E-Newsletter for June 6, 2007
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- Arts Education Funding Update
- Take Action: California Arts Funding Legislation
- Red Bluff Teen Named Presidential Scholar in the Arts for 2007
- School Rocks! As Arts Education Funds Dip, Pop Stars Make Sure the Beat Goes On
- House Prepares To Vote On NEA Funding Bill
- Art Classes May Become Mandatory in North Carolina
- Arts School Scores Higher Than Non-Arts in Utah
- Arts, Community Key To R.I. School's Turnaround
- How Do You Encourage The Arts?
- "Kids Come Alive with the Arts" PSA Created; Copies Available for Cable Stations and Other Media Outlets
- UCTV as Arts and Arts Education Resource
- San Francisco’s Young Artist Program: (YAP) June 18- July 16, 2007
- Public Service Web-Based Intro To Classical Music
CONFERENCES, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
- Teacher Professional Development Program July 6-August 15
- Lesley University Launching New Location for Masters of Education, Integrated Teaching Through the Arts Degree Program
- California Consultancy for Arts Education (CCAE) Summer Institute
- Artadia: The Fund for Art and Dialogue 2007 Awards
EMPLOYMENT & JOB OPPORTUNITIES
- District Arts Manager, Seattle Public Schools
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California News
Arts Education Funding Update
2007-08 Budget
This week in Sacramento the Budget Conference Committee meets to resolve differences between the Senate and the Assembly responses to the Governor’s “May revise” of the state budget. We will be watching the results of the Conference Committee closely since one of the issues on the table is the Visual and Performing Arts Block Grant.
In the May Revise, the Governor proposed budget language, which would require that the block grant be equally distributed at the school site level based on student enrollment. While we share the Governor’s commitment that every school shall benefit from this important investment, we want to ensure that the money is spent in the best possible way to improve the quality of arts education in our schools.
CAAE supports amending existing budget language to require reporting of how the arts education funding is being used. We believe that building a system of accountability will help ensure that these funds are spent to provide quality, equity, and access to arts education for all children.
Allotment of 2006-07 Funds
The remaining 25% of both the ongoing $105 million Arts and Music Block Grant, and the $500 million Arts, Music and Physical Education Grant will be distributed to school districts/charters/county offices of education programs in July, rather than in June, as earlier reported. Any questions regarding those expenditures should be sent to:
Nancy Carr (Visual and Performing Arts): ncarr@cde.ca.gov
Diane Wilson-Graham (Physical Education): dwilsong@cde.ca.gov
Take Action: California Arts Funding Legislation
The California legislature has two opportunities to recognize the value of art in California and increase funding so all Californians can have access to arts programs. Help make it happen!
- Pass AB 1365 Karnette (D-Long Beach), a bill that requires 20% of state sales tax and use tax revenues derived from the sales of art dealers, art auctioneers, and certain other business entities to be deposited in the State Treasury for allocation to the California Art Council. $32 million!
This is not a new tax; it is merely a designation for the spending of dollars the state is already collecting.
- Increase the California Arts Council budget FY 2007-08
California is in its third year spending 3 cents per capita from the general fund. Seize this opportunity to articulate the value of art and to insist for ART FOR ALL!
Visit the California Arts Action Center here and email your legislator.
Urge your assembly member and state senator to contact Assembly Member Mark Leno, chair of the Assembly Appropriations Committee to move AB 1365 out of committee and to the Assembly floor this week. It takes 2 minutes to e-mail your elected representatives!
Red Bluff Teen Named Presidential Scholar in the Arts for 2007
This year 141 students across the nation became National Finalists in the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts (NFAA) youngARTS program. Since 1981, the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars has chosen the Presidential Scholars in the Arts each year exclusively from the NFAA young ARTS National Finalists.
The Sacramento Bee recently noted that a northern California student, Margaret Glaspy, graduating senior at Mercy Catholic High School in Red Bluff, recently won a $10,000 top prize in a young artists competition and was named one of 20 Presidential Scholars in the Arts for 2007. That honor comes with an opportunity to perform at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., in June.
"Officials at the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts chose Glaspy from more than 7,000 applicants as one of the 141 finalists to participate in the annual young artists program," noted The Bee. Click here to read the full article.
