Learning Through The Arts I

A Guide to the National Endowment for the Arts and Arts Education
The National Endowment for the Arts provides national recognition and support to significant projects of

artistic excellence, thus preserving and enhancing our

nation’s diverse cultural heritage. The Endowment

was created by Congress and established in 1965 as an

independent agency of the federal government. This

public investment in the nation’s cultural life has

resulted in both new and classic works of art reaching

every corner of America. 
Learning Through The Arts I

A Guide to the National Endowment for the Arts

and Arts Education

M A Y 2 0 0 2
Learning through the Arts was published by: 

National Endowment for the Arts

Office of Communications

Mark D. Weinberg, Director

Katherine L. Wood, Media and Publications Manager

Don Ball, Editor

Designed by: Marti Betz Design, Annapolis, MD

Thanks to Doug Herbert for his contributions to the text, design, and overall

concept of the publication. Thanks also to Molly Gaston Johnson, Lee Kessler,

and Patrice Walker Powell for their editorial contributions, Nikol Plass for initial research, and Judith Zwolak for proofreading.

Voice/TTY: 202/682-5496

For individuals who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.

Individuals who do not use conventional print may contact the Arts

Endowment’s Office for AccessAbility to obtain this publication in an

alternate format. Telephone: 202/682-5532

National Endowment for the Arts

1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20506-0001

202/682-5400

This publication can be ordered and accessed electronically at the NEA Web site:

www.arts.gov.

This publication was printed on recycled paper.

acknowledgments
INTRODUCTION 1

ARTS LEARNING PROGRAMS 9

Direct Funding 10

Arts Learning Grants 10 

Challenge America Grants 11

Partnerships 12

State Partnerships 12

Federal Partnerships 13

Public-Private Partnerships 19

RESEARCH 21

SUCCESS STORIES 25 

Early Childhood 26

School-Based 28

Community-Based 32

Post-Secondary Training 

for Arts Teachers 35

ARTS LEARNING PARTNERS 38

AND ORGANIZATIONS

CREDITS 43

contents

“The arts give a generation the ability to define its own

time. It seems to me on a very grassroots level, the

future survival of the arts in this country may have

something to do with the artists, playwrights, and

dancers opening their worlds to the next generation.”

Wendy Wasserstein, Playwright

I N T R O D U C T I O N
2 L E A R N I N G T H R O U G H T H E A R T S

Why Arts Learning?

From the earliest times, humans have communicated their most profound thoughts and deepest feelings through music, dance, drama, and

art. The discovery of the Lascaux Cave paintings in France, for instance,

conveyed insights into daily life in the Paleolithic Age, as well as the

hopes and aspirations of those early artists. 

Today, the arts—whether conveyed in cyberspace or in the more traditional venues of the concert hall, theater, museum, or local arts center—remain essential to us as individuals and as a society. They are the

means by which we make sense of the world and our individual and collective experiences in it. They help us appreciate our rich cultural heritage in the United States and the cultures of others throughout the

world. It is essential that our children and youth experience the arts at

an early age, and often. 

Beyond the intrinsic role of the arts in the lives of our young people,

recent studies increasingly point to connections between strong arts

programs in schools—providing an enriched learning environment—

and increased academic achievement by students. Research also suggests that arts education has a positive effect on young people’s interpersonal skills, confidence, motivation to succeed, and preparation for

work. The arts prepare young Americans not just for a livelihood, but

also for life.

For all these reasons, the National Endowment for the Arts was charged

in its enabling legislation to “increase accessibility to the arts through

providing education to all Americans, including diverse cultures, urban

and rural populations by encouraging and developing quality education in the arts at all levels.” The Arts Endowment has not only maintained support for arts education programs and projects in and outside

of schools, but has provided vision and leadership in the federal sector
N A T I O N A L E N D O W M E N T F O R T H E A R T S 3

and among arts, education, business, and government organizations to

develop and sustain an agenda for arts education improvement.

Arts Education For All Children and Youth

The Arts Endowment maintains that all children, not only those considered artistically talented, deserve a comprehensive education in the

arts, one that enables them to create, perform, and communicate in

and through artistic media. The No Child Left Behind Act, signed into

law by President George W. Bush in January 2002, affirmed that the arts

be considered a “core academic subject,” making it possible for children

to receive the arts education they deserve and for schools to receive

federal funds from national programs—such as teacher training, school

reform, or technology programs—that target core academic subjects. 

The Arts Endowment supports schools that provide sequential, curriculum-based arts instruction, beginning in the earliest years—prior to

kindergarten—and continuing through high school. To ensure quality

in teaching and learning, students must have qualified teachers as well

as regular engagement with excellent works of art and the artists themselves. Finally, all students should strive to achieve high levels of knowledge and skills in the arts.

The Arts Endowment supports projects that provide children, beginning

as early as the pre-school years, with the opportunity to learn by actual experience the techniques of music-making and the skills of drawing,

painting, sculpting, and dance movement. Children should experience

the techniques of writing poetry and the art of acting and play-making.

This builds appreciation for the skill, discipline, and sacrifice necessary

for achievement. It helps children develop admiration for the skills and

hard work of others.
4 L E A R N I N G T H R O U G H T H E A R T S

This two-pronged approach acquaints children with their artistic heritage, stimulates imagination, engages the intellect, produces physical

skill, and enhances curiosity and joy. Such projects may identify talent

and help nurture it as well as build passionate, engaged audiences.

Increasingly, opportunities for students to learn in the arts also are

available through after-school programs, many of which are supported

in part by the 21st Century Community Learning Center funds from the

Department of Education. These programs offer excellent opportunities

for museums, performing arts centers, and other community arts organizations to partner with schools and provide high-quality learning experiences in both the school environment and the arts venues of a community. The Arts Endowment supports these experiences, which must

always enhance, not replace, the regular curricular offerings in the arts

for the students who participate.

Beyond the arts education programs associated with schools, children

and youth engage in arts learning offered by community organizations

in a variety of settings beyond the classroom. The Arts Endowment supports such community-based programs because they supplement

school-based arts learning and because the arts should be a vital aspect

of students’ lives outside of school.

The Arts Endowment’s Role in Arts Education 

Almost from its beginning in 1965, the Arts Endowment has supported

arts education efforts at the state and local levels. For example, the NEA

started pilot projects in artist residencies in the late 1960s. In the 1970s 

and 1980s, Arts Endowment leadership and funds helped the residency

concept grow, bringing it to thousands of schools and communities in

all disciplines of the arts.
N A T I O N A L E N D O W M E N T F O R T H E A R T S 5

In the mid-1980s, following the release of the Department of Education

report A Nation at Risk that found America’s schools lacking, Congress

mandated that the Arts Endowment gather information and report on

the condition of arts education in America’s schools. With the assistance

of the Department of Education, the NEA surveyed school districts

nationwide and formed an advisory committee of artists, educators,

legislators, business leaders, and parents to review the results of the

survey and recommend actions to be taken at the national, state, and

local levels.

The report Toward Civilization, released in 1988, found basic arts education in “triple jeopardy.” First, the arts were too often considered

“frills,” or non-essential subjects. Second, excluded were the understanding of the historical relevance of the arts as well as students’ cultivation of critical-analysis skills to make choices among an increasing

array of arts products. And third, there was no common agreement

among education leaders as to what all students should know and be

able to do in the arts.

