Arts Education Network News September 2005

In this Issue:

·  The Peace of Wild Things ·  Funding o       School Arts Partnership Grant o       Regional Grants ·      Technical Assistance o       TAP Grants o       Common Ground 2006 ·      Resources o       Websites of the Month

Shipboard students sketch the NYC skyline as part of  "The Art of Sailing," a School Arts Partnership.

The Peace of Wild Things*
This new season seems to be filled with anxiety for many of us. We are wading through human tragedy, increased costs, social confusion, and an overwhelming quantity of information we must digest each day. The poet Wendell Berry says what many folks seem to be feeling these past few weeks:

"When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be."

We have hundreds more children engaged in the arts each year. The amazing feats of school reform that happen each day in New York State through the arts are changing lives and making a profound mark on our world. When the careful model of Empire State Partnerships (ESP) at the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) was conceived many years ago, we had visions of thousands of teachers turning to the arts reflexively in their work. We saw artists and cultural organizations leading communities to deeper awareness of self and community and strength. At Partners for Arts Education, we have been able to see the big picture now for five years.and progress is tangible. Over half a million dollars has been distributed from our panel deliberations to bring new students and their teachers into the AIE community.

We have increased our ability to collaborate. While it is hard to look at the tragedies from hurricane Katrina, the immediate call for help from the network of NYS AIE professionals was heartening. (See a list of links below.) The Association of Teaching Artists (ATA), the NYS Alliance for Arts Education (NYSAAE), the ESP Professional Development Program, and many more of our colleagues have used their AIE partnership skills to provide immediate support.

We have moved the arts to the core of school policies. While we know that leaders like Jonathan Kozol are still uncovering desperate racism, poverty, and despair in our schools, it is wonderful to note that school districts all over our state have developed arts in education curricula, arts intervention programs, extended-day learning, and even state/city-level blueprints that require the arts to be used as a tool each and every day as a way to combat these issues.

The remainder of the poem brings us back to the deep breath that we might want to consider taking:

".I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free."

Welcome back to school, stay in touch, and try to make use of my other favorite words: "May the force be with you".**

Laura Reeder, Executive Director

* From "American Life in Poetry" http://www.americanlifeinpoetry.org/columns/017.html

Reprinted from "Collected Works" (North Point Press, 1985) by permission of the author.  Wendell Berry's most recent book is Given: Poems (Shoemaker and Hoard, 2005). Poem copyright © 1985 by Wendell Berry.  "American Life in Poetry" is the weekly column of Ted Kooser, Poet Laureate of the United States.  It is supported by The Poetry Foundation, The Library of Congress, and the Department of English at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.

** ©Lucasfilm 2005. All rights reserved.

Funding
School Arts Partnership Grant Update
The School Arts Partnership (SAP) grants were reviewed by panel in June, and recipients are now busy planning for their projects.  You can see a listing of the recipients and find out a little about their exciting projects at http://www.arts4ed.org/funding/SAP3_summary.shtml

With each cycle, the applications we receive get stronger and stronger, and the panel's task is challenging.  We are hoping to be able to increase the available funds as time goes on so that more NYS school children and their schools can benefit from the learning that happens when teachers, students and teaching artists work together. 

Watch for Regional Grants
For every county in the state, there is a designated arts council that oversees a Local Capacity Building (LCB) Regrant program to fund school arts partnerships.  The LCB programs can grant up to $2500, and each requires matching funds from the school.  Deadlines vary, but many are in early fall. To see who administers the LCB grant in your county, go to:  http://www.arts4ed.org/networking/LCB.shtml, where there are links to LCB websites.

Technical Assistance
TAP Grants
PAE offers Technical Assistance Program grants to provide support for projects that develop, enhance, and/or evaluate arts education programs benefiting children pre-K to 12^th grade.  The grant is for projects that involve planning, professional development, evaluation and sustainability. Awards range from $100 to $1,000. NYS schools, school districts, and non-profit cultural organizations, and NYS teaching artists are eligible to apply.

TAP applications are reviewed in cycles and must be emailed on or before one of the following 2005-06 deadlines: November 1, January 1, March 1. The application for the 2005-06 TAP Grants will be available on line by October 1.

EXAMPLES: The following does not describe every opportunity for support, but does illustrate a general range of activities:

• Planning: program design, curriculum design, needs analysis, partnership development
• Professional Development: conferences, individual and group mentoring/training, consultant fees, travel, lodging, per diem, etc.
• Evaluation: assessment, needs analysis
• Sustainability: marketing, advocacy, documentation, development, outreach, etc

TAP is not meant to support artist residency activities.

If you would like more information about these grants, go to our web page at:
http://www.arts4ed.org/funding/TAP/TAP_index.shtml.

CommonGround 2006
Planning has already begun for next year's statewide arts-in-education conference, to be held April 5 - 7, 2006 at the Rochester Hyatt Regency.  Stay tuned for more details as they become available.

Resources
Website of the Month
In connection with the May visit to Syracuse of U.S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser, we are featuring his website, http://www.americanlifeinpoetry.org/, a source for free poetry and inspiration.

Katrina Arts Relief
Empire State Partnerships (ESP) is helping to coordinate an effort to support arts educators in all disciplines in the form of  funds, donated supplies and equipment, or suggestions and advice from teachers who have been in similar situations: http://www.espartsed.org/hurricane_aid.htm

The  NYFA (New York Foundation for the Arts) website at http://www.nyfa.org/level2.asp?id=89&fid=1 has links for emergency resources for artists.

The Cultural Arts Council of Houston/Harris County's website at http://www.cachh.org/katrina_relief.html is a place for the Houston arts community and displaced artists to share information and resources.

There are links to various fundraising efforts nationally to support artists and arts organizations, as well as a public forum and a bulletin board to post information. 

There is also information at Americans for the Arts at: http://ww3.artsusa.org/get_involved/membership/katrina/stories/default.asp

_______________________________________

Our staff is always available to help you!

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.

  State of the Arts

NYSCA