Amp Up Arts
Website URL:
https://www.ampuparts.orgAddress:
Montgomery, Alabama
Primary Contact:
Ashley Lucier - ashley@ampuparts.org
Organization Type:
Education, Arts
Organization Mission
Amp Up Arts aims to advance equitable experiences in arts education for all Alabama students through partnerships, advocacy, and resource development.
Areas of Expertise
- Advocacy: We work with leaders who make and influence state and local level educational decisions to support the advocacy for strengthening school programs. Through our regional collaborative sites, we conduct research on the current state of Alabama arts education, and disseminate the information statewide. Using this information, we can highlight the benefits of the arts on students’ education, not only as an experience, but also through the integration and creation of art. By including a diverse group of participating stakeholders, including education, community, and business leaders, teachers, artists, community organizations, and art professional organizations, we combine multiple voices to reinforce the need for a comprehensive and effective arts education.
- Professional Development: We provide teaching artist workshops intended for artists of all art forms interested in working in schools. These workshops encompass lesson planning, understanding of standards and rigor, classroom management, and student engagement. We also facilitate Creative Teaching Strategies workshops for certified teachers and teaching artists. These multi-day trainings equip teachers with a research-backed pedagogical approach that integrates arts-inspired frameworks for academic depth, emphasizing core subjects through creative thinking. In addition, we work with the Alabama State Council on the Arts to provide grant guidance and application training and support during the workshops, empowering teaching artists to explore opportunities and funding independently.
- Teaching Artist Residencies: We hold the belief that all Alabama students have the right to arts education and experiences. To make this a reality, we support collaborative sites that implement artists residencies and experiences in schools that have little or no arts education. Our direct impact helps more students learn, grow, and become future innovators, equipped with creativity and critical thinking skills. This past school year, our residencies included programming in:
- 3D Sculpture
- Art & Military Technology
- Clay
- Creative Movement
- Dance
- Digital Music Production
- Drums
- History/Photography Arts Integration
- Gardening/Visual Arts Integration
- Music
- Piano
- Puppeteering
- Songwriting
- Spoken Word
- Theatre
- Drawing
- Painting
- Watercolor
Current Top Priorities for Guidance or Collaboration
Contact us to learn more about these current priority areas or to explore collaboration opportunities.- Advocacy: To become widely recognized as the voice of Alabama’s arts education through consistent statewide messaging and advocacy, and to develop strategies and approaches utilized by all Amp Up Arts partners and organizations in coordinated efforts that successfully gain appropriate funds from diverse sources.
- Capacity Building: To build upon existing and create new community partnerships and development that is visible, individualized, and responsive through establishing solid and sustainable relationships with organizations and community stakeholders.
- Resource Development: To provide accessible, ongoing, timely, and relevant learning opportunities to a sustainable arts education workforce made up of teaching artists, arts education specialists, and educators who are professionally trained and prepared for achievable success with consistent support and appropriate compensation.
Geographical Areas Served:
Rural/Remote, Southeast, Suburban/Exurban, Urban,
Primary Audience Served:
Children (0-15), Community Members, Elected officials, Funders, Local & state arts agencies, Organizations, School Administrators, School-based Teachers, Teaching Artists, Youth (15-24),
Artistic Discipline:
Arts and crafts, Dance, Folk/traditional/indigenous arts, Literature and Storytelling, Media Arts, Multidisciplinary Arts, Music, Theatre, Visual Arts,