The report raised concern in the public and in Congress, which broadened the Arts Endowment’s role and responsibilities for arts education

when it reauthorized the NEA in 1990. This involved taking more of a

national leadership role in supporting and promoting the arts in education. 

In 1992, the Arts Endowment partnered with the Department of

Education to form the America 2000 Arts Partnership. The Partnership

addressed the need for the arts to be taught alongside other “basic” 

academic subjects called for in the national education goals presented

by President George H. W. Bush and the nation’s governors in 1990. The

Arts Endowment’s work with the Department of Education was

rewarded: when the Goals 2000: Educate America Act was enacted in
6 L E A R N I N G T H R O U G H T H E A R T S

1994, formalizing the national education goals, the arts were listed

among the core subjects to be taught. The Arts Endowment also played

a leadership role in the National Assessment of Educational Progress in

the arts between 1991 and 1994, paving the way for the first such

assessment since the 1970s. 

Despite a reduction in the Arts Endowment’s budget and staff in 1996,

arts education remained a priority, becoming one of four major categories in which grants to nonprofit organizations and school districts

were awarded. The Education category, which from 1997 to 2001 supported projects for learners of all ages, was changed to Arts Learning in

2002 to focus on projects for children and youth in, after, and outside

of schools. Beginning in 2001, the Challenge America program provided another opportunity for the Arts Endowment to support local-level

arts learning projects for underserved populations.

In 2003, the Arts Endowment intends to consolidate the various arts

education grant programs, leadership initiatives, and partnership

efforts at the federal and state levels into a focused Arts Learning initiative. Information on current grant application guidelines, examples

of project grants, and descriptions of current and planned initiatives

can be found on the Endowment’s Web site at www.arts.gov.

The Arts Endowment’s Federal and State Partners in Arts Education

The arts learning goals of the Arts Endowment could not be realized

without the involvement of other public agencies in the arts, education,

and related areas. The state arts agencies (SAAs) not only receive Arts

Endowment support for arts education programs and services, but also

technical assistance and support for the professional development of

their arts education managers. The Arts Endowment’s annual support

to the SAAs for arts education grants helps them leverage additional

state-appropriated funds as well; for example, in 2000, SAAs leveraged 
N A T I O N A L E N D O W M E N T F O R T H E A R T S 7

the Arts Endowment’s funding of $3 million with more than $58 million

in state funds, a nearly twenty-fold increase. And, like the Arts

Endowment at the federal level, the state arts agencies play critically

important leadership roles to help advance the arts as part of educational reform and improvement in local schools.

On the federal level, the partnership between the Arts Endowment and

the Department of Education is a longstanding one, encompassing past

support for a national arts education research center, collaboration on

the National Assessment of Educational Progress and the establishment

of voluntary national standards for arts education, and a number of

other research and development efforts. One of the two agencies’ most

successful endeavors is the Arts Education Partnership, formed in 1995

with the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies and the Council of

Chief State School Officers. The Partnership comprises a consortium of

more than 140 national organizations from the arts, education, business, and government sectors and works with a variety of state and

local partners to improve arts education throughout the country.

In addition to the Department of Education, a number of federal agencies—including the Department of Justice, the Department of Housing

and Urban Development, and the President’s Committee on the Arts

and the Humanities—are partners of the Arts Endowment in the design

and implementation of arts learning initiatives in schools and communities across the country. Successful programs, such as Creative

Communities, which brings arts education to youth living in public

housing, and the Coming Up Taller Awards, which reward innovative

arts education initiatives, are the results of such partnerships. 
8 L E A R N I N G T H R O U G H T H E A R T S

Art for All Generations

To return to the initial question: why arts learning? Because the arts

help us all better understand and interpret the world around us.

Because the arts improve our ability to think critically and act creatively. And finally, because the arts offer us the opportunity to communicate our most profound thoughts and deepest feelings. Arts learning

ensures that this creative spirit lives on, instilling a love and understanding of the arts to each new generation—maintaining the continuum from early humans drawing images on cave walls to today’s youth

drawing images on computer screens.
A R T S L E A R N I N G P R O G R A M S

“By offering music and the other arts in the school curriculum, we are enriching the lives of the students as we

endeavor to preserve our culture and our civilization. We

are inculcating a sense of discipline and respect and channeling energies into forms of self-expression that have positive social impact.”

Dave Brubeck, Jazz Musician and Composer
10 L E A R N I N G T H R O U G H T H E A R T S

Since its inception, the National Endowment for the Arts has been supporting arts learning for children and youth. Arts Learning grants are

awarded competitively to nonprofit organizations, including arts and

cultural organizations, school districts, youth service, and other community groups for specific projects. Outside panels of arts education

experts review the applications. In Fiscal Year 2003, grant applicants will

focus their projects in one or more of the following areas:

EARLY CHILDHOOD:

Projects provide arts learning activities for young children who are not

yet of kindergarten age, and professional development for teachers,

artists, and others who work with them. 

SCHOOL-BASED:

Projects involve children and youth in grades K-12 and are directly connected to the curriculum and instructional program of schools. Project

activities generally occur in classrooms but may take place outside of

the school building if formally linked to the school program. Projects

also may address professional development for teachers and school

administrators. 

COMMUNITY-BASED:

Projects occur outside of the regular school day and year in a variety of

settings, offered by arts organizations or other community-based, nonarts organizations in partnership with artists and arts groups. While not

formally linked to school instructional programs, community-based

projects are typically based on a curriculum. Projects also may include

professional development for teachers, artists, and other youth program providers. 

Arts Learning grants encourage improved quality of arts learning for

our nation’s children and youth, emphasizing skills acquisition and

direct participation in and access to quality art as a basic part of learning. Grants will also help identify, support, adapt, or extend best practices in arts learning and demonstrate the benefits of strong arts learning partnerships. An organization may request a grant amount

between $5,000 and $150,000, and all grants require a match of at least

one-to-one from non-federal sources of funds. 

In Fiscal Year 2002, the Arts Endowment began a pilot program using

outcome-based evaluation for Arts Learning grants. Applicants are

asked to define the anticipated benefits or changes that will take place

among individuals, groups, or institutions as a result of their participation in the project activities, and to state how success in meeting these

outcomes will be measured. 

To find out more about Arts Learning grants, including guidelines and

applications, visit the NEA Web site at www.arts.gov/guide/.

D I R E C T F U N D I N G

A R T S L E A R N I N G G R A N T S
N A T I O N A L E N D O W M E N T F O R T H E A R T S 11

Challenge America was conceived as a program to improve communities and the quality of cultural life for citizens through broad access to

the arts. It specifically targets communities with limited access to quality arts programs due to geographic isolation, economic conditions,

ethnic background, language, age, or disability. 

Challenge America grants support arts learning in the following ways:

• Fast Track Grants: Under a streamlined grant application and

review process, small project grants of $5,000 to $10,000 support

arts projects that benefit rural or underserved communities. All

grants must be matched from non-federal sources at least dollarfor-dollar. In 2001-02, some of these grants funded arts projects

that provided positive alternatives for youth during after-school

hours. More than 400 grants were awarded in the two years this

program was offered. In 2003, grants that primarily support children and youth will be incorporated into the Arts Learning initiative. 

