ArtsEd Digest

Volume 1, Issue 20 - December 22, 2009

Welcome to ArtsEd Digest, the new and improved face of the AEP listserv. The ArtsEd Digest is an online publication that allows for the easy access to vital and timely information about arts education from our partners and from the field. It is published twice a month, on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday. Items for inclusion in the upcoming listserv must be submitted by close of business on the 1st and 3rd Fridays of each month. For example, items for the Digest to be published on Tuesday, January 12 should be submitted by close of business Friday, January 8.

All of us at AEP wish you the very best of holiday seasons and a wonderful start to 2010!

New from the Arts Education Partnership

Join us for our Spring 2010 National Forum in Washington, DC!
States of Change: New Leadership in Arts and Education; April 9-10, 2010

Registration opens January 11th for the Spring 2010 National Forum in Washington, DC!

Be sure to register early and take advantage of the hotel rate -- Cherry Blossom Festival dates for 2010 have just been announced to coincide with our Forum. It's another great reason to spend time in DC with us, but hotel space is likely to fill up fast. Make your reservation at the Omni Shoreham hotel under the AEP room block here.

Invited speakers include:

Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education
Rocco Landesman, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts

New deadline for small group sessions -- January 11, 2010
Between the holidays and the Great Blizzard of '09, we wanted to give you a little more wiggle room to complete the proposal form. All proposals should be submitted to Laura Smyth at lauras@ccsso.org by close of business on January 11. Please feel free to contact Laura with any questions you may have about the proposal process.

Entries for the Cover Art Contest are due to aep@ccsso.org by January 22, 2010. You can obtain the form here.

Day of Service
On Sunday morning, April 11, 2010, AEP will be hosting a day of service with the Anacostia Watershed Society. The Anacostia Watershed Society was founded in 1989 in order to protect and restore the Anacostia River and its watershed communities by cleaning the water, recovering the shores, and honoring the heritage.

Their vision is to make the Anacostia River and its tributaries swimmable and fishable, in keeping with the Clean Water Act, for the health and enjoyment of everyone in the community. Community involvement is critical to achieving this vision and AWS seeks win-win solutions through strong partnerships and coalitions, with all parts of the community, government, and other stakeholders. Core to our work is reaching out to, educating and engaging the next generation of decision-makers, our youth.

Day of Service volunteers will leave from the Omni Shoreham Hotel lobby on Sunday morning and return there by early afternoon. Lunch will be provided.

Save the Date -- ESEA Reauthorization Meeting for Arts Stakeholders
An opportunity to provide recommendations on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act relating to arts education.

Where: U.S. Department of Education; 400 Maryland Avenue, SW - Barnard Auditorium, Washington, D.C. 20202

When: January 20, 2010; 2:00 to 3:30 p.m.

Presiding:

Carmel Martin, Assistant Secretary, Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development
James E. Shelton, Assistant Deputy Secretary, Office of Innovation and Improvement
Scott D. Pearson, Associate Assistant Deputy Secretary, Office of Innovation and Improvement
Emma Vadehra, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development

To receive more information in early January, send an e-mail to: eseaartsstakeholders@ed.gov.

Chairman Rocco Landesman Announces the First Round of FY2010 NEA Grants
NEA to invest more than $26 million to support arts projects nationwide

Contact: Victoria Hutter, NEA, 202-682-5692; hutterv@arts.gov

National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Rocco Landesman announced on December 8, 2009 the first round of NEA FY2010 grants, which are the first grants awarded under his leadership. In total, the Arts Endowment will distribute $26,968,500 to support 1,207 projects nationwide through the following funding categories: Access to Artistic Excellence, Creative Writing Fellowships in Prose, and Challenge America: Reaching Every Community Fast Track. In addition, the NEA’s New Play Development Project will continue for another year.

“I am thrilled that we are able to help art work in this country through more than 1,200 projects across this country. We are supporting projects that have great works of art at the heart of them; that work to inspire and transport audiences and visitors; and that create and retain opportunities for artists and arts workers to be a part of this country’s real economy,” said NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman. “It is our job at the NEA to support excellence in the arts, and to connect more Americans with more art, more often. This round of grants certainly furthers that mission.”

