Blog Posts for Arts Education

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.


Victoria J. Plettner-Saunders

More Thoughts on the Local Arts Agency and Arts Education

Posted by Victoria J. Plettner-Saunders, Sep 25, 2009 0 comments


Victoria J. Plettner-Saunders

In 2006, I was hired to conduct an assessment of the arts education program at the City of San José’s Office of Cultural Affairs. One of the research tasks was to create context for the OCA’s programs by putting them within a time line of influencing factors. It read like a history of arts education and politics from the 1970’s to the turn of the 21st century. It also became the most time consuming part of writing the report and it was the one part of the report I thought most people would wonder why I included it.

When I presented the full report to the Arts Commissioners, I got the most positive feedback on that one section because it helped them understand why the OCA made the arts education programming decisions it did over the previous three decades. See if you can follow the historical trends in your own community’s programs.

1.    The NEA-funded artists residencies in the 70’s and 80’s and their influence on state arts agency artist in the classroom programs;
2.    The after school programs for youth at risk that the NEA started in the 90’s;
3.    The move towards professional development and standards-based programs and curricula in the late 90’s and early 2000’s; and
4.    The movement to develop coordinated partnerships between arts organizations, school districts, teaching artists and local arts agencies that came about and have been highly researched in the last decade.

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Stephanie Hanson

Whose Responsibility is it to Provide Access to Art and Culture? (from Arts Watch)

Posted by Stephanie Hanson, Nov 11, 2009 1 comment


Stephanie Hanson

Last week, I read in Arts Watch that the arts in my hometown of Fairfax County, VA, are threatened due to significant budget cuts. When I was in high school, the public schools in Fairfax County were ranked among the top in the country. We had access to band, orchestra, a great theater department, and many visual art courses to choose from. I took music theory, a course that put me ahead of my classmates when I started college as a freshman music major.

The news about Fairfax County saddened me, because I know that without access to the arts, my career would be very different then what it is today. It also led me to ask a question—if it’s not the public school system’s responsibility to provide a quality arts education for students, then whose is it? Is it the responsibility of non-profit arts organizations? Government? Parents?

I’ve been thinking about this question a lot, and also reminiscing about my own experience in the arts as a young child. While I recognize that the answer to my questions may differ depending on who is answering, when I ask myself again whose responsibility it is to provide quality arts education to children my answer is—it is everyone’s responsibility.

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Sheila Womble

Unscramble Arts & Education

Posted by Sheila Womble, Apr 06, 2010 0 comments


Sheila Womble

I recently moderated a panel at the 25th Annual Winter Music Conference in Miami. It’s not the first place you would think that a panel on arts education would exist and indeed our discussion rounded out a week of panels that included conversation on why DJs should dye their hair to better market themselves. I worried that we would not have an audience - especially since the event was held on the last day of the conference. Adding to my concern, it was also a beautiful Saturday afternoon, it was on Ocean Drive and the beach was literally steps from our discussion room. If individuals made it past the beach, the second hurdle was the lobby where the conference had a collection of vinyl records for sale. While waiting for the room to be set up, I perused the record collection. Who knew that Appolonia released a solo record? Then I wondered, “Who knew about our panel?”

We were seven individuals and, according to the panel description, we were ready to discuss “Why are the arts important to child development and how are interdisciplinary approaches beneficial?” Also, “How does funding affect the quality of education in the Arts?” What a cast of characters we were. We could have given Gilligan’s gang a run for their money. After all, we too had a professor (actually, more than one) and arts leaders, radio talent, and composers to boot. The panelists and I joked that if no one came, we were happy to have met each other and we agreed to take an hour to converse over lunch and the inevitable South Beach cocktail.

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Mr. Gary P. Steuer

Why Business Should Care About Arts Education - thoughts on a Dana Foundation Symosium

Posted by Mr. Gary P. Steuer, May 29, 2007 0 comments


Mr. Gary P. Steuer

The Dana Foundation recently convened a symposium in New York on "Transforming Arts Teaching: The Role of Higher Education" as part of their ongoing commitment to arts education, as well as to the role the arts play in the development of the brain. Participants included a wide array of people from around the country who are leaders in arts education, including people from arts organizations, academia, government and the funding community.  [The link above takes you a page on the Dana Foundation site that includes some video excerpts from the Symposium.] I had the pleasure of participating as well, and found it particularly relevant to the work we are doing in linking the arts and arts education to workforce development issues. The better job we can do of getting business to be active advocates for arts education because they see it of benefit to their bottom line, the more effective we can be at getting greater recognition and funding of arts education in our educational system which has been so damaged by the relentless focus on measurement of a handful of subject area skills. I thought it would be helpful to share some of the Symposium conversation through this Blog. It is a longish entry so please remember to click the "more" link to read the whole report! Dr. David J. Skorton, President of Cornell University, gave a stirring opening keynote on the importance of the arts in education. He is trained as a musician, and supported himself performing jazz while pursuing his education as a scientist, doctor, biomedical research and academic. His talk wove actual examples of music of different genres into his speech, as well as snippets of video from musical performances. He talked with passion of his belief that arts exposure, participation and training results in graduates who are both better human beings and better workers and contributors to society.

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Americans for the Arts

Guest Bloggers at Convention

Posted by Americans for the Arts, Jun 11, 2008 3 comments


Americans for the Arts

Convention is right around the corner and I can taste the anticipation in the air! I am hearing from so many people about how excited they are to see each other, to attend sessions and just be in the same room together. Yes, I oversee two program tracks (Leadership and Career360) and I will be working throughout the three+ days. But my convention experience is more than my job. It reconnects me with why I do the work that I do. Sometimes I attend other national convenings and it takes energy away from me. The people at our convention fill me with energy; they feed my soul. I can’t wait.

We have invited some attendees to blog their convention experience and I’d like to take a moment to introduce them now.

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