PAE Postcard September 2006

Teachers - Enliven Your Curricula by Collaborating with Community Artists
art$TART Applications Available Now
The application for this year’s round of art$TART arts-in-education grants is now available at our website. All public and private pre-K – 12 schools in our nine-county CNY area (Cayuga, Chenango, Cortland, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Onondaga, Oswego, and St. Lawrence counties) are eligible to apply for matching funds up to $2500 for partnerships between schools and teaching artists and/or cultural organizations that focus on the interdisciplinary or integrated study of the arts and non-arts subjects. The deadline for applications is October 30.

You can find out more about the grants at our website, including abstracts and detailed accounts of previously granted projects. If you have questions about the application, finding a school or artistic partner, how to secure matching funds, or any other aspects of the grant process, email Sue Stonecash or call her at 234.9911.

There will be a grant orientation session on Wednesday, September 27th, 3:30-5:00 at the Everson Museum in Syracuse to help simplify the application process. If there is sufficient interest, other orientation sessions can be held. If you are interested in the September 27th session, or in scheduling a session at another location, call Sue at PAE at 315 234 9911, or email Sue.

Poet Laureate Ted Kooser in Syracuse October 5
Students Recent U.S. Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize-winner Ted Kooser will be in Syracuse on October 5 to read his poetry, mingle with local poetry enthusiasts, and meet with area children and teachers who have participated in special poetry projects at school. All events will take place on the campus of Onondaga Community College. Mr. Kooser’s appearance is being presented by the YMCA’s Downtown Writer’s Center (DWC) and PAE, in collaboration with the Arts Across Campus fall schedule.

At 3:00, Mr. Kooser will hold a question and answer session with area students and their teachers at Storer Auditorium. During the spring of 2006, students from eight area schools worked with local poets in residency programs, and 24 Syracuse City Schools developed Laureate Teams of students who will represent their schools at the afternoon meeting with Mr. Kooser. PAE coordinated the school projects, which were funded by the New York State Council on the Arts and the Central New York Community Foundation.

The Q & A session is open to Syracuse City School Laureate Teams and other CNY school teachers, students, and parents. Email Georgia Popoff or call her at 234.9911 to reserve seats. OCC students and faculty are also welcome – reservations are strongly recommended.

At 5:30, there will be a special reception, including hors d’oeuvres and an open bar, at the Gordon Student Center. There are a limited number of tickets available for the early-evening reception, which also includes the reading, for $125. If you are interested in attending the reception, call Phil Memmer at the DWC at 474-6851, ext. 328.

At 7:30, Mr. Kooser will read selections of his poetry at Storer Auditorium with a book signing to follow. A limited number of tickets are still available. To order, contact Phil Memmer at the DWC at 474-6851 x328. Mr. Kooser’s books, along with books about poetry in the classroom, will be for sale that evening courtesy of Follett’s Orange Bookstore.

You can find out more about Mr. Kooser and the local poetry-in-school projects at PAE’s website.

Americans for the Arts at CNY Roundtable
We’re very excited about this season’s first CNY Roundtable event! John Abodeely, Manager of Arts Education at Americans for the Arts, will be speaking on Thursday, October 12, 3:30 - 5:00 at the Redhouse, 201 South West St. in Syracuse.

Americans for the Arts is the nation's leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts in America. With 45 years of service, they are dedicated to fostering an environment in which the arts can thrive and contribute to the creation of more livable communities, generating more public- and private-sector resources for the arts and arts education, and building individual appreciation of the value of the arts.

Mr. Abodeely, a native New Yorker coming from an arts education administration background in Seattle, WA, focuses on increasing policy and infrastructure for arts education at the local level and supporting the hard work of administrators working to increase arts education in the field. He will discuss current national advocacy work securing and advancing arts education from the federal level, resources available to teaching artists, administrators and others supporting arts education. He’ll also host a conversation on the direction of the field and PAE’s role in national context.

Please RSVP for this event to Georgia Popoff – call 234.9911, or email her.

Summer Arts Come to Skiddy Park
This summer PAE, collaborating with several local agencies, helped to bring the arts to children at Skiddy Park on six Friday afternoons in July and August. You can find out more and see pictures from the project on our website.

