The Advocacy
Update is where you can find current national and state news concerning arts
advocacy and arts education
EdTA
NEWS
Cincy, KY Middle Schools Tapped for
New Theater Program:
Finneytown and James N. Gamble Montessori schools in Cincinnati and Holmes Middle
School in Covington were tapped as the first three schools for the JumpStart
program, a scalable new pilot program designed to build sustainable theater
education in underserved schools that do not have a performing arts program.
The pilot project is co-sponsored by the Educational Theatre Association, Music
Theatre International, and iTheatrics. (Cincinnati.com)
NATIONAL
NEWS
Winners Announced for BCA 10: Best
Businesses Partnering with the Arts in America: Presented every year by the
Business Committee for the Arts (BCA), a division of Americans for the Arts,
the BCA 10 awards honor 10 US companies for the exceptional commitment to the
arts through grants, local partnerships, volunteer programs, matching gifts,
sponsorships, and board membership. (pARTnership
Movement)
Entire First-year MFA Class at USC
Drops Out:
According to a statement released last Friday, seven first-year MFA candidates
at the University of Southern California’s Roski School of Art and Design
announced they will not return to the program next semester. Citing unexpected
academic and financial changes to the program as well as diminished
scholarships and a lack of studio visits, the students announced they would
“return to the workforce degree-less and debt-full.” (USA Today)
Americans for the Arts 2015 Annual
Convention Registration: For
nearly 60 years, Americans for the Arts has convened an annual convention for
arts and community leaders to network and discuss strategies for building stronger
towns, counties, and cities through the arts. This year’s annual convention in
Chicago, June 12-14, explores power and empowerment of the individual and the
greater community. Register now with advanced rate before May 29! (Americans for the Arts)
STATE
NEWS
Got state theatre and other arts
education news you want to share? Send it to Anna amarsala@schooltheatre.org
California:
Governor Jerry Brown Moves to
Modestly Improve Meager State Arts Budget (LA Times)
Colorado:
Arts Education Gains Momentum
despite Recession (Colorado Public Radio)
Florida:
Pinellas County Commission Gives
Preliminary Thumbs Up to Arts Funding (Creative Loafing Tampa Bay)
Georgia:
Georgia Ranks Last in Arts Funding (NBC 11 Alive)
Illinois:
Chicago’s Goodman Raises Curtain on
New Education Center (Chicago Reader)
Ohio:
Big Productions Mean Big Bucks for
Area High Schools (Toledo Blade)
Oregon:
Arts Central Receives Grant for
Artists in Schools Program
(KTVZ)
Maryland:
Superintendent Dance’s Magnet Plan
Boosts Art in Baltimore County Schools (Baltimore Sun)
Minnesota:
Education Funding Dispute Forces
Layoff Notices (Inforum)
New
York: New York City Rethinks Arts for the
Masses (Wall Street Journal)
New
York: Public Schools Fund, Under de
Blasio, Is Struggling to Lure Wealthy Donors (New York Times)
New
York: No Arts Let-up in Harrison District (The Journal News LoHud)
Pennsylvania:
Will Philadelphia’s Arts Scene Get
a Mayor Who Cares? (Philly.com)
South
Carolina: Educators Argue for Arts Support in
Schools at Artisphere (Greenville Online)
Tennessee:
National Endowment of the Arts
Grants Nashville $255K (The Tennessean)
Texas:
Houston Independent School
District, Arts Access Initiative Partnership Expanding Arts Education to 11
Schools (Houston Examiner)
Utah:
State School Board Opens Revised
Math, Arts Standards for Public Comment (Deseret News)
Utah:
Twelve Utah Arts Groups Receive NEA
Grants (Salt Lake Magazine)
Washington:
Garfield Elementary School Honored
for Arts Programs (Yakima Herald)
WORTH
READING
America’s
Best Teachers Use Theater and Rap to Make Kids like Math: Researchers at
Michigan State University interviewed eight finalists and winners for the
national US Teacher of the Year award about how creativity informs their
teaching style. The study found that these teachers shared a common interest in
employing art to teach and improve how children learn. (Quartz)
Unlocking Title I Funds for Arts
Education to Achieve Title I Goals:
In their quarterly “Guild Notes”, the National Guild for Community Arts
Education focuses on how to effectively meet Title I goals, which include
improving student learning, student engagement, attendance and motivation,
school culture, and parent involvement, through using arts programs. (Arts Ed 411)
Jane Chu on Arts in our Everyday
Lives: ‘The greatest
opportunity that we have is to make sure that people who understand the arts
are not by themselves and they are not in a specific category unrelated to the
rest of our lives, that they infuse our lives everyday”. (Arts Blog, NEA)