• State Arts Agency Partnerships: Forty percent of Challenge

America funds are distributed to state arts agencies through

Partnership Agreements, supporting arts activities in every state as

well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Arts learning is one

of five areas of focus for these funds. In 2002-03, state arts agencies

will carry out more than 50 arts learning projects with Challenge

America funds.

• Leadership Initiatives: Through Leadership Initiatives, the Arts

Endowment works in partnership with other federal agencies and

national organizations to support projects that further the goals of

Challenge America. The first such project, Creative Communities,

was a collaboration of the Arts Endowment, Department of

Housing and Urban Development, and National Guild of

Community Schools of the Arts, and provided arts instruction for

youth living in public housing. Another project was Arts for

Learning, a partnership between the Arts Endowment and the nonprofit organization Young Audiences, which provides information

and resources to assist educators in integrating the arts into education curricula. More on these projects can be found in the

Partnerships section of this guide. 

To find out more about Challenge America, visit the NEA Web site at

www.arts.gov/guide/.

C H A L L E N G E A M E R I C A G R A N T S
12 L E A R N I N G T H R O U G H T H E A R T S

The National Endowment for the Arts has supported arts education programs of state arts agencies (SAAs) since the late 1960s. Since 1986, the

Arts Endowment and SAAs have focused on three arts education goals:

• To help ensure that the arts are basic to the education of children and young adults in grades pre-K through 12;

• To expand opportunities for children and young adults to participate in the arts, as well as increase their knowledge of and 

skills in the arts; and

• To provide professional development opportunities for artists, 

arts professionals, and teachers.

The Arts Endowment awards funds through Partnership Agreements to SAAs

in part to foster collaboration among the education, arts, and private sectors

in each state and U.S. jurisdiction. Forty percent of the Arts Endowment’s

annual grantmaking funds are distributed through these Partnership

Agreements, of which one component focuses on arts education. 

SAAs combine support from the Arts Endowment with funding from

state legislatures to award arts education grants, develop programs

addressing state and local educational needs, and establish strategic

education partnerships at the local level. In addition, SAAs encourage

local investment in arts education, matching the initial state and federal seed money with increased local funds, creating more impact from

the initial federal investment. 

SAAs collaborate with a wide array of agencies and organizations, including school districts, state departments of education, colleges and universities, and local and regional organizations in the arts, education, and

business sectors. These ongoing relationships enable SAAs to develop arts

education programs suited to the unique needs of each community. 

By leveraging federal, state, local, and private resources, SAAs are

working to ensure that students receive comprehensive and sequential

arts instruction as part of a well-rounded school curriculum. SAAs have

public mandates to expand participation in the arts and to extend the

creative, social, educational, and economic benefits of the arts to all

communities. Arts learning is at the foundation of these efforts, and

SAAs are committed to making the arts a basic part of every child’s education. Among the arts learning efforts that SAAs have supported are: 

• Professional development for teachers and artists, as well as 

school and arts administrators;

• Artists-in-residence and artist-teacher collaborations;

• Standards and curriculum development and arts assessments at 

the state and local levels; and

• Public awareness campaigns to improve policies and public 

funding of arts education programs.

To find out more about SAAs’ arts learning programs, visit the NEA Web

site at www.arts.gov/partner/ or the Arts and Learning Resources for

State Leaders section of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies

Web site at www.nasaa-arts.org/nasaanews/index_anl.htm, or contact

your state arts agency to find out more about arts learning programs in

your community. Contact information for all SAAs can be found in the

Arts Learning Partners and Organizations section at the end of this guide.

P A R T N E R S H I P S

S T A T E P A R T N E R S H I P S
N A T I O N A L E N D O W M E N T F O R T H E A R T S 13

The National Endowment for the Arts partners with other federal agencies and advisory committees on projects related to arts

learning. The Arts Endowment works on arts learning initiatives

with the Department of Education, Department of Justice,

Department of Housing and Urban Development, National

Endowment for the Humanities, and the President’s Committee

on the Arts and the Humanities, to name a few. By working with

other federal entities, the Arts Endowment furthers the impact of

federal dollars. 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

The Arts Endowment’s partnerships with the Department of Education

includes co-funding programs, like the Arts Education Partnership, and

providing advice and coordination for other programs for which the

Department of Education provides sole funding. In 2001, for example,

the Department of Education awarded $16 million in arts-in-education

grants in four categories: Arts in Education Model Development and

Dissemination, Cultural Partnerships for At-Risk Children and Youth,

Media Literacy, and Professional Development for Music Educators. In

each case, the Department of Education relied on the Arts

Endowment’s expertise and knowledge of state and local needs to

structure and carry out the grant competitions. The Arts Endowment

provides assistance such as targeting potential applicants and putting

together panels of qualified experts to review applications. 

ARTS EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP

The Arts Education Partnership is a private, nonprofit coalition of education, arts, business, philanthropic, and government organizations

that demonstrates and promotes the essential role of arts education in

enabling all students to succeed in life, school, and work. Formed in

1995 by a partnership of the Arts Endowment, Department of

Education, National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, and Council of

Chief State School Officers, the Partnership now includes more than 140

national organizations committed to promoting arts education in elementary and secondary schools throughout the country. 

The primary focus of the Partnership is helping states and local school

districts integrate the arts into their educational improvement plans.

The Partnership maintains and links databases on state-level policies

and funding for arts education; produces regular reports on arts-related federal education program activities; and provides information

about general arts education policies, issues, and activities at the

national, state, and local levels. In addition, the Partnership coordinates

issue-focused task forces of national and state representatives from the

education, arts, and business sectors. Topics of the task forces have

included student assessment, research, early childhood, and teacher

education and professional development. 

The Partnership has also published and disseminated groundbreaking

research reports on the impact of learning in the arts on student

F E D E R A L P A R T N E R S H I P S 
14 L E A R N I N G T H R O U G H T H E A R T S

achievement. They have identified the policies and practical steps that

will enable schools and school districts to achieve educational excellence by incorporating the arts into teaching and learning. These

reports, as well as more information about the Arts Education

Partnership, can be found on the Web site: www.aep-arts.org. 

ARTS IN EDUCATION MODEL DEVELOPMENT AND DISSEMINATION PROGRAM

The Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination Program

helps develop models that strengthen arts instruction and integrate

arts in elementary and middle school curricula. Grantees include local

school districts, or nonprofit or governmental arts organizations working in partnership with one or more eligible school districts. In Fiscal

Year 2001, $10 million was awarded for up to three-year grants to 11

recipients in Arizona, California, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio,

Illinois, Minnesota, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Texas.

The program supports the development, documentation, evaluation,

and dissemination of promising models that demonstrate their effectiveness in:

• Strengthening the use of high-quality arts in academic instruction and enhancing the place of arts as a core academic subject 

in the school curricula;

• Improving students’ academic performance, which includes creating, 

performing, and responding to the arts; and 

• Strengthening arts instruction. 

For more information about the Arts in Education Model Development

and Dissemination program, visit the NEA Web site at www.arts.gov/

endownews/news01/EdDemosFAQ.html or the Department of

Education Web site at www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/ArtsED/. 

