The Advocacy
Update is where you can find current national and state news concerning arts
advocacy and arts education
EdTA
NEWS
Top Awards Presented During EdTA’s
2015 Thespian Festival: The
Educational Theatre Association recognized the service to school theatre by the
American Alliance for Theatre and Education, Colorado Thespians, the publishing
house Theatrical Rights Worldwide, and volunteer Thespian leader Alex Minton
with its top awards, presented during the 2015 Thespian Festival.
NATIONAL
NEWS
Senate
Every Child Achieves Act Approval a Big Win for Arts Education:
Leadership team Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Patty Murray (D-WA)
succeeded in crafting and maintaining a bipartisan bill to reauthorize the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The Senate has voted to approve
the Every Child Achieves Act by a vote of 81-17. The ESEA expired in 2007, and
the Senate has not considered K-12 education legislation on the Senate floor
since 2001, giving a sense of momentous significance to this vote. (Americans for the Arts)
The
Broadway League Reveals Winners of 2015 Educator Awards:
The Broadway League, national trade organization for the commercial theatre
industry, has revealed their 12th annual League Educator Apple Award
recipients. The awards acknowledge the efforts of local teachers and advocates
who support programs relating to Broadway or Touring Broadway shows, promoting
further development of theatre education. (Broadway
World)
STATE
NEWS
Got state theatre and other arts
education news you want to share? Send it to Anna amarsala@schooltheatre.org
California:
California Arts Council Gets a
Budget Boost (Voice of San Diego)
Spark Initiative Bringing Arts to
the Classroom (Your Central Valley)
Santa Monica Arts Foundation Honors
Leaders (Santa Monica Daily Press)
Colorado:
Group Hopes to Reopen Funding
Proposal for Denver Cultural Groups (Denver Business Journal)
Florida:
AMIkids-YES High School Students
Learn Life Lessons Through Art
(The Tampa Tribune)
Georgia:
Columbia County School Board Votes
Down Proposed School for the Arts (The Augusta Chronicle)
Idaho:
Idaho Commission on the Arts
Announces 2016 Grant List
(Idaho Statesman)
Indiana:
Evansville Mayor’s Art Award Goes
to Longtime Arts Supporter
(Evansville Courier & Press)
Iowa:
University of Northern Iowa Provost
Speaks on Education’s Value
(WCF Courier)
Louisiana:
New Non-Profit Art Center Opens in
New Orleans (Gambit New Orleans)
Maine:
University Art Department Hosts
Summer Art Institute for Portland Public School Teachers (University of Southern Maine)
Maryland:
Arts Council Recognizes Community
for Supporting Artists, Education (Southern Maryland Newspaper)
Massachusetts:
Berklee, Boston Conservatory
Explore Arts Merger (The Boston Globe)
Missouri:
Arts and Education Council of St.
Louis Announces 25th Annual Arts Awards Honorees (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
New
Jersey: Theater Camps Give Kids an Edge on
Arts Education (Press of Atlantic City)
New
York: Citywide Program Connects Teens on
Probation to Arts and Education
(DNAinfo)
North
Carolina: Durham Arts Educators See Lower Pay
for Extra Duties (The Herald Sun)
Ohio:
New Artistic Director Hired for
Cincinnati’s School for Creative and Performing Arts (WCPO)
Pennsylvania:
Allentown School District Raises
Budget, Restores Arts (The Morning Call)
Gateway to the Arts Merges with
Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
(Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Tennessee:
Tennessee Arts Commission Grants
Given to Main Street Dayton and Valley Fest (The Chattanoogan)
Texas:
International Conservatory of
Performing Arts to Offer Middle and High School Education (The Dallas Morning News)
Washington:
One Big Way Seattle is Improving
Arts Education, As Told by a Cartoonist (Huffington Post)
WORTH
READING
Why
Arts Programs in Prisons are So Important: The US prison system has been
criticized for not focusing enough on rehabilitation; instead emphasizing
punishment and deterrence. Programs that help inmates with job training,
education, and personal development, including arts programs, may seem
expendable. Numerous studies indicate that such programs can help decrease
violence, improve interracial tensions, and bolster self-esteem within prisons.
(Attn:)