Zae is a past winner of the Student Voices Campaign and is now Video Production Assistant at RYSE Center
In his experience:
Keep the fight going-don’t take no for an answer
Take constructive criticism, take advice, don’t feel discouraged, it’s not a critique of you personally, learn how to grow from it
Challenge yourself to do something new with an art medium, experiment and figure out what you’re trying to say
Make a statement
How did your journey as an artivist start?
I am part of RYSE’s staff pipeline, where you start out as member and once you’ve shown enough leadership and participate in enough workshops you move to intern, to fellow, to contracted staff: part time to fulltime staff. It was kind of a long bumpy ride, before I was a video intern, I was a YO (Youth Organizer). I was on the front lines fighting for what’s right for my community. When I was a YO I started to realize the problems that were inside my community. I noticed that we had police but didn’t recognize police brutality,...
In her experience:
Charity is a preschool teacher who is completing her third year of a Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy. Annais is completing her sophomore year in high school from home and is interested in becoming a costume designer. They’ve completed over 150 masks that they have shipped across the country.
Tanya is an LAUSD teacher of over 15 years currrently working with pregnant and parenting teens. She is remotely teaching parents or parents-to-be while also parenting and educating her own kids ages 2 and 4.
Sue is a product designer who has a three-year old caterpillar enthusiast, Mateo.
2. How did you start...
Veronique Marks has a vision: she wants her local school district to have a Visual and Performing Arts Coordinator who supports dedicated fulltime credentialed arts teachers at each school in the Live Oak Unified School District with access to a designated classroom. She knows that in order to move her vision forward, she needs to complete an assessment of the existing arts education programs in each school. After collecting enrollment data from school principals, she will be able to assess the strengths, weaknesses and issues of equity in the current arts education offerings. In addition, Marks works to establish community relationships and build support for arts education. She strives to make it clear that the goal of arts education isn’t to train all students to become artists, but rather to create well-rounded and engaged students who are creative and collaborative thinkers –traits key to success in the 21st century workforce. Arts Now Live Oak is launching with a 5-year plan in mind, working in collaboration with schools and organizations, equipped with a clear picture of where the schools are...
According to Greg Solomon, Visual and Performing Arts Coordinator for Moreno Valley Unified School District (MVUSD), the biggest challenge we face as arts education advocates is changing mental models. Once we can shift the mindset that the arts are supplemental, the potential for impact is huge! MVUSD, with the help of Jesus Holguin and the school board, became the first district in California to adopt the Declaration of Rights of All Students to Equity in Arts Learning. Receiving a Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grant in the Arts they guaranteed special education students were included in the ‘All Students’ portion of the Declaration by establishing first time arts instruction. He worked during the summer with classroom teachers, teaching artists and curriculum specialists to bring arts integration to five focus schools in Moreno Valley Unified School District. His efforts to complete their District Arts Plan has inspired the district and community to meet their largest goal of constructing a new performing arts center on the campus of Moreno Valley High School. Greg is making huge strides in bringing all art forms to his...
Eliza Tudor and Brian Buckley, of Nevada County Arts Council, knew that a sure-fire way to start a conversation was by introducing data from a high-quality assessment. That’s why they set about collecting baseline data about arts programming in Nevada County schools, highlighting their unique and creative “flagship” programs, and identifying gaps in addressing standards or issues of access. They gathered a team of retired educators, including two leading lights of the Council’s Education Committee, Liz McAteer and Stan Miller, and used those connections to interview principals in the TK-12 schools. They established a set series of questions to develop a comprehensive picture of every arts offering in the county. After amassing the data, they created a draft that was brought to county principals and open to public consultation. After finalizing their numbers, they presented their findings at their Arts Now Breakfast Launch event held by all the local partners. They then completed a successful application for Strategic Arts Planning Support via California County Superintendents Educational Services Association (CCSESA) in partnership with...