CULTURAL PARTNERSHIPS FOR AT-RISK CHILDREN AND YOUTH PROGRAM

The Cultural Partnerships for At-Risk Children and Youth Program provides grants for school-community partnerships designed to improve

the educational performance and future potential of underserved children by providing comprehensive, coordinated educational and arts

programs. Grantees are local school districts applying on behalf of

schools in which 75 percent or more of the children enrolled are from

low-income families and that are partnered with a museum, local arts

agency, institution of higher education, or other cultural entity. 

Through combined resources, facilities, services, materials, expertise,

and funding, the arts activities offered through a school-community

partnership can reach those youth most in need of them. Cultural

Partnership projects maximize the outreach and impact of arts education programs and enrichment activities for middle and high school students, both in and outside of school.

Eleven grants were awarded in Fiscal Year 2001 to school districts in

California, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania,

Texas, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia. For more information

about the Cultural Partnerships program, visit the NEA Web site at

www.arts.gov/endownews/news01/edu-partnership.html.

F E D E R A L P A R T N E R S H I P S 
N A T I O N A L E N D O W M E N T F O R T H E A R T S 15

F E D E R A L P A R T N E R S H I P S 

MEDIA LITERACY INITIATIVE

The Media Literacy Initiative provides grants to school districts to help

young people better understand and interpret the artistic content of

electronic media images, including those that contain violence. The

grant program assists school districts in establishing programs that

teach students how to examine and interpret media messages and

involves partnerships between schools and arts-based organizations.

The project is helping students create their own media-based projects,

using film, video, Web site design, and other media art forms. Funds

also are used for professional development of teachers and to develop

curricula. 

In Fiscal Year 2000, nearly $1 million was awarded in grants to school

districts in California, Florida, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico,

Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and South Carolina. In Fiscal Year 2001,

these grantees received support for second-year activities, and another

seven grants were awarded in six states: California, Massachusetts,

Nebraska, New York, Washington, and West Virginia. 

For more information about the Media Literacy Initiative, visit the NEA

Web site at www.arts.gov/endownews/news00/EdLiteracy1.html.

PROSESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR MUSIC EDUCATORS PROGRAM

The Professional Development for Music Educators program provides

grants to support high-quality professional development activities for

K-12 music teachers based on innovative methodologies or best practices. School districts, acting on behalf of schools where 75 percent or

more of the children are from low-income families, work in collaboration with an institution of higher education, state education agency, or

nonprofit organization with a history of providing high-quality professional development services to public schools. 

Ten grants were awarded in Fiscal Year 2001 to school districts in

Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, and

Wisconsin. For more information about the Cultural Partnerships program, visit the NEA Web site at www.arts.gov/endownews/news01/

edu-partnership.html.

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

The Arts Endowment has partnered with the Department of Justice’s

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention on several projects

to bring the arts to underserved youth. These projects have produced

materials that can help other jurisdictions duplicate their successes. 

ARTS PROGRAMS FOR YOUTH IN DETENTION AND CORRECTIONS

Arts Programs for Youth in Detention and Corrections was a national

demonstration project to establish new or enhance existing correctionsbased youth arts programs at six locations in California, Florida, New

York, Texas, and Washington. The project produced a guide, Arts

Programs for Young Offenders in Detention and Corrections, to help
16 L E A R N I N G T H R O U G H T H E A R T S

those jurisdictions that wish to establish or strengthen arts programs

for adjudicated youth. The guide includes profiles, lessons learned, and

promising practices from existing programs, as well as a survey of artsin-detention programs in the United States.

For more information about the program, or to obtain copies of the

guide, visit the NEA Web site at www.arts.gov/partner/Delinquents.html. 

PARTNERSHIP FOR CONFLICT RESOLUTION EDUCATION IN THE ARTS

The Partnership for Conflict Resolution Education in the Arts was created to advance the principles of conflict resolution through arts activities

in youth arts programs. The project provided intensive on-site workshops in arts-based conflict resolution to youth arts program staff

throughout the country.

A lasting result of the project is the guide, The Art in Peacemaking. The

guide provides information and arts-based activity ideas to introduce

educators to conflict resolution skills, demonstrating how the arts can be

an integral part of facilitating positive communication among youth. By

helping arts educators move beyond conflicts that often arise among

young people who come to youth arts programs from a variety of backgrounds, the project helped teachers focus on providing excellent arts

education. The guide can be used by youth arts programs throughout the

country to incorporate conflict resolution into their programs.

For more information about the Partnership, or to obtain copies of the

guide, visit the NEA Web site at www.arts.gov/partner/Conflict.html.

YOUTH ARTS DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

The Youth Arts Development Project, a three-year initiative of the Arts

Endowment, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

of the Department of Justice, Americans for the Arts, and several foundations and local arts agencies, was created to identify, implement, and

refine effective arts-based delinquency prevention programs. A consortium of local arts agencies and community groups evaluated and documented arts programs for underserved youth to identify promising

practices and training models. The communities involved were

Portland, Oregon; San Antonio, Texas; and Atlanta, Georgia. 

The project developed materials and information helpful to communities engaged in arts-based programs for underserved youth, thereby

equipping communities, educators, and artists with the tools necessary

to create a successful program. 

Two products are available as a result of this project. The YouthARTS

Toolkit, available through Americans for the Arts, includes a handbook

for developing and maintaining a youth arts program; a video that can

be used as a public awareness tool for potential partners; and a diskette

that includes sample data-collection forms, contracts, and other materials helpful to youth arts programs. The other product is the publicaF E D E R A L P A R T N E R S H I P S 
N A T I O N A L E N D O W M E N T F O R T H E A R T S 17

tion Youth Arts Development Project, available through the Office of

Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

For more information about the program, visit the NEA Web site at

www.arts.gov/partner/ToolKit.html; for a copy of Youth Arts

Development Project, visit the Office of Juvenile Justice and

Delinquency Prevention Web site at www.ncjrs.org/html/ojjdp/2001_5

_2/contents.html. 

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

CREATIVE COMMUNITIES

Creative Communities, a Challenge America Leadership Initiative, represents a partnership of the Arts Endowment, Department of Housing

and Urban Development, and National Guild of Community Schools of

the Arts (NGCSA). The initiative is fostering the development of arts

instruction by community schools of the arts during non-school hours

for children and youth living in public housing. 

Creative Communities funds free sequential arts instruction, provided

by professional artists-teachers, on at least a weekly basis. Activities

range from early childhood arts programs to those that provide intensive instruction for youth who show particular talent and promise.

Projects included the strengthening or expansion of existing programs,

the development of new ones, or both. Twenty projects from 20 different states, serving one or more public housing sites, were funded under

the demonstration initiative in Fiscal Year 2001 for a three-year period.

NGCSA is providing training and technical assistance to grantees and

their housing partners. 

Expected outcomes for Creative Communities include the following: 

• Children and youth will increase and strengthen their 

arts skills; 

• Safe havens for children and youth in public housing 

will be created; 

• The quality of life for residents in public housing will be 

improved; 

• Sustainable partnerships will be developed between 

community organizations and public housing; and 

• A trained and experienced cadre of artists-teachers will 

be developed. 

For more information about Creative Communities, visit the NEA Web

site at www.arts.gov/learn/01grants/hudgrants.html or the Creative

Communities Web site at www.creativecommunitiesonline.org/.