School Rocks! As Arts Education Funds Dip, Pop Stars Make Sure the Beat Goes On
Flea, the bassist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, is "one of a handful of pop stars, including soul singer Macy Gray and hip-hop's Black Eyed Peas, who have established nonprofit music schools for children. . . . Such schools help fill a void left by deep state and federal budget cuts that have severely diminished arts programs in public schools. Flea (born Michael Balzary) launched Silverlake Conservatory of Music on the city's east side in 2001, in part because of such cutbacks. He says the music program at Los Angeles's Fairfax High School was his salvation in the late 1970s. "Having music in school was the one thing that I really believed in. [It] gave me a focus, a structure and consistency." He took full advantage of a menu of offerings including orchestra, jazz and marching band, choir and musical productions. After sitting by chance beside Fairfax's music teacher at a Knicks game in New York several years ago, the rocker decided to revisit his alma mater -- and found its music program decimated by budget cuts." To read the full article, click here.
(Source: Cultural Policy Listserv)
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House Prepares To Vote On NEA Funding Bill
The House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, which sets the initial funding level for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), approved a $35 million increase for the NEA for its FY 2008 spending bill.
If this funding level is maintained by the Senate and signed into law by President Bush, it will represent the largest increase in NEA history. The agency, currently funded at $124.4 million has only seen increases of under 3% for the last several years.
The FY 2008 Interior Appropriations bill will next go to full committee and then the full House where we will likely need to defend against floor amendments attempting to cut this increase.
We must now also put pressure on the Senate to match this funding level. Please take two minutes to visit CapWiz to send a letter to your Senators.
(Source: Americans for the Arts)
Art Classes May Become Mandatory in North Carolina
In Fayetteville, NC, School Superintendent Bill Harrison "has suggested that every high school student should have to take an art class, starting with the freshmen entering in 2008. He plans to formally ask the Board of Education to approve the measure this summer. . . . The State Board of Education might make art a requirement in the future, but Harrison does not want to wait. He is proud of Cumberland County’s art program, which was named the best in the country in 1999 by the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts and the National School Boards Association. Art courses contribute to a student’s quality of life and also give them a reason to enjoy school, Harrison said. Drawing, drama and band classes would satisfy the requirement, Harrison said. So would less common courses, such as television production and photography. . . They were asking the North Carolina Board of Education to make art classes mandatory across the state.” To read the full article, click here. (Source: Cultural Policy Listserv)
Arts School Scores Higher Than Non-Arts in Utah
Art Works did a comparison study of an elementary school that has integrated arts education and a comparable school without arts education. The one with arts instruction scored about 25% higher. "One of the things when students study arts in depth is they have more focus, more discipline, better problem-solving skills and they've learned how to work collaboratively with other people," Elaine Harding, executive director of Art Works said. "The arts are central to life." To read the full article, click here. (Source: Arts Education Network Weekly News)
Arts, Community Key To R.I. School's Turnaround
A Rhode Island high school in the early stages of what observers say is a dramatic turnaround credits its partnerships with the arts community and a local college. "The opportunity to show students how the academic material is applied in the real world is incredibly important," says Betsy Brand, director of the nonprofit American Youth Policy Forum. "We actually aligned our schoolwide expectations and goals to a vision of a high-performing arts school," says Hope High School Arts Community Principal Scott Sutherland. He came on board in 2005, when three new principals were assigned to Hope because the state hadn't seen sufficient progress. To read the full article, click here.
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Announcements
How Do You Encourage The Arts?
The National PTA wants to know, “How do you encourage an appreciation for the arts in your child?" Selected responses will be published in Our Children magazine and receive a $25 gift card from Barnes and Noble. Responses should be submitted to forum@pta.org by June 4, 2007.
(Source: Arts Education Network Weekly News)
"Kids Come Alive with the Arts" PSA Created; Copies Available for Cable Stations and Other Media Outlets
The California Arts Council--through the assistance of the California Channel in Sacramento--will make available the public service announcement (PSA) entitled "Kids Come Alive with the Arts," an animated 30-second spot featuring voice-over by actor and California Arts Council member Annette Bening. The spot emphasizes the importance of the arts for children, and that funding from sales and renewals of the California Arts License Plate goes towards arts programs for children and communities. (A 30-second audio-only version for use on radio and other appropriate venues, is also available.)
Contact Mary Beth Barber at (916) 322-6588 or mbarber@caartscouncil.com to obtain a DVD, Beta or CD. An internet-friendly version of the PSA can be found on the California Arts Council's website here. (Source: CAC newsletter)
UCTV as Arts and Arts Education Resource
University of California Television (UCTV), the satellite television channel airing educational and enrichment programming from the campuses of the UC system at www.uctv.tv, is an educational resource that can be utilized by teachers and others in the general public about the arts and other subjects.
