Arts Education Network News February 2005

A Time for True Common Ground
"Whatever you are, be a good one."  - Abraham Lincoln

As we continue on the wild roller-coaster ride of current issues for arts in education in New York State (and the world!), we are looking forward to our upcoming statewide conference as a place to renew our rhythm, direction, and level plateau with colleague artists, educators, administrators, and community.

While the rhythm of our creative learning pedagogy has been erratic.integrate, educate, create, educate, create, educate, integrate, and so on, our colleagues continue to beat on with steady belief.the arts have always been integral to humanity.

While the direction of our leadership pulls us one way - "No Child Left Behind leaves no room for arts learning" - and then the other - "No Child Left Behind requires the arts as core learning for success," our educators, parents, and even our legislators confidently follow the path of arts as the way to take all children along to a better place.

While we race around curves and up steep hills seeking the resources that can sustain the higher and higher levels of critical thinking that we are reaching through integration of the arts into all aspects of education, in and outside of schools, funding for BOTH the arts and education seems to be on a decline once again.

When we gather in Buffalo on April 7, 8, 9, and 10^th to learn from each other and to celebrate the successes of one more year in the "State of the Arts," we will certainly renew our rhythm with artist colleagues and the provocative work of Marc Bamuthi Joseph. We will take a close look at the national roadmap with Doug Herbert and our educational partners to better align artistic elements with relevance for the thousands of students we represent. We will share resources with our funders, our leaders, and our neighbors at the Albright-Knox Museum, in workshops, and at celebratory meals. 

Common Ground will be just that..and we can't wait to discover it again with all of you.

Stay in touch,
Laura Reeder
Executive Director

BTW..for substantial evidence of:

- Rhythm and artistic value, you might like to read the PSA from the National Association for Music Education (MENC) which features music stars from all genres crowing about how important music was/is to their lives, not to mention the possibility of increased test scores (gotta throw that in there) (http://www.menc.org/information/advocate/psa.html).

- Direction and learning, check out the commentary written by former US Department of Education Secretary Rod Paige and Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee called "Putting Arts Education Front and Center" that ran in Education Week (http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2005/01/26/20paige.h24.html). This thing is packed with great one-liners like; "As a nation, we must develop children who are productive, happy, well-adjusted citizens, rather than kids who can just pass a test and get through school," and "The arts instill in students the habits of mind that last a lifetime: critical-analysis skills, the ability to deal with ambiguity and to solve problems, perseverance, and a drive for excellence." 

- Resources and community, you will be delighted with the Education Partnership's report from their recent NYC forum on community building (http://aep-arts.org/PDF%20Files/YouWantToBePart.pdf).  The basic message is that great arts experiences are grounded in a community mindset, and that communities of all kinds are strengthened through the arts.  

Funding
School Arts Partnership Grant
If you are thinking of applying for a SAP Grant for next year, the application deadline for academic year 2005-06 is May 23, 2005. The application and guidelines will be posted March 1st on our website at
http://www.arts4ed.org/funding/SAP_index.shtml.

The School Arts Partnership program, a statewide funding initiative administered by Partners for Arts Education and supported by the Arts in Education Program at NYSCA, is designed to promote widespread participation of schools and the cultural community in arts in education. SAP provides funding support for partnerships between schools and teaching artists or cultural organizations that focus on the interdisciplinary or integrated study of the arts and non-arts subjects. Eligible projects will involve a direct collaboration between at least one classroom teacher and one teaching artist. 

Technical Assistance
CommonGround '05
Registration for your favorite conference couldn't be easier!  A quick stop at our website www.arts4ed.org will lead you to our newly-designed online registration for Common Ground 2005 in Buffalo.

This year's conference features workshops and panels led by your AIE colleagues and a stellar line-up of keynote speakers including Doug Herbert, Special Assistant on Teacher Quality and Arts Education U.S. Department of Education, and world-renowned Slam Poet/Teaching Artist/Actor Marc Bamuthi Joseph (see below for an AMAZING video clip of his work). Don't miss-out on your chance for the early bird discount ... Register TODAY!

You can get complete schedule information, including workshop descriptions and presenter bios, on our website at http://www.arts4ed.org/conference/CG05/workshops.shtml

Remember, the final deadline for TAP Grants for CommonGround 2005 is March 1^st.  You can get more information and the application at http://www.arts4ed.org/funding/TAP/TAP_CG05.shtml.
Resources
Website of the Month
http://www.kqed.org/spark/artists-orgs/marcbamuth.jsp#
Mark Bamuthi Joseph uses theater, West African and tap dance, spoken word, poetry, and live music to create expressive performance art. He is also the current artistic director for the Living Word Project and program director for Youth Speaks, and will be our Saturday keynote speaker at CommonGround 05.The website includes a video of Bamuthi at work on stage and in the classroom produced by KQED in San Francisco.  A real inspiration!