F E D E R A L P A R T N E R S H I P S 
18 L E A R N I N G T H R O U G H T H E A R T S

PRESIDENT’S COMMITTEE ON THE ARTS AND THE HUMANITIES

COMING UP TALLER AWARDS

Since its inception in 1998, the Coming Up Taller Awards program has annually honored 10 outstanding community arts and humanities programs that

provide underserved young people with learning opportunities and chances to

explore their creativity. These programs help youth build self-respect through

their mastery of and accomplishment in the arts. The Awards also celebrate

the contribution that our artists, historians, librarians, and writers make to our

families and communities by mentoring and teaching our children.

Each year, nominations are made on behalf of or by arts and humanities programs that operate outside of the school day. A national jury of experts in the

arts, humanities, and child and youth development selects the award recipients. These recipients receive $10,000 and a plaque at a ceremony in

Washington, DC. Forty additional programs receive recognition each year as

semi-finalists.

The Coming Up Taller Awards are sponsored by the President’s Committee on

the Arts and the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, the

National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute for Museum and

Library Services. With recognition from the federal government, Coming Up

Taller awardees are able to increase their visibility, fundraising capacity, and

impact.

For more information and complete nomination guidelines, visit the NEA Web

site at www.arts.gov/partner/Taller01/ or the Coming Up Taller Web site at

www.cominguptaller.org.

F E D E R A L P A R T N E R S H I P S 
N A T I O N A L E N D O W M E N T F O R T H E A R T S 19

The National Endowment for the Arts regularly works directly with nonprofit organizations through cooperative agreements to implement specific arts learning projects. The following are two examples of these

partnerships:

ARTS FOR LEARNING (A4L)

Arts for Learning is an innovative, educational initiative based upon the idea

that all students can meet—and exceed—learning goals while at the same

time develop a lifelong affinity for the arts. Supported by the Arts Endowment

through a Challenge America Leadership Initiative and led by Young

Audiences, Inc., the initiative presents information and resources on the Young

Audiences Web site to assist educators in integrating the arts into education

curricula. Young Audiences uses its broad network of chapters and affiliated

national organizations—such as Opera America, the National Association for

Music Education, and the National Art Education Association—to collect information about successful programs and tools for the Web site.

The Web site assists educators and artists throughout the country. By using the

Search Method page, a user can choose a location on the U.S. map and find

programs related specifically to subject, grade level, and cultural origin; locate

artists in a particular field or art form; and find programs that emphasize a particular learning style. The Support Materials page offers an array of education

support, such as outlines, vocabulary lists, and strategies for related activities

and resources, all categorized by program, classroom, standards, learning

styles, and life skills. The Web site also features interactive bulletin boards

where educators can share their programs and lesson plans with other educators across the country. 

A4L will expand to include up to 15 community sites in urban, suburban, and

rural school districts and 10 A4L Nexus sites focusing on specific arts disciplines

and special areas of interest. In addition, Young Audiences has made available

a 20-page booklet on A4L success stories and six short documentary videos of

successful A4L programs. The booklet and videos are available on the Young

Audiences Web site at www.youngaudiences.org. 

For more information about A4L, visit the Web site at 

www.arts4learning.org. 

SONGS OF THE CENTURY

The Songs of the Century project is a nationwide initiative intended to promote a better understanding of America’s musical and cultural heritage in our

schools. The project, made possible through the Arts Endowment’s partnership

with the Recording Industry Association of America and Scholastic Inc., created a curriculum guide for teachers, students, and families that addresses core

subjects—including literature, mathematics, and social studies—through a discussion of the evolution of music from historical, social, cultural, and technological perspectives. The lesson plans are being distributed to 9,500 fifth-grade

teachers nationwide, and are available as a file download on the Songs of the

Century Web site. 

P U B L I C - P R I V A T E P A R T N E R S H I P S 
20 L E A R N I N G T H R O U G H T H E A R T S

Through the Web site, the materials will reach hundreds of thousands of students, as well as educators, administrators, and families. A CD with song selections—as well as streaming audio through the Web site—is available with the

curriculum, and the project also developed a youth magazine and songwriting

contest. The 365 classic songs featured in the curriculum were selected from

every decade of the twentieth century, and include many different genres,

from country to pop, from jazz to folk. 

For more information about Songs of the Century, visit their Web site at

www.songs-of-the-century.com. 

P U B L I C - P R I V A T E P A R T N E R S H I P S 
R E S E A R C H

“The arts should be supported not only because research supports

their value but also because they are as dynamic and broad-based as

more widely accepted disciplines. They contribute to the development and enhancement of multiple neurobiological systems, including cognition, emotional, immune, circulatory, and perceptualmotor systems. Ultimately, the arts can help make us better people.”

Eric Jensen, Teacher, Scholar, and Member of the 

Society for Neuroscience and New York Academy of Science
22 L E A R N I N G T H R O U G H T H E A R T S

In the 1980s, the National Endowment for the Arts focused attention

on arts education research, collecting and reporting statistical information on the conditions of arts teaching and learning in the nation’s

schools. In addition, the Arts Endowment sponsored research concerning educational policy and practice affecting arts education in the

United States. One of the most important reports on the condition of

arts education was the congressionally mandated report,Toward

Civilization, in 1988. The Arts Endowment commissioned a national survey of school districts from the Department of Education during the

1986-87 school year, the first of its kind in nearly three decades, as part

of the report. 

Recommendations within the report called for the Arts Endowment, in

cooperation with the Department of Education, to “explore ways to

assure that educational statistics, surveys, and reports cover the arts

with the same attention and detail as for other school subjects.” Two

priorities for research were cited in the recommendations: make the

results of completed studies on arts education more available to classroom teachers and serve as the basis for further research; and learn

what kinds of teacher training, curriculum development, instructional

methodology, and resources are most effective in improving arts education.

These and related recommendations in Toward Civilization have provided a road map in arts education research for not only the Arts

Endowment, but the Department of Education and other partners in

the public and private sectors. Here, in chronological order, are major

developments in arts education research for which the Arts Endowment

has played a part:

1987-92: With support from the Arts Endowment, the Arts Education

Research Centers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and

at New York University implemented studies of both the status of arts

education and of curricula and pedagogy. This research included a

series of more than 30 studies by arts specialists and classroom teachers.

Primary researchers involved in the studies at both institutions included

Charles Leonard, Jerrold Ross, Robert Stake, Ralph Smith, and G. David

Peters.

1991-92: The Arts Endowment and Department of Education co-convened a national conference on arts education research that included

arts specialists, artists, school and arts administrators, researchers, curriculum specialists, policymakers, and funders. The resulting report of

the deliberations, An Arts Education Research Agenda for the 1990s,

represented the first set of research priorities commonly held by these

arts education professionals and fostered similar research agendas by

major arts education associations.
1992: The Arts Endowment funded Understanding How the Arts

Contribute to Excellent Education by the Organizational Management

Group, a report of a national study that found a strong correlation

between the excellence of schools and the inclusion of arts programs.

