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Children’s
Healing Arts Project at The TSU Health And Social Justice Conference On
Saturday, November 16, 2002, from 9am-5pm, Art Angels, a Healing Arts Program of
The Museum Of Cultural Arts Houston (MOCAH), will present the healing arts
exhibit, Tickles’ Traveling Toothbrush Show, during the Texas Southern
University Health and Social Justice Conference - Kid Zone.
The conference is a collaboration set forth by community partners such as
Texas Southern University-Terry Library; The John P. McGovern Museum Of Health
& Medical Science; Houston Council Member, Ada Edwards and also represents
the support of over 20 community organizations.
Located on the TSU Campus at the Health and Physical Education Gymnasium,
the conference is free to the public and will allow participants to explore the
vital health care issues that affect minorities and underserved groups.
Participants will receive free community health information, resources, free
classes for preventive education and free screenings at this all day health
fair. Tickles Traveling
Toothbrush Show is a healing arts exhibit that will
feature a full day of hands on arts-in-dentistry activities; Live performances
of ‘Tickles’ Dental Visit’; Fun dental health give-a-ways provided
by the Colgate Bright Smiles, Bright Futures Program; and free dental health
screenings, courtesy of Almeda Dental Group.
To encourage community participation, free toothbrushes, dental health
coloring books and event invitations will be also be issued to over 2,400
students in exchange for their old and worn out toothbrushes as the healing arts
exhibit tours to Blackshear, Mac Gregor, Lockhart and Turner Elementary Schools, to
present performances of ‘Tickles’ Dental Visit’ between November 1-15th,
2002. Over
51 million school hours are lost each year due to dental related illnesses. Recent studies conducted by the Harris County Public Health
and Environmental Services suggest that one of the major problems for this is
the lack of collaborative efforts among dental public resources to integrate a
comprehensive oral health education program.
By offering preventive education, we can help control the
incidents of childhood dental disease. The Art Angels Healing Arts
Program mission is to promote individual and social health awareness to support
groups, healthcare facilities and schools throughout Houston. Tickles’
Traveling Toothbrush Show is a unique arts-in-dentistry project that focuses
on using art as a tool to creatively teach children about the importance of
proper dental health and the consequences of neglect. Tickles
Traveling Toothbrush Show
is a traveling exhibit featuring expressive Arts-In-Dentistry projects delivered
on-site to elementary schools, community centers and health fairs to promote
children's dental health education for grades K through 12.
This community arts-in-dentistry project is based on a cast of characters
created from 'dental office personalities'.
Tickles The Toothbrush is the star of the show and he is joined by
Dr. Giggles
the Dentist, Happy Hygienist, Flossy Floss
and Sticky- Icky -Plaque & The Sugar Bug Gang.
These characters creatively present dental health lessons combining
different art mediums such as performing arts using song, dance, interactive
role-play, and hands-on art projects using items and materials commonly
associated with the dental office. ‘Our primary intention is to help
children and parents to overcome fear and anxiety of dental visits’, says
program director and registered dental hygienist, Rhonda Radford Adams.
‘We hope that through the technique of healing arts we will
encourage families to make regular dental visits.’
Casting for the performance is provided by Express Children’s Theatre. During
our 2001-2002 tours, this event attracted an audience of more than 4,500
participants at HISD schools, health fairs and community organizations such as
The Museum Of Health And Medical Science during February 2002, National
Children’s Dental Health Month. Adams says, ‘Our goal during this
years’ tour is to reach at least 10,000 young smiles as Tickles’ The
Toothbrush and his crew travel across Houston to creatively teach and expose
families to dental health prevention resources’.
To read more about Tickles D. Toothbrush click here ###
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Museum Of Cultural Arts Houston, © 1999-2003 MOCAH is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization P.O. Box 202059 Houston, Texas USA 77020-2059 Tel: 713.864.2780 Fax: 713.864.1629 MOCAH Studios: 2500 Summer St. 3rd Floor Studio 7 C , Houston, TX 77007 Email: info@mocah.org
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