Meghan O’Keefe, leader of the Amador Alliance for Arts Education, was looking for a way to gain visibility and inspire district leaders to take action in support of arts education, so she turned to the inspiring message of the Declaration of the Rights of All Students to Equity in Arts Learning. Meghan and her fellow advocates decided to use this document as a way to say, “We are here to help!” and provided the community with more information about the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP), attended the LCAP meetings held by the district, and recommended the creation of a district strategic arts plan. Attending the school board meeting to offer support and resources, the Amador Alliance hoped to spark excitement and start conversations about how to bring arts to schools. The upbeat, collaborative and helpful approach of the Amador Alliance has proved to be highly successful and as a result of their work, the school board adopted the Declaration! Learn more about Meghan’s strategy here.

Lulu Briggs, senior at Amador High School, brings her student perspective to nonprofit board meetings, statewide advocacy summits and convenings, and her local school board meetings. By speaking about how the arts have impacted her life, Lulu effectively advocates for increased access to arts education for her fellow students. As a sophomore, Lulu became a student director at AmadorArts, where she represented a student perspective at board meetings. With the support and encouragement of Meghan O’Keefe, Executive Director of Amador Arts, Lulu also participated in competitions like the Student Voices Campaign and Poetry Out Loud. She wrote and directed the Amador High submission to the Student Voices Campaign, which placed third statewide and played a part in adopting The Declaration of the Rights of All Students to Equity in Arts Learning in the Amador County Unified School District. Her role as an arts advocate has helped Lulu realize the power of her own voice and empowered her to take on a leadership role in her school theatre program. Because of her impressive arts advocacy efforts, she was invited to speak on a panel entitled “Nothing About Us Without Us: Meaningful Student Leadership” at the Create CA Statewide Convening. Lulu’s high school experience has been shaped by her role as an arts education advocate and influenced her goals for the future. Originally setting her sights on becoming a theatrical performer, Lulu is now focused on directing theatre and participating in the fundraising, logistics and administration of theatre production.

Pulling Together Outside Resources in Support of Equity

Miko is working to address issues of equity in arts education by utilizing outside resources and synergizing multiple initiatives happening all at once in her area. Marin county is home to 30,000 students in 18 school districts, with schools ranging from extremely wealthy to Title I funded schools with limited community resources. As a result, issues of equity are profound in the region. In order to help address this inequity, Miko has served as a connector, collaborator and leader in elementary data collection, the arts planning process, National Arts in Education Week event planning and the Alliance Arts Now Community program. Reaching well beyond her role as Executive Director of the nonprofit Youth in Arts, Miko has leveraged the collective power of multiple initiatives to address equity issues. 

On May 22, 2018 the Otis College of Art & Design released the 2018 Otis Report on the Creative Economy of California. Data shown are from 2016, with projections out to 2021.

Why is this important to K-12 educators, parents and community members?

Because the so-called “jobs of tomorrow” are here today!  As students search for a path forward, having this kind of data makes a compelling case for pursuing education that prepares students for creative careers.