1992-95: The Arts Endowment and Department of Education undertook a national survey on the conditions of arts education during the

1993-94 school year using the Fast Response Survey System (FRSS) of the

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Unlike the survey of

1986-87, which used the school district as the primary source of data

collection, this survey sampled more than 1,300 elementary and secondary schools and the resulting report, Arts Education in Public

Elementary and Secondary Schools, was released in 1995. The report

provided regional comparisons; urban, suburban, and rural demographics; and poverty indicators. According to NCES, it has been the

most requested FRSS report.

1994-96: The Arts Endowment commissioned an arts education

research compendium, Schools, Communities and the Arts, by the

Morrison Institute for Public Policy of Arizona State University. Teams

of researchers and practitioners in each of the arts disciplines gathered

and reviewed published studies on the effects of arts education. The

compendium includes 49 studies divided into five categories: targeted

studies, broad-based studies, compilations, attitudes and public opinion, and status surveys.

1996: The NEA Policy Research & Analysis Office sponsored a report on

the effects of arts education in determining subsequent arts participation, Effects of Arts Education on Participation in the Arts: Research

Division Report #36. The report, using data from the 1992 Survey of

Public Participation in the Arts, which was conducted by the U.S. Census

Bureau on behalf of the Arts Endowment, examined whether people

become more actively involved in music, dance, writing, acting, and

visual arts as a consequence of arts education. The results of the study

demonstrated that those who had more arts education were more likely to create art and more likely to attend arts performances, a relationship that was about four times stronger than that of any other factor

considered. 

1996-99: Eloquent Evidence: Arts At the Core of Learning, a pamphlet

summarizing the findings in Schools, Communities and the Arts, was

published and widely disseminated by the National Assembly of State

Arts Agencies for the President’s Committee on the Arts and the

Humanities and the Arts Endowment, with financial support from the

GE Fund.

N A T I O N A L E N D O W M E N T F O R T H E A R T S 23
24 L E A R N I N G T H R O U G H T H E A R T S

1999: The Arts Endowment played supportive roles in the development

and dissemination of two nationally recognized reports on arts education by the Arts Education Partnership: Gaining the Arts Advantage:

Lessons from School Districts that Value Arts Education, which examined 91 school districts throughout the country for their effectiveness in

providing quality arts instruction to their students, and Champions of

Change: The Impact of the Arts on Learning, which provided new evidence of enhanced learning and achievement when students are

involved in a variety of arts experiences. 

2000: A follow-up report by the Arts Education Partnership, Gaining

the Arts Advantage: More Lessons from School Districts That Value Arts

Education, presented the challenges and successes of 32 school districts

profiled in the 1999 Gaining the Arts Advantage report. 

1997-2002: The Arts Endowment and the Department of Education

supported a second FRSS survey of schools during the 1999-2000 school

year to compare conditions of arts education to those reported in 1995.

The new study emphasized the conditions of teaching and learning in

the elementary grades, and surveyed principals, art and music specialists, and general classroom teachers. Results of the survey are currently undergoing final review by NCES staff and will be released in a

national report in early 2002.
S U C C E S S S T O R I E S

“The arts are, above all, the special language of

children, who, even before they learn to speak,

respond intuitively to dance, music, and color...”

Dr. Ernest Boyer, Former President, Carnegie Foundation for the

Advancement of Teaching & Former U.S. Commissioner of Education
26 L E A R N I N G T H R O U G H T H E A R T S

EARLY CHILDHOOD

In 1981, the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts—a nonprofit

organization that presents and produces performance and education programs for local, national, and international audiences—established the

Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts. The Institute places professional 

performing artists in classroom residencies to work with children three to five

years old through the disciplines of drama, music, and movement. It has 

received wide recognition for its achievements in early childhood education,

including a Coming Up Taller Award in 1996. The Institute has been featured

on CBS Sunday Morning, Today Show, CNN World News, and BBC.

The National Endowment for the Arts has supported Wolf Trap’s Institute since

1994, when it provided seed money for a study on how preschoolers learn

through the arts. More recently, the Arts Endowment provided a grant of

$150,000 to support the ArtsLink project, a multi-level initiative that integrates

the performing arts into the preschool-to-kindergarten curriculum. ArtsLink

meets the National Head Start’s Performance Standards to include the arts as

part of a developmentally appropriate education for young children, and is a

direct outgrowth of findings of the Arts Education Partnership’s Task Force on

Children’s Learning and the Arts. 

Through a partnership of the Institute, the Greater Memphis Arts Council’s

Center for Arts Education, and Ballet Memphis, five dance teaching artists are

The impact of the National Endowment for the Arts in the arts learning field can best be demonstrated by the success of the projects it

has funded, whether helping new ones to develop or helping existing ones to expand. This handful of examples displays the diversity

and high quality of projects and organizations the Arts Endowment

supports—from Wolf Trap’s work in early childhood arts instruction

to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s post-secondary training

in visual arts education for elementary school teachers.

Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning 

Through the Arts

1624 Trap Road

Vienna, VA 22182

800/404-8461

www.wolftrap.org/institute/

PROJECT: ARTSLINK
N A T I O N A L E N D O W M E N T F O R T H E A R T S 27

participating in ArtsLink residencies during the 2001-02 school year with

teachers in 20 Shelby County, Tennessee Head Start classrooms. The project

brings together Head Start teachers and teaching artists from both Memphis

and the greater Wolf Trap program for seven weeks.

For one week, the teaching artists train the preschool instructors to teach children developmentally appropriate movement/dance activities based on children’s literature. Teaching artists and teachers then partner in the classroom

for 14 sessions. The National Dance Education Organization provided its

expertise in dance and early childhood education to the project, developing

dance standards for the preschool years. The teaching artists and teachers use

the standards when developing classroom lessons and activities.

The training experience transferred immediately into the classroom.

Commenting on the teaching artist/classroom teacher partnership observed in

12 residencies thus far, Sandy Kozik, ArtsLink Dance Project Coordinator, said,

“We already know the teacher/teaching artist bonds become stronger as both

have to be a little more accountable when connecting to the standards. The

possibilities for dancing and exploring wonderful children’s stories are endless.” By linking the language of dance to children’s literature, the teachers

make connections for their students between the performing and literary arts.

The children also have the opportunity to see a book come to life at a dance

performance by Ballet Memphis, inspired by the G. Andreae/G. Parker-Rees’

children’s book, Giraffes Can’t Dance. 

ArtsLink participants also receive curriculum materials for teaching drama,

movement/dance, and music to preschoolers, and a songbook and CD compilation of songs for singing in the classroom with children. A selection of the

resources will be made available on-line at Wolf Trap’s Artsplay Web site,

www.artsplay.org. Future plans include Web-based training with real-time 

and on-demand video and audio applications.
28 L E A R N I N G T H R O U G H T H E A R T S

SCHOOL-BASED

In 1991, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra began a comprehensive arts

education initiative to address a community concern: the steady decline of

music education in local schools. The program, Arts in Community Education

(ACE), partnered the Orchestra with the Milwaukee school system to integrate

the arts with other subject areas and to advance students’ overall learning and

development. From the beginning, ACE has sought the advice and involvement of respected educators and researchers, such as Harvard’s Lyle Davidson,

and internationally renowned artists, such as Yo-Yo Ma. Today, ACE, with the

support of the National Endowment for the Arts, is a national example of successful community-school partnerships, artist-teacher collaborations, and arts

integration with other academic subjects. 

