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National Endowment for the Arts Announces Recipients of NEA Teacher Institute AwardsNew NEA initiative seeks to create professional development models for teachers
May 5, 2005 Washington, D.C. - The National Endowment for the Arts, in partnership with the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF), announces twelve recipients of the first NEA Teacher Institutes. Twelve awards of $40,000 each will support educational and arts organizations in New England and western states to design and produce summer institutes for arts educators, classroom teachers, and teaching artists. The NEA Teacher Institute awards will help develop exemplary institute models that schools can use to strengthen teacher training and improve the level of arts instruction. "The National Endowment for the Arts is committed to advancing the quality of arts education by investing in model programs for teachers and students. Without serious and sustained arts education we deny our children the opportunity to become fully realized human beings," said Dana Gioia, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. The twelve five-day institutes will immerse participants in the study of a seminal "anchor work" of art, such as masterpieces by Picasso, Shakespeare, and Puccini. Each institute will result in standards-based curriculum units that participating educators will pilot with their students in Fall 2005. In December, each institute will reconvene for a day so educators can share and critique the units with their peers. The five strongest institutes will be supported for a second year. The two cooperating organizations – the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and WESTAF, support arts and humanities programs for nonprofits, schools, communities, and individuals throughout the New England region and western states, respectively. These partners have selected the institute awardees and will administer the institute grants. After issuing a national Request for Proposals, they have together selected the firm of Rockman et al. of San Francisco, California to serve as the national evaluator for the project. Education specialists from Rockman will assess the efficacy of the pilot programs and produce an evaluation and best practices report, to be disseminated by state education departments and state arts agencies. This is the latest among the NEA's efforts to provide leadership in arts education by developing and evaluating pilot projects for educators, students, and school administrators. Related NEA programs include the NEA Institute for School Leaders, a pilot institute for K-12 administrators on the challenge of comprehensive arts education. In addition, the NEA sponsors the Summer School in the Arts Initiative, which supports and evaluates standards-based summer arts programs for youth. The first NEA Teacher Institute Award recipients include: California State University (Sacramento, CA): this institute will focus on the musical piece Portrait of Lincoln by composer Aaron Copland. The Colorado Alliance for Arts Education (Denver, CO): this institute will analyze Alambrista (1977), an award-winning film depicting the harsh realities of Mexican life on both sides of the border. The Galef Institute (Santa Monica, CA): This institute will investigate Pablo Picasso's famous mural Guernica along with the ballet Appalachian Spring, composed by Aaron Copland. The Nevada Alliance for Arts Education (Reno, NV): This institute will consider two landscape paintings of the Pyramid Lake area, as well as the folk art traditions of the Paiute tribe in the Pyramid Lake Reservation. The Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles (Los Angeles, CA): This institute will study the poetry of Harlem Renaissance writer Langston Hughes and Revelations, a masterpiece of modern dance by choreographer Alvin Ailey. The Wyoming Arts Council (Cheyenne, WY): This institute highlights an exemplary work of ancient Egyptian art, contrasted with Pablo Picasso's lithograph series The Toros Portfolio (ca. 1959). Arts Alliance of Northern New Hampshire (Littleton, NH): This institute will study the epic poem Shahnameh, a Central Asian literary classic written by the 10th century Persian bard Ferdowsi. The Boston Public Library Foundation (Boston, MA): This institute examines the architecture of the Boston Public Library, a National Historic Landmark. The Arts Literacy Project (Providence, RI): This institute will consider Walt Whitman's famous poem Song of Myself. The DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park (Lincoln, MA): This institute will investigate the kinetic sculptures of artist George Rickey. Portland Museum of Art (Portland, ME): This institute looks at painter Winslow Homer's late-career seascape Weatherbeaten, created in a studio at Prout's Neck, 12 miles from the museum. Shakespeare and Company (Lenox, MA): This institute will analyze William Shakespeare's play Macbeth. Total number of grants: 12 For further information on awardees or the National Endowment for the Arts, contact the NEA Office of Communications at 202-682-5570. # # # The National Endowment for the Arts is a public agency dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts, both new and established; bringing the arts to all Americans; and providing leadership in arts education. Established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government, the Endowment is the nation's largest annual funder of the arts, bringing great art to all 50 states, including rural areas, inner cities, and military bases.
National Endowment for the Arts · an independent federal agency |
