Introducing third graders to art and history through reading

Richland Library and the Columbia Museum of Art have teamed up to pilot an art and literacy initiative called “All Around the Town: All Around the State.”

Focusing on at-risk students, the program targets 2,000 third graders in Richland, Fairfield and Orangeburg counties. All Around the Town will provide first-time exposure to public cultural venues in South Carolina and expose children to the work of two South Carolina artists—Dinah Johnson and Richard Samuel Roberts.

Through activities built around Johnson’s book and Roberts’ photographs, students will experience what life was like for Columbia’s Africa-American community during the early 20th century.

This program is supported by South Carolina State Library, Family Medicine Centers of South Carolina and Claflin University.

More information is available from Richland Library and from the Columbia Museum of Art.

Read an article about the program in The State newspaper.

Photo: Cover of All Around Town, the Photographs of Richard Samuel Roberts, by Dinah Johnson

Via: Richland Library, Columbia Museum of Art