The ACE program, currently in 24 public and private schools in eight school districts in the greater Milwaukee area, presents sequential instruction for grades

K-8, structuring the arts and other subject activities for each grade level around

a coordinating theme. In kindergarten classes, for example, “The Family of

Music”—focusing on the roles of composer, conductor, performer, and audience—is used to emphasize social development and relationships found within

all types of families. “Ace Inventors,” the fifth-grade theme, promotes investigation of interconnections among the arts, sciences, and history. Supporting 

each grade’s theme, the ACE program annually provides a set of comprehensive 

activities, such as specially prepared in-school ensembles. 

In 1996, the Orchestra received a $200,000 grant from the Arts Endowment

to enable the ACE program to adapt its elementary school success to middleschool students. The new venture proved successful, not only in the arts and

other academic learning, but also in improving students’ interpersonal, communication, and conceptual thinking skills. 

With the advance of the program to the middle schools, the Orchestra

received a successive Arts Endowment grant in 1997 to support both ACE’s

continuation with the middle-school expansion and to develop an eight-year

retrospective on the program’s impact. This documentation helped respond to

the many requests for information the program was receiving. Much of that

interest was fueled by features on ACE in professional journals, newspapers

and television, including a segment on CBS Sunday Morning and an electronic Town Meeting of the Department of Education on integration of school subjects. In the 1999 landmark report by the Arts Education Partnership, Gaining

the Arts Advantage: Lessons from School Districts that Value Arts Education,

the ACE program was featured in the case studies.

A third Arts Endowment grant for $100,000 in 2000 is enabling the Orchestra

to develop and publish a report on the flourishing ACE schools. To be completed following the 2001-02 school year, the report will provide insight into

factors that have led to the program’s success. The testimonial of Fred

Polansky, a music specialist at the Burdick Middle School in Milwaukee sums

up what ACE has meant to the teachers, artists, students, and parents in his

community. “In my 28 years of teaching,” he said, “I cannot think of any program that has been more of a catalyst than the ACE program in bringing the

entire school community together in appreciating the arts and finding ways to

integrate the arts into all areas of the curriculum.”

Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra

330 East Kilbourn Avenue, Suite 900

Milwaukee, WI 53202-6623

414/291-6010

www.milwaukeesymphony.org

PROJECT: ARTS IN COMMUNITY EDUCATION
N A T I O N A L E N D O W M E N T F O R T H E A R T S 29
30 L E A R N I N G T H R O U G H T H E A R T S

SCHOOL-BASED

The Writer’s Garret, a nonprofit organization located in Dallas, Texas, has a

simple but important mission: to put writers and the communities in which

they live and write in touch with each other. To ensure that the people of

Dallas connect with the literary arts, Writer’s Garret provides a wide range of

programs and activities to bring quality literature to the Dallas area. 

One of these programs is Making A Write Turn, an after-school program for

elementary students begun in 2000 through a partnership between Writer’s

Garret and the Southern Methodist University, University of Texas at Dallas,

and Dallas Independent School District. The Writer’s Garret also offers Making

A Write Turn through ArtsPartners, a collaboration among arts and cultural

organizations, the City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs, and Dallas public

schools. 

Making A Write Turn is a student-based creative writing curriculum aimed at

restoring the joy of literature to the literacy process. The program serves mainly inner-city, low-income Latino and African American children in East Dallas,

providing the opportunity to learn from writers in a workshop setting. The 

partners involved in the project agree that the arts are essential elements of a

well-rounded education and contribute significantly to the development of

creative thinking skills that cross all academic disciplines. Making A Write Turn 

and other outreach programs of the Writer’s Garret have exposed thousands

of students in Dallas, Fort Worth, Green Hill, Mesquite, and Cedar Hill to internationally acclaimed writers from Mexico, Russia, and the United States

through residencies and workshops.

Originally conceived for grades 2-6, the Writer’s Garret—with the assistance of

a $10,000 NEA Challenge America grant in 2001—will expand the program

to include grades 7-12. Making A Write Turn helps students focus on shared

literary experiences through reading and writing poetry and prose as a way of

validating both their own experiences in the world and their mastery of language. Through the study of creative writing, students obtain the tools for

critical thinking and successful expository writing. 

The expansion of Making A Write Turn will also involve participation of the

best writers in grades 9-12 in the Lone Star Writing Contest for high school

students. The contest, sponsored by the Writer’s Garret, University of Texas at

Dallas, PEN Texas, and The Dallas Morning News, provides full four-year scholarships to the University of Texas at Dallas for the winners in the categories of

poetry, fiction, and essay. In addition, the winners’ entries are published in

¡Tex! Magazine, distributed to half a million readers by The Dallas Morning

News and released throughout Texas and in four surrounding states.

Writer’s Garret, Inc.

P.O. Box 140530

Dallas, TX 75214-0530

www.writersgarret.org

PROJECT: MAKING A WRITE TURN
SCHOOL-BASED

For almost 20 years, the people of Williamsburg have been building a bridge

in Brooklyn—a bridge on which young people can transform a neighborhood

into a better one of their own making. Appropriately, the community and

youth development center helping to bring about this transformation is called

El Puente, Spanish for “The Bridge.” 

El Puente was founded in 1982 by Luis Garden Acosta and a group of community leaders, including dancer and educator Frances Lucerna, after a wave

of violence struck their Brooklyn neighborhood. It is Brooklyn’s most comprehensive Latino arts and cultural center. The center provides arts-oriented activities and programs for neighborhood youth to help them develop their creativity and work toward improving their community, where 59 percent of the

children live below the poverty line. 

A daily after-school program is conducted at El Puente’s center. Students pursue arts learning in dance, theater, music, media, and the fine and graphic

arts. The center works in collaboration with El Puente Academy for Peace and

Justice, a public school founded in 1993 by El Puente as part of New York’s

citywide New Visions Schools initiative to establish small, innovative schools. El

Puente’s daily after-school program received national attention in 1999 as one

of 10 Coming Up Taller awardees. 

In 2001, El Puente received an NEA grant of $10,500 to support the development and implementation of Garments, an integrated arts curriculum related

to local and international sweatshops. The topic is especially pertinent to El

Puente students as East Williamsburg is a major hub for the garment industry,

well known for the prevalence of sweatshops. Students in grades 9-12 will use

artistic expression to investigate issues of wages, labor, global economy, and

fashion. Three El Puente teaching artists in the fields of visual arts, theater, and

dance are teaming up with academic instructors at the Academy to integrate

the artistic disciplines into the school’s core curricula. More than 60 predominately low-income Latino and African-American students are involved in the

project. 

The project’s curriculum is taught through weekly after-school sessions at the

Academy. Students learn about the historic and contemporary issues regarding sweatshops while engaging in artistic processes that convey their ideas.

Activities include class trips to museums and theater performances, as well as

workshops with visiting artists. The project will produce a documentary video,

art exhibition, and performing arts production to share with the community. 