Access to Artistic Excellence grants support the creation and presentation of work in the disciplines of dance, design, folk and traditional arts, literature, media arts, museums, music, musical theater, opera, presenting, theater, and visual arts. Projects include commissions, residencies, workshops, performances, exhibitions, publications, festivals, and professional development programs.

A significant change this year for the Access to Artistic Excellence category was the addition of “artist communities” to the disciplines. This small but important field – which creates and maintains residency opportunities for artists – has been supported by the NEA in the past, but never as a standalone discipline.

The NEA saw a 22% increase in the number of applications for this round: in March 2009, the NEA received 1,697 eligible applications for this category requesting more than $88 million. This compares with 1,394 applications received in March 2008.

Through the Access to Artistic Excellence category, the NEA will fund 994 projects with a total of $23,828,500. Examples of projects supported include:

Waco Cultural Arts Fest in Waco Texas received a $25,000 grant to support the installation of site-specific outdoor sculptures by Patrick Dougherty. The artist will work with community volunteers during a month-long residency to realize three works of woven and twisted tree saplings along a five mile stretch of the Brazos River to include downtown Waco, Baylor University, and the North Waco neighborhood of Cameron Park.
Artown in Reno, Nevada received a $20,000 grant to support the multidisciplinary Artown Festival. Activities will include performances by local and touring artists, hands-on visual arts programs, and film screenings.
American Folk Festival on the Bangor Waterfront in Maine received a $30,000 grant to support the Bangor Folk Festival (aka American Folk Festival). The festival, held along the Penobscot River, will feature folk musicians, dancers, and craftspeople who will present numerous performances, workshops, and demonstrations at no cost to attendees.

Please see the complete listing of projects receiving Access to Artistic Excellence grant support in this first round of fiscal year 2010 funding.

Challenge America: Reaching Every Community Fast Track grants offer support primarily to smaller and mid-sized organizations for projects that extend the reach of the arts to underserved populations whose opportunities to experience the arts are limited by geography, demographics, economics, or disability.

In this funding round, 170 projects will receive support for a total of $1,700,000. Examples of projects supported by Challenge America: Reaching Every Community Fast Track include:

Art Works in Cincinnati, Ohio received a $10,000 grant to support MuralWorks, a public art program. Created three years ago in partnership with the City of Cincinnati, MuralWorks will pair professional artists with teen apprentices to create murals in Cincinnati neighborhoods.
Hill City Area Arts Council in Hill City, South Dakota received a $10,000 grant to support All Aboard Hill City, a design symposium featuring architect Sarah Nettleton. The symposium is a component of ongoing efforts to impact the development of the rural community's built environment by encouraging the understanding of architecture and design and their roles in the creation of livable spaces.

Please see the complete listing of projects receiving Challenge America grant support in this first round of fiscal year 2010 funding.

Literature Fellowships encourage the production of new works of literature by allowing writers the time and means to write. The fellowships alternate annually between poetry and prose.

In this round, the 12 panelists convened by the NEA reviewed 25,000 manuscript pages from the 993 eligible applications submitted. The 42 prose writers who were selected come from 17 states and the District of Columbian. Each will receive a fellowship of $25,000 for a total of $1,050,000.

Please see the complete list of 2010 Creative Writing fellows. A state-by-state listing of the three categories is also available.

The NEA’s New Play Development Project will again be administered by Arena Stage in Washington, DC. This initiative helps the nation’s nonprofit theaters bring more new plays to full productions. The program, now in its second year, provides $280,000 in support to theaters for the development of new plays; provides opportunities for audience engagement throughout a play’s development; and highlights information on effective models for the sustained development of new American plays.

In the program’s first year, two projects were named NEA Outstanding New American Play selections: McCarter Theatre's (Princeton, New Jersey) production of Tarell Alvin McCraney's trilogy The Brother/Sister Plays and Center Theatre Group's (Los Angeles, California) production of Rajiv Joseph's Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo.

Five additional theaters were selected as NEA Distinguished New Play Development Projects: California Shakespeare Theater (Berkeley, California); The Children's Theatre Company (Minneapolis, Minnesota); The Foundry Theatre (New York, New York); Lark Play Development Center (New York, New York); and Rude Mechanicals (Austin, Texas).

Please visit www.arts.gov for more information about the NEA’s New Play Development Project.

