklin. “We had such a positive response to last year’s program redesign, so we really wanted to keep that momentum moving into this summer. Our summer programming is just getting underway, but so far the response to the events and activities we’ve run has been overwhelmingly positive and our increased visibility really resonates with the community.”

To learn more about the ArtMobile and when it will be at your local library, view the schedule below, contact your local library or contact the Quick Center by phone at (716) 375-2494 or by e-mail at quick@sbu.edu. Like the Quick Center on Facebook (@QuickArtsCenter) to get updates on where the ArtMobile will be heading and which projects are on tap every day in July and August.

The ArtMobile will stop at the following libraries throughout the summer:

Wednesday, June 26
Mount Jewett Memorial Library
1-2 p.m.

Thursday, June 27
Bradford Area Public Library
11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Friday, June 28
Randolph Free Library
11 a.m.-12 p.m.

Tuesday, July 2
Dansville Public Library
10-11 a.m.

Monday, July 15
Ashville Free Library
12-1 p.m.

Tuesday, July 16
Portville Free Library
11 a.m.-12 p.m.

Ellicottville Memorial Library
2-3 p.m.

Wednesday, July 17
Essential Club Free Library
11 a.m.-12 p.m.

Thursday, July 18
Salamanca Public Library
12-1 p.m.

Cattaraugus Free Library
2:30-3:30 p.m.

Friday, July 19
Dunkirk Public Library
11 a.m.-12 p.m.

Monday, July 22
Allegany Public Library
1-3 p.m.

Tuesday, July 23
Hazeltine Public Library
12:30-2 p.m.

Wednesday, July 24
Coudersport Public Library
10-11 a.m.

Oswayo Valley Memorial Library
1:30-3 p.m.

Thursday, July 25
Olean Public Library
2-3 p.m.

Friday, July 26
Darwin R. Barker Library
10:30-11:30 a.m.

Wednesday, July 31
Myers Memorial Library
12:30-1:30 p.m.

Monday, August 12
Ellington Farman Library
1-2 p.m.

Tuesday, August 13
Delevan-Yorkshire Public Library
12:30-1:30 p.m.

Wednesday, August 14
Bolivar Free Library
11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Richburg Colonial Library
1:30-2:30 p.m.

Thursday, August 15
Blount Library
12:30-1:30 p.m.

Cuba Circulating Library
3-4 p.m.

Friday, August 16
Patterson Library
10-11:30 p.m.

Monday, August 19
Memorial Library of Little Valley
10:30-11:30 a.m.

Tuesday, August 20
Angelica Free Library
1-2 p.m.

Wednesday, August 21
Lakewood Memorial Library
10-11:30 a.m.

Sinclairville Free Library
1-2 p.m.

Thursday, August 22
Bemus Point Public Library
11 a.m.-12 p.m.

James Prendergast Library
2-3 p.m.

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