Welcome to the bi-weekly EdTA Advocacy Update February 24, 2014 edition
The Advocacy Update is where you can find state and national news about theatre and other arts education
EdTA NEWS
EdTA Community Launches: The Educational Theatre Association’s new Community network continues to grow. Since the network officially launched on February 3, 283 new users have joined, and 177 unique contributors have posted content in the network
2014 Core Arts Standards review: The final review of the 2014 National Core Arts Standards opened on February 14 and will close on March 1. An open dialogue around the draft theatre standards (created jointly by EdTA and AATE representatives) has begun on the EdTA Advocacy Community Page.
NATIONAL NEWS
Arts Advocacy Day 2014: Registration is open. AAD annually convenes advocates from throughout the country for training and lobbying for strong public polices and funding for the arts and arts education.
President Obama nominates Dr Jane Chu for the chaiman of the National Endowment for the Arts. Chu is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the Kauffman Center in Kansas City. In a statement, President Obama said, "Jane's lifelong passion for the arts and her background in philanthropy have made her a powerful advocate for artists and arts education in Kansas City. She knows firsthand how art can open minds, transform lives and revitalize communities, and believes deeply in the importance of the arts to our national culture. I'm proud to nominate her as Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts."
The College Board Award for Excellence and Innovation in the Arts is awarding $5,000 to three schools that celebrate the achievements of innovative arts education initiatives for students in grades 6–12; one will receive an additional $2500 as the national winner. The three categories are:
1. Arts Integration, recognizing initiatives that use an innovative approach to drawing connections between arts-based learning and other subjects.
2. Equity through arts, recognizing a program that uses the arts as a tool for increasing academic engagement among underserved students.
3. Civic engagement/professional partnerships, recognizing a program that uses arts experiences as vehicles for engagement with local arts professionals and/or nonprofits organizations. Deadline for application is April 4.
2014 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Awards: The President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, is accepting applications for the 2014 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Awards until February 10.
The Second International Teaching Artist Festival is seeking artists, educators and engaged professionals to participate in the three-day festival in Brisbane, Australia, July 1-3, 2014. The festival is co-hosted by the Creative Industries Faculty, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) and in association with QPAC’s Out of the Box Festival for Children 2014.
STATE NEWS
Arizona: STEAM education movement blends art with STEM subjects (YourWestValley.com)
California: Arts education gets a boost in Orange County: (Orange County Register)
Delaware: Senator Carper pushes STEM education with the arts (Bethany Beach Wave)
Iowa: Fine arts proposed for education core (Mason City Globe Gazette)
New Hampshire: At Gate City Charter School in Nashua, learning is an art (The Union Leader)
New Jersey: School Performance Report Cards indicate nearly half of NJ students took at least one arts class last year (New Jersey Spotlight)
Wisconsin: UWM Peck School of the Arts Awarded $107,400 planning grant (Broadway World)
WORTH READING
Liberal arts education is as vital as ever (Philly.com): The notion that a liberal arts education and career preparation are incompatible is being widely discredited.The very characteristics that employers value in job candidates are those cultivated at liberal arts colleges. Employers want job applicants who possess critical thinking and analytical reasoning skills, have the ability to analyze and solve complex problems, can effectively communicate orally and in writing, and demonstrate proficiency in applying knowledge and skills in real-world settings, according to "It Takes More Than a Major: Employer Priorities for College Learning and Student Success," a 2013 study by the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) and Hart Research Associates.
Dear President Obama: In Defense of the Art Degree ...: Pop Culture (KQED): This week, President Obama gave a speech at a General Electric plant in Waukesha, Wisconsin, as part of a cross-country tour to extol opportunities for all. The President's talking points included plans to make new jobs, to train Americans to fill those jobs, to guarantee children access to an education, and to make sure "hard work pays off." In his speech the President reflected on how offshore manufacturing took away a lot of American jobs and noted, “A lot of young people no longer see the trades and skilled manufacturing as a viable career. But I promise you, folks can make a lot more, potentially, with skilled manufacturing or the trades than they might with an art history degree.” This last observation, not surprisingly, has generated a response from arts professionals. (SFMOMA created the Twitter hashtag #ArtDegreesWork to collect career stories from people with art degrees.) Anticipating a potential outcry from his vast base of art historian supporters, the president went on to say, “Now, nothing wrong with an art history degree--I love art history. So I don't want to get a bunch of emails from everybody.”