Partners included: CNY Community Foundation; Syracuse Parks, Recreation & Youth Programs; Mercy Works, Inc.’s Action Initiative Youth Employment Program (AIYEP); Syracuse City School District; St. David’s Church; Clear Channel Radio; Nojaim Brothers Market; and National Grid.

Local teaching artists Patti Clark Heath, Chris Barrett, and Wilson Akuamoah-Boateng brought music, movement, painting, and fiber arts to children aged 3 - 15 from the Southwest sector of Syracuse. Weekly instruction in music, visual, and fiber arts allowed young people to experiment with a variety of artistic expressions while viewing the neighborhood in which they live with pride. Interns from On Point for College supported and assisted the artists in working with the children as a part of their required community service as members of AIYEP.

Partners have already initiating planning for continuing and expanding the program in Summer 2007.

Local Organizations Receive Grants from NYS Music Fund
Several CNY organizations have received grants through the New York State Music Fund, a grant program of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. The purpose of the Music Fund is to increase access to and appreciation of music of our time by audiences throughout New York State. The Fund grew out of settlements with major recording companies investigated for violating state and federal laws prohibiting “pay for play” (also called “payola”). A second cycle of grants is currently in progress. the local recipients are:
ARTSwego (Oswego)
To present the work of the MASS Ensemble in a residency that will highlight the interaction between music and science through performances and installations of unusual instrument creations for audiences in Oswego County and the Seaway Region.
Central New York Jazz Arts Foundation (Syracuse)
To support the Jazz in the City concert series, a group of performances held in economically depressed areas of urban Syracuse presented in collaboration with several community organizations.
North Country Public Radio (Canton)
To record, archive, broadcast, podcast and present live all genres of music-including jazz, blues, bluegrass, traditional and new songs being made by artists in North Country and to produce a CD sampler of this music for wide distribution.
Spanish Action League of Onondaga County (Syracuse)
For Latino American Festival presenting a variety of folkloric dance and musical groups representing various Latin American and Caribbean countries with musical selections such as salsa, merengue, bachata, bomba y plena, and reggaeton.
Syracuse Jazz Fest Productions (Syracuse)
For the annual jazz festival featuring free performances with world class musicians and for the scholastic program offering 350 students the opportunity to learn and perform alongside these musicians.
YMCA of Greater Syracuse (Syracuse)
For the Music Program providing group and individual music instruction to nearly 400 students from three inner city elementary schools located in the poorest neighborhoods in Syracuse.

Opportunities
Teaching Artist Positions
We have received many notifications of teaching artists positions available, mostly in the NYC area. If you are looking for a teaching artist position and are willing to move downstate, call Connie at 234.9911 for more information.

Have Your Voice Heard at the NCLB Commission's Public Hearings
The Commission on No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has announced an additional hearing to help inform the Commission on the successes of the NCLB as well as provisions which need to be changed or eliminated. The hearings are public, and will allow for those interested in speaking to do so. This is a prime opportunity for advocates of arts education to explain how NCLB has inhibited children’s learning by pushing the arts out of schools across the country. If you would like to submit remarks for review at the hearing, you can send testimonies to the Commission.

The Commission will gather in Washington, DC on September 25 for its final hearing, entitled "Improving NCLB: Successes, Concerns, and Solutions." This hearing will allow the Commission to hear the top issues and concerns about NCLB from leading national organizations and education policy experts. The hearing will include a discussion of NCLB's main issues of assessment, adequate yearly progress, school improvement, teacher quality and many others.

The Commission on No Child Left Behind is an independent, bipartisan effort to improve the No Child Left Behind Act and ensure it is a more useful force in closing the achievement gap that separates disadvantaged children and their peers. The Commission, after a year of hearings, analysis and research, will report to Congress and the Administration in early 2007 with its recommendations.

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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.

Partners for Arts Education
Delavan Center Suite 221  501 W. Fayette St.  Syracuse, NY  13202
315.234.9911  info@arts4ed.org  www.arts4ed.org

State of the Arts

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