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National Endowment for The Arts Announces Second
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Washington, DC -- Arts education is all too often on the sidelines of discussions on American public education. Through the National Endowment for the Arts Education Leaders Institute, the NEA is building "dream teams" to design powerful state arts education plans. Today, the Arts Endowment announces the state teams attending the second Institute, held on July 15-17, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois. Five multidisciplinary teams will receive NEA support to participate.
The NEA Education Leaders Institute convenes teams comprised of school leaders, legislators, policymakers, educators, professional artists, consultants and scholars. Together, these teams will discuss a shared arts education challenge, and jointly create strategies to strengthen their state's arts education policies and programs.
"By addressing these varied state challenges, we support state arts educators as they participate in the national conversation on public education," said NEA Education Director Sarah Cunningham.
The teams were selected by a panel convened by the Arts Endowment in partnership with the Illinois Arts Council. Each state will supply a team of up to six members including state department of education officials, governor's cabinet members, superintendents, district-level school leaders, artists, and arts advocates. These state teams will discuss promising practices and arts education challenges, on topics such as assessment, leadership in arts education, curriculum development, and access to arts learning. National speakers and experts attending the event support state teams, providing information and resources for each state. As participants exchange ideas, innovative partnerships emerge, coupled with renewed commitment to arts education at the school-district level.
The five teams selected to participate in the July 2008 Education Leaders Institute are:
The NEA Education Leaders Institute is modeled on the successful Mayors' Institute of City Design (MICD), a 20-year partnership program of the National Endowment for the Arts, The U.S. Conference of Mayors, and the American Architectural Foundation. Since 1986, more than 700 mayors and hundreds of design professionals have attended design institutes dealing with urban planning issues such as downtown and waterfront developments, transportation, housing, schools, and public facilities. The NEA Education Leaders Institute seeks to give leaders a similar platform to school leaders, legislators and policymakers to discuss the challenges of arts education and develop concrete strategies to strengthen their states' arts education policies and programs.
The NEA is working in cooperation with the Illinois Arts Council to implement the NEA Education Leaders Institute. The Illinois Arts Council has broad experience with state and local government collaborations, and expertise in arts-in-education issues. The Council will partner with the Illinois State Board of Education, and the Illinois Arts Alliance, a statewide advocacy agency. The first NEA Education Leaders Institute took place in March 2008, with teams from Alaska, Kentucky, Nebraska, North Carolina, and Wisconsin.
NEA Arts Education
Since its inception in 1965, the National Endowment for the Arts has not only maintained support for arts education programs in and outside of school, but has provided leadership in the federal sector and among arts, education, business, and government organizations to develop and sustain an agenda for arts education improvement. The agency has led efforts to make the arts a part of the core education for all pre-K through grade 12 students and to increase opportunities outside of school settings for additional arts learning. The Arts Endowment provides direct grants in Arts Learning, collaborates in federal, state, and public-private partnerships, and conducts research on arts education for the K-12 community and lifelong learners.
About the Illinois Arts Council
The Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, is committed to the cultural, educational and economic growth of the diverse people and communities of the state through support and encouragement of artists and the arts.
About the National Endowment for the Arts
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 Arts Endowment is the largest annual national funder of the arts, bringing great art to all 50 states, including rural areas, inner cities, and military bases. For more information, please visit www.arts.gov.
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National Endowment for the Arts · an independent federal agency
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20506