Chiefs Embrace Call for Data Collection for All Core Courses

SEADAE (State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education) today released a statement about the call for inclusion of all core subjects in state longitudinal data systems. The recommendation was proposed by the Education Information Management Advisory Consortium (EIMAC) and endorsed by the Board of Directors of the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). The SEADAE data task force was instrumental in bringing forward the issue of non-tested subjects in statewide data collection.

For the full press release, please see http://www.seadae.org/resources/arts-in-the-news/264-seadae-ccsso-press-release-12-9-2009.html.
For more information, contact Dr. Linda Lovins at linda.lovins@fldoe.org.

Watch the Digest for an announcement about AEP’s new initiative, with support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, to link data collection around a common core of performance indicators to state policies for arts education.

San Diego Unified and UC Irvine Help Children Learn English through the Arts

A partnership between the University of California, Irvine, and the San Diego Unified School District has begun using arts lessons to boost the language skills of K-2 English learners in 15 schools located in San Diego's least affluent neighborhoods. Instead of asking children to sit quietly at desks, filling out worksheets, teachers co-teach 27 arts lessons (9 in theater, 9 in dance, 9 visual art) with teaching artists in their own classrooms. This boosts the amount of verbal interaction--a key factor in learning a new language--between adults and young English learners.

The school year following the weekly visits from teaching artists, classroom teachers use the arts lessons on their own. To assist teachers in remembering important details, video versions of the theater lessons have been made available on-line: http://www.clta.uci.edu/Theatre_1.html

In 2008-09, all K-2 teachers at 12 San Diego schools participated in the Teaching Artist Program, which is funded by an $828,000 Improving Teacher Quality grant administered by the California Postsecondary Education Commission. In 2009-10, three more schools joined the program, bringing the number of schools to 15. Enthusiasm is high as teachers who worked with teaching artists last year finish their first term of teaching the arts on their own.

EdTA Works with the Film Me and Orson Welles to Benefit Theatre Educators and Students

The Educational Theatre Association is working with Richard Linklater, director of the film Me and Orson Welles, to provide theatre students and teachers with a unique opportunity.

Me and Orson Welles is not only a slice of theatre history and the backstage story of perhaps the most influential Shakespearean production in American history, but it's also a look at one of the true creative geniuses of the 20th century.

As a former theatre student himself, Mr. Linklater and the producers of the film are proud to be able to give something back to theatre programs across the country. Partnering with the nation's leading movie-ticketing site, Fandango, Mr. Linklater has launched a new initiative that will directly benefit theatre programs. For every online ticket to Me and Orson Welles sold by a theatre program, the program receives $1.00! For more information, please visit fandango.com/promo/meandorsonwelles or sign up at meandorsonwelles.tickets@gmail.com.

Mr. Linklater and the film's producers have also developed a study guide intended to be used by educators and students to explore various aspects of the film. The study guide is free and available for download in the Backstage Access section of the movie's website at meandorsonwellesthemovie.com.

The Phillips Collection Appoints New Director of Development

Media contact only: Shira Pinsker; 202-387-2151 x220; spinsker@phillipscollection.org

Dorothy Kosinski, director of The Phillips Collection, announced on December 14, 2009 the appointment of Kara Mullins as the museum’s new director of development. Mullins brings a deep understanding of the Washington, D.C. arts community from her experience as a senior development officer at the National Gallery of Art, where she has worked in various capacities for nearly a decade. Mullins begins her new role at the Phillips on Jan. 4, 2010.

During her tenure as a senior development officer at the National Gallery of Art, Mullins was responsible for raising $5 million annually, and managing all aspects of annual giving: special events, yearly meetings, member trips, and cultivation visits to artist studios and embassies. Mullins created and coordinated donor solicitation and stewardship strategies to identify and cultivate annual major donors. Previously, she worked as a project coordinator for Gucci America, Inc., travelling to all Gucci stores to supervise projects and track renovations.

“I am thrilled to be joining The Phillips Collection as its new director of development,” says Mullins. “The Phillips is one of Washington’s most beloved cultural jewels, and I look forward to working with its leadership and staff in sustaining the museum’s success in the years ahead.”

This message is from the ArtsEd listserv. ArtsEd hosts discussions and communications for the Arts Education Partnership which demonstrates and promotes the essential role of arts education in enabling all students to succeed in school, life and work.

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