Thank you to the many people who have been blog contributors to, and readers of ArtsBlog over the years. ArtsBlog has long been a space where we uplifted stories from the field that demonstrated how the arts strengthen our communities socially, educationally, and economically; where trends and issues and controversies were called out; and advocacy tools were provided to help you make the case for more arts funding and favorable arts policies.

As part of Americans for the Arts’ recent Strategic Realignment Process, we were asked to evaluate our storytelling communications platforms and evolve the way we share content. As a result, we launched the Designing Our Destiny portal to explore new ways of telling stories and sharing information, one that is consistent with our longtime practice of, “No numbers without a story, and no stories without a number.”

As we put our energy into developing this platform and reevaluate our communications strategies, we have put ArtsBlog on hold. That is, you can read past blog posts, but we are not posting new ones. You can look to the Designing Our Destiny portal and our news items feed on the Americans for the Arts website for stories you would have seen in ArtsBlog in the past.

ArtsBlog will remain online through this year as we determine the best way to archive this valuable resource and the knowledge you’ve shared here.

As ever, we are grateful for your participation in ArtsBlog and thank you for your work in advancing the arts. It is important, and you are important for doing it.


Americans for the Arts

Well-Rounded Curriculum in the Spotlight as ESEA Re-Write Gains Momentum

Posted by Americans for the Arts, Jun 07, 2010 0 comments


Americans for the Arts

By Heather Noonan, Vice President for Advocacy for the League of American Orchestras and Co-Chair of the ad-hoc National Arts Education Policy Working Group

How will the next version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) support access to the arts as part of a well-rounded education for every child? This month the Administration, Congress, and arts education advocates have advanced the conversation. Now is a critical time for arts advocates to engage in the real heart of the debate.

Speaking before the national Arts Education Partnership forum on April 9, US. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan delivered his view, declaring that the arts “can no longer be treated as a frill,” and reported that, during his national listening tour, “almost everywhere I went, I heard people express concern that the curriculum has narrowed, especially in schools that serve disproportionate numbers of disadvantaged students.”

The March 13 Obama Administration blueprint for re-writing ESEA lays out the Department’s view on federal education policy. Three areas of the blueprint emerged in Duncan’s remarks:

  • Proposals would allow states to incorporate assessments of subjects beyond English, language arts and math in their accountability systems.
  • The current Arts in Education funding program would be merged with other funding areas so that districts, states, and non-profits would apply for competitive grants to support the arts among other eligible non-tested core academic subjects of learning.
  • New resources for afterschool and extended day learning could open the door for support for arts education.
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Alie Wickham

Researchers and Funders: What's your language?

Posted by Alie Wickham, Jun 07, 2010 2 comments


Alie Wickham

First of all, I want to take this time to remind everyone to please pass the word along of how important it is to continue the discussion about the future of the arts in healthcare.  This is an opportunity for us to potential shape the outcome of our field into its most ideal format.  So, please, don’t miss the chance to make an impact! Thank you to those who have already posted, and I hope that those who have not will start now!

Now, for the discussion topic of the week.  Continuing the theme from my previous post – looking at the importance of our current and future leaders being able to recognize how to equally relate the arts (and artists) with the healthcare (and healthcare providers) - I found a sentence from the Green Paper that I thought a discussion could build from:

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Tim Mikulski

Whatever Happened to Humanities Curriculum? (from Arts Watch)

Posted by Tim Mikulski, Jun 02, 2010 1 comment


Tim Mikulski

Two weeks ago, I joined approximately 40 other arts education leaders in a two-day meeting to discuss plans for National Expectations for Learning in Arts Education, a projected originally taken on by State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education (SEADAE).
 
For the first time in 16 years, arts education experts from national organizations spent time evaluating the possible impact and creating a plan for potential revisions, additions, or replacement for National Arts Education Standards.
 
Over the two days of discussion, I was struck by the passion in the room and energized by what will be coming in the next steps in the process.
 

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Ms. Nora Halpern

Memory as Muse: Forever Caught in Bourgeois’ Web

Posted by Ms. Nora Halpern, Jun 02, 2010 0 comments


Ms. Nora Halpern

How does one sum up the career of Louise Bourgeois, the French-born American artist who died on Monday in New York City at the age of 98? One of the reigning sculptors of our time, Bourgeois’ tough and emotional work was inspired by the darkest corners of memory and psyche. Evocations of her youth were represented by sexually suggestive fragmented forms, anthropomorphized abstraction, and brobdingnagian arachnids…referencing her mother’s role as both a protector and host but also echoing her craft as a master weaver and tapestry maker.

Her parent’s troubled marriage, complicated by her father’s long-time affair with Bourgeois’ own tutor, who lived in their home, played out in her work and her methodology. The artist said, “When a tapestry had to be washed in the river, it took four people to hoist it out and twist it. Twisting is very important for me. When I dreamt of getting rid of the mistress, it was by twisting her neck.”* Bourgeois’ unique ability to catch memory, like so many pieces of wool on barbed wire, and turn it into her medium and muse, is where her power lies.

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