Professional Development Opportunities
Arts in Education Partnership Series
March - June 2005
Syracuse
Coordinated by Partners for Arts Education
Contact: Georgia Popoff: 315 234-9911; Email
Two full-day symposia (March 4 with Christine Goodheart, Executive Director of Community Partnerships from the University of Washington and June 2 with Lily Yeh, Executive Director Emeritus, Village of Arts & Humanities, Philadelphia) and six three-hour training seminars on Saturday mornings. The symposia and seminars are of interest to educators, parents, artists, and cultural and social organization professionals. For more information, go to http://www.arts4ed.org/training_opportunities/pships_spr05_index.shtml

Arts Professional Development Day
March 18, 2005
Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs
Coordinated by Capital Region BOCES Arts Educators Network
Contact: Sharon Siegel: Ph: 518-464-3929; Fax: 518-464-3909; Email: ssiegel@gw.neric.org
A day of workshops specifically designed to meet the needs of Specialists in Visual and Performing Arts.  You can see a listing of workshops and the registration form at: http://arts.capregboces.org/Arts/ArtsProfDay.htm

VTS Best Practices: Museum & School Partnerships
April 25-28, 2005
Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs
Coordinated by Visual Understanding in Education
Contact: Yoon Kang-O'Higgins: Ph: 206-568-5383; Email: ykang@vue.org
This Institute is open only to Upstate NY educators, teachers and administrators. It is presented by Philip Yenawine and colleagues, and hosted by The Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery. Registration is only $50 total for all 4 days.
Major funding for this Institute is generously provided by the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA).

For more information about either Institute and to download an application, please visit: http://www.vue.org/training_institutes.html

Arts Management in Community Institutions (AMICI) Summer Institute
June 5-18, 2005
St. Paul, MN
The National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts will present its 20^th Annual Arts Management in Community Institutions (AMICI) Summer Institute from June 5-18 in St. Paul, MN.  Established in 1985, AMICI is a comprehensive professional development program tailored to the needs of key administrators and leaders in the field of nonprofit, community based schools of the arts.  Subject areas include Organizational Development, Community Organizing, Communications, Program Development, Legal Issues, Marketing, Fundraising, Grant Writing, Financial Management, Personnel Management, Strategic Planning, and Facilities Management.  The application deadline is March 4, 2005.  To download an application or access detailed information, visit http://www.nationalguild.org/programs/amici.htm

Storytelling and the Visual Arts
July 11-16, July 25 - 30, 2005
Washington, DC
Coordinated by the National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art invites K-12 teachers to apply for a six-day seminar that integrates learning theory, curriculum content, and narrative art through exploration of the collections of the National Gallery. For information and an online application, visit www.nga.gov/education/teacinst.htm.  Application deadline: March 15, 2005.

National Gallery of Art is on the National Mall at Fourth Street and Constitution Avenue NW.
General Information: 202-737-4215 TDD: 202-842-6176 www.nga.gov  

Arts Integration & Reading Workshop
June 7-10, 2005
Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Coordinated by the Southeast Center for Education in the Arts
Elementary and middle school teachers will actively engage in concept-based arts integration discovering strategies for developing vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency in reading. You will learn about how to apply the artistic process in non-arts content areas, exploring:
- Melodic and rhythmic aspects of poetry and song
- Story dramatization, character and text analysis, and improvisation
- Story sequences and mood through movement and pathways
- Concepts of print through bookmaking and graphic design
- Dance, music, theatre and visual art curricula

Our very special guest presenter will be Newberry Award winner Karen Hesse, author of seventeen acclaimed books for young readers. For more information, see http://www.sceaonline.com/swsummerinstitutes.asp

Save the Date
ARTS DAY IN ALBANY is March 22, 2005,  9 am-3 pm
Organized by the Alliance, Arts Day in Albany is an annual event where arts constituents all over the state converge in Albany to make the case for the Arts in New York and meet with their local legislators.  Get more information at http://www.thealliancenys.org/advocacy/artsday_ny.htm.

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Our staff is always available to help you!

Partners for Arts Education ~ Delevan Studio 221 ~ 501 West Fayette Street ~ Syracuse ~ NY ~ 13204

Partners for Arts Education inspires learning and leadership for arts-in-education in Central New York and throughout New York State. We provide funding and support to deepen and enrich educational experiences in and through the arts for students, teachers and artists.

The Arts Education Network News is a free service of Partners for Arts Education. All of our programs are made possible with public funds from the NYS Council on the Arts and individual sponsors.

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