UCTV has an extensive (and free) video-on-demand archive of content in the arts including poetry readings, dance performances, concerts, theatre, visual arts and more, as well as other non-arts subjects like science, health, public affairs and others. UCTV also has a website called "The Teacher's P.E.T." (Professional Education for Teachers) at www.uctv.tv/teachers where visitors can search UCTV's program library by California state Department of Education content standards, including music, theater, dance, visual arts, and writing.
San Francisco’s Young Artist Program: (YAP) June 18- July 16, 2007
This three-week intensive summer program for artists between 13 and 15 years old offers a focused and fun environment for exploring new techniques, and for creating and developing artistic expertise. For more information, click here, or call (415) 749-4554.
Public Service Web-Based Intro To Classical Music
Creative Kids Education Foundation and classical music station KUSC in Los Angeles offer a family-friendly website for exploring classical music. Available at www.kusc.org, click on Creative Kids Central.
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Conferences, Professional Development
Teacher Professional Development Program July 6- August 15
San Francisco Art Institute’s Teacher Professional Development Program offers teachers new perspectives on art-integrated and experience-based curriculum, as well as an opportunity to immerse in a creative studio practice. Learn how to successfully incorporate hands-on art activities into your lesson plans and how to use digital tools in the classroom. Explore opportunities for collaboration and exchange between schools, organizations, and museums, and how to write grant proposals to make it possible. Teaching artists will receive a personal studio at SFAI's graduate facilities and work with distinguished Art Institute faculty in a one-on-one and group environment. For more information, click here or call (415) 749-4554.
Lesley University Launching New Location for Masters of Education, Integrated Teaching Through the Arts Degree Program
This program enhances the individual creativity of teachers and serves as advanced training for educators who wish to integrate the arts into the school curriculum.
Announcing 3 Informational Meetings:
Wednesday, June 13, 2007, 3:30 – 5:00 pm
Monterey County Office of Education, 901 Blanco Circle, Salinas, CA
Wednesday, June 13, 2007, 7:00 - 8:30 pm
Center for Art and Humanities, 115 3rd Street, San Juan Bautista, CA
Thursday, June 14, 2007, 5:30 - 7:00 pm
Santa Clara County Office of Education, Guadalupe Room
1290 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, CA
Attend an information meeting or contact:
Debbie Andenucio, Regional Director, 866.600.7030
dandenuc@lesley.edu
Jennifer Colby, Director Center for Art and Humanities
Site Coordinator, 831.623.2783
www.galeriatonantzin.com
www.lesley.edu/california
California Consultancy for Arts Education (CCAE) Summer Institute
In July 2007, the annual CCAE Summer Art Institute will move to a new site, the University Library Gallery on the campus of California State University, Sacramento. Participants will work from real works of art in a dynamic and engaging art setting and will receive all the resources needed to transfer their experiences into their classrooms. Focus artworks for the Institute will be drawn from the University’s exemplary permanent collection of paintings and sculptures. These works will be selected for their ability to engage students of all ages in meaningful looking, discussing, writing, critical thinking and art-making.
More information, click here, and here. For questions, contact kdkurutz@saclink.csus.edu. (Source: CAC newsletter)
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Funding Opportunities
Artadia: The Fund for Art and Dialogue 2007 Awards
Bay Area Visual artists working living and working in the five Bay Area counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo, working in all media, and at all points in their career are encouraged to apply. Applicants must have resided in the San Francisco Bay Area for at least one year prior to the application deadline, not be currently enrolled in an art-related degree program, nor planning to attend an art-related degree in the coming year, nor be related to Artadia staff or directors in any way. Have not received an Artadia Award or an award from The ArtCouncil for $10,000 or more in the past. Please visit www.artadia.org for more information and an online application. Deadline is July 31, 2007.
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Employment & Job Opportunities
District Arts Manager (WA)
Submit a cover letter and resume with job ad # 2007-7904 in the upper-rightcorner of each document utilizing one of the following methods:
Mail applications to:
S. Liberty-Laylin
Seattle Public Schools
MS 33-302 PO
BOX 34165
Seattle, WA 98124-1165
Email: sliberty@seattleschools.org
Website here
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