Jamaica

Katelyn McCormick **Jamaica ** Introduction:
 * Jamaica is an island of the Greater Antilles located in the Caribbean Sea, south of Cuba. The name Jamaica came from the Arawak word Xaymaca, which means "Land of Wood and Water". Currently Jamaica is an independent country that became free from Great Britain in 1962. Queen Elizabeth II is still the head of state of the parliamentary country. The capital of Jamaica is Kingston. The country's population is about 2.8 million. Roughly one quarter of the population lives in the Kingston area. The landscape is extremely mountainous,with a central mountain range running from east to west across the country. Besides being well-known for reggae music and Rastafarian religion, Jamaica is also known for it's beautiful beaches, recreational activities, and warm climate.
 * Jamaica's view of education and art is reflective of it's culture because the schools incorporate reggae music and drama into their curriculum. Schools typically offer arts classes at both the primary and the secondary level, although primary is more focused on. Some think this is surprising since they are more focused on literacy and math at the primary level and may not have time for the arts during school. Culture is represented in the arts at schools through students expressing themselves through music and dance.

Accomplished Artist Profile:




 * The artist that Jamaica seems to be best known for is Bob Marley. He was born Robert Nesta Marley on February 6, 1945. Bob learned many African customs through story-telling in the small town where he grew up, Nine Miles. "The proverbs, fables and various chores associated with rural life that were inherent to Bob's childhood would provide a deeper cultural context and an aura of mysticism to his adult songwriting." Bob met up with his friends Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh to form the band Bob Marley and the Wailers in 1963. During the 1970s, poverty, unemployment, and crime were a big part of the Jamaican economy. The economic down-time led to most of Bob's lyrics. The group went on their first successful tour during this time. By 1977, Bob Marley was regarded as a global reggae ambassador who popularized Rastafarian beliefs around the world. The principles of the Rastafari Movement came about from Marcus Mosiah Garvey, a Jamaican who was born in 1887. He believed that Africans should worship God in their own image. "We Negroes believe in the God of Ethiopia, the everlasting God, the one God of all ages; we shall worship him through the spectacles of Ethiopia," Garvey said. Bob Marley made Rasta ways famous with his songs "Burnin" and "Catch a Fire". He passed away May 11, 1961 due to cancer in his foot.
 * Bob Marley had many songs that attributed to his success, but his most famous are "I Shot the Sheriff", "No Woman, No Cry", "Could You Be Loved", "Stir It Up", "Get Up Stand Up", "Jamming", "Redemption Song", "One Love" and "Three Little Birds". His album //Legend // is reggae's best selling album of all time. It was released in 1984 after his death and was compiled of his best hits. It sold 25 million copies worldwide! In 2001,he was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2004, "One Love" was named Song of the Millennium by BBC. His music is widely listened throughout the world today.

Successful Arts Organization:
 * Studio 174 is a successful arts organization through Inscape Foundation in Kingston, Jamaica. Studio 174 works with emerging artists from all around Jamaica. Inscape Foundation is a therapy program that combines arts with therape utic services. " Our mission is to provide Individual therapy,Art, Drama and Music therapy to people living in inner city communities in Jamaica free of cost by trained therapists." From the Inscape website: "Visual and Performance Arts Therapy is a 200 year old form of psychotherapy where creative arts activities are used to allow the safe expression of emotions. The participants are encouraged to express themselves in a freely through structured art activities, allowing a link between the subconscious the product of the arts therapy. The resulting images and actions can help to bring to light any suppressed emotions or conflicts that would not otherwise be verbally accessible. Art therapy can offer an opportunity to explore the intense or painful thoughts and feelings that can occur when emotions are not acknowledged. Working in a supportive environment Art Therapy involves using a wide variety of art materials such as; paints crayons, pastels, clay, fabric, dyes and wax, to create a visual representation of thoughts and feelings. Creating art with an art therapist helps people to express painful thoughts or memories possibly related to trauma or distress. This may, in turn, help them cope with the difficulties of their distress. In conventional mental health therapy, people talk with a counselor. To talk about traumatic or painful experiences that may be hidden in the subconscious mind is an important part of the healing process. In much the same way, creating a drawing or painting of an emotion or event can serve as a tool that helps the art therapist guide you through the process of dealing with similar concerns." Studio 174 provides art so that students can deal with emotional challenges. They use art that students create to beautify the community.
 * Studio 174 does not provide a program in a school, rather in the community. It is a resource for people to go to when they need therapeutic assistance in an art form. The young people at Studio 174 have painted a section of the enclosure at the Digicel Headquarters. They have also completed two murals in Tivoli Gardens, which is in the community.

School Arts Programs: <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">The Importance of Art Education in Jamaica media type="youtube" key="5ecmQmk4yyI" height="315" width="420" align="center"
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Some Jamaican Primary Schools are lucky enough to have a music specialist who teaches music to all grades. Other schools are not so lucky and do not have any type of specialists at all. This problem within the arts in Jamaican schools is ongoing. Similar to in the United States, some schools have more resources than others do. There is a belief that one music specialist per Secondary School is enough, despite the amount of students enrolled. In Jamaica, primary music is more focused on than secondary music. The music teachers focus more on the culture of the students, than on simple whole-class singing activities, like those in many U.S. schools. Singing is focused on a lot, since Jamaicans have a long history of being singers. African Folk Music is introduced in schools, as well. Dancing is also incorporated in schools, since it is an essential part of the culture. Teachers help students to learn their academics through song and dance. One popular reading program used in primary schools is "Reggae Reader", which is a set of books for young Jamaican readers in the first three primary grades. These books come with Audio CD's that bring the text to life in a reggae-fashion. In secondary schools, the arts are typically elective classes, where students do not have to take them.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The schools seem to incorporate a lot of music art, but not a lot of visual art such as paintings and murals. This may be the area where they are lacking the most, because students are not being exposed to certain types of art. Jamaican culture focuses on singing and dancing, so this may be why the schools focus mostly on these two types of art.

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: Georgia,serif; line-height: 23px;">Conclusion:
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> The Jamaican art that is taught in schools is similar to my art education in a way, but dissimilar in some ways, as well. I learned a lot of singing in my music classes, but did not participate in dance. We typically did whole-class singing, which is different from the Jamaican students because they focus more on individual talents. I also had exposure to painting, collages, and other types of hands-on art that the Jamaican students do not do. Overall, I had a different experience in the arts from that of Jamaican children.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> What surprised me most about researching Jamaica and it's art education programs, was the little focus that was put on the arts in secondary school. When I was in high school, my school focused a lot on band and choir. Although I did not participate in these programs, many other students did. I was surprised that there was no mention of band programs in the Jamaican schools that I researched, since they are extremely focused on music. I enjoyed researching about Bob Marley and his reggae influence on Jamaica. I think that his work had a great deal to do with how music is taught in Jamaican schools today.

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: Georgia,serif; line-height: 23px;">Sources:

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