El Puente de Williamsburg

211 South 4th Street

Brooklyn, NY 11211

718/387-0404

e-mail: epapjteach@aol.com

PROJECT: GARMENTS

N A T I O N A L E N D O W M E N T F O R T H E A R T S 31
32 L E A R N I N G T H R O U G H T H E A R T S

COMMUNITY-BASED

The Oneida Nation of Wisconsin created the Oneida Nation Arts Program

(ONAP) to develop their art and embrace their cultural heritage. In a community where 35 percent of tribal youth live in low-income housing, 50 percent

drop out before finishing high school, and the unemployment rate is 16 percent, ONAP sponsors a variety of artistic activities for Oneida youth—including

instructional classes, concert series, radio programs, and artist residencies.

These activities help the youth increase knowledge about their cultural heritage, develop their artistic potential, increase self-esteem, and learn important

job skills. 

One of ONAP’s programs is Nurturing Roots and Spreading Wings, a 10-week,

arts-related job training program for tribal youth. With the assistance of an

NEA Challenge America grant of $10,000 in 2001, ONAP partnered with

Youth Educational Services, Cultural Heritage Department, Oneida Community

Health, and Workforce and Job Placement to target tribal youth between ages

14-18 with an interest and aptitude in the arts, a willingness to learn, and an

enthusiasm for working on community projects. 

Using a balance of traditional, Native American, and contemporary art projects, ONAP employed Native and non-Native American artists to participate in

the program as teachers and mentors. The young people work as apprentices

to the artists, obtaining important work skills in the arts, as well as life skills

such as discipline and creativity. 

Jean Humke, a visual artist specializing in public art, led Oneida youth in the

design and installation of a community sculpture using environmental or

found objects. The project helped the young participants to see the world and

their immediate environment differently, using the things around them to create art. 

April Turner, a Los Angeles-based playwright, actress, and producer, led youth

in the Performing Collage project, which consisted of writing, acting, set

design, public readings, and performances. Participants painted simple stage

backdrops for the performances under the mentorship of Oneida artist Scott

Hill.

Rosy Simas of the Seneca Nation is director of the Rosy Simas Dance Projects

in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She offered dance classes to Oneida youth in basic

ballet movements and choreography, which led to a multidisciplinary performance of poetry and dance. The youth used these arts to portray issues they are

struggling with daily, such as drugs and gangs. 

Through these projects, the participants not only learn about art forms, design,

and the creative process, but they also learn about the importance of culture

and community and how to communicate through the arts. 

Oneida Nation Arts Program

P.O. Box 365

Oneida, WI 54155

920/405-4499

www.oneidanationarts.org

PROJECT: NUTURING ROOTS AND SPREADING WINGS
N A T I O N A L E N D O W M E N T F O R T H E A R T S 33
34 L E A R N I N G T H R O U G H T H E A R T S

COMMUNITY-BASED

Lily Yeh had a vision: to turn an abandoned landscape into a beautiful sculpture

garden. Starting in the summer of 1986 with funding from the Pennsylvania

Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts, Yeh began working with neighborhood children, adults, and professional artists to create an art

park for the impoverished area. The three-year project included mosaic sculptures and benches, vibrant murals, and gardens. From this beginning evolved

the Village of Arts and Humanities, a community-based nonprofit organization

dedicated to revitalizing neighborhoods through the arts. 

The Village’s mission is to build community through innovative arts-based programs in education, land transformation, and economic development.

Responding to a lack of activities for youth in the impoverished North

Philadelphia area, the Village began offering arts education activities, such as

creating publications, mounting theater productions, and hosting festivals. In

2000, over 400 volunteers and interns contributed more than 10,000 hours of

their time working with Village staff and the community to revitalize the physical surroundings and support the arts education efforts. Programs now reach

more than 10,000 people annually and impact several neighborhoods

throughout a 260-square-block area of North Philadelphia. 

The Arts Endowment has been a strong supporter of the Village’s arts education initiatives, such as Learning Through the Arts. An NEA grant for $45,000

in 2001 helps fund this initiative, which provides underserved children and

teens in North Philadelphia with a multi-faceted arts education program to

build their artistic skills, confidence, and potential. In 2000, more than 2,500

youth participated in Learning Through the Arts, which received a Coming Up

Taller Award in 1999. 

The Village also received NEA funds in 2001 as part of the Creative

Communities initiative, which provides arts instruction for youth living in public housing. The Arts Endowment and Department of Housing and Urban

Development provided $135,000 to support sequential arts instruction for

children and youth residing in the Fairhill Apartments public housing development. During the school year, classes are provided in visual and literary arts,

dance, and other disciplines; during six-week summer sessions, students participate in a large-scale project, such as creating banners, painting murals, or

making mosaic sculptures. Through the arts, the Village is helping to improve

the quality of life for the neighborhood children and youth.

Village of Arts and Humanities

2544 Germantown Avenue

Philadelphia, PA 19133

215/225-3949

www.villagearts.org

PROJECT: LEARNING THROUGH THE ARTS
N A T I O N A L E N D O W M E N T F O R T H E A R T S 35

POST-SECONDARY TRAINING FOR ARTS TEACHERS

Among the challenges facing America’s public education system today are

shortages of qualified teachers. While reading, mathematics, science, and special education teachers are ones most often cited, school districts increasingly

are reporting unfilled positions in music and the other arts. In the area of

stringed-instrument instruction, shortages are not new. According to the

American String Teachers Association with the National School Orchestra

Association (ASTA with NSOA), the problem began more than 30 years ago,

and has been compounded in recent years by annual increases in students

studying or wanting to study stringed instruments.

ASTA with NSOA is working through a network of 15 university departments

of music, stretching from South Carolina to California, to put a solution in

place. With the help of the National Endowment for the Arts, this network is

pioneering a teacher-training model that enlists dedicated university freshman

string students to instruct elementary and secondary school students. The

String Project at the University of South Carolina in Columbia has shown that

this model is a successful one: the University has used undergraduate students

to teach hundreds of Columbia-area public school children to play stringed

instruments for the past 25 years. 

The String Project helps provide teachers for much needed music instruction to

elementary school students, starting at the third or fourth grade with opportunities to continue through 12th grade and participate in a youth orchestra.

Students receive a variety of classes in both theory and technique.

For the undergraduate musicians, the commitment begins in their freshman

year with the award of an assistantship. Study of both their own instruments

and secondary stringed instruments is combined with classes in pedagogy and

technique in addition to the usual undergraduate courses. The student teachers actively participate in all the activities of a professional teacher under the

supervision of a Master Teacher: recruiting students, planning lessons, writing

report cards, teaching classes, setting up rehearsals, and organizing recitals.

By graduation, these student teachers are fully prepared to teach on their own.

The String Project is supported by the Arts Endowment’s $80,000 Education

grant and by the Department of Education through its Fund for the

Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE). For the 15 project sites

funded by these federal grants, more than 30 colleges and universities applied.

The five project sites supported by the Arts Endowment in 2001-03 are Ball

State University in Indiana; California State University, Sacramento; Illinois

State University; Texas Tech University; and the University of Portland, Oregon.

American String Teachers Association with 

National School Orchestra Association

4153 Chain Bridge Road

Fairfax, VA 22030

703/279-2113

www.astaweb.com

PROJECT: THE STRING PROJECT
36 L E A R N I N G T H R O U G H T H E A R T S

POST-SECONDARY TRAINING FOR ARTS TEACHERS

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is the largest art museum in

the western United States. With more than 115,000 works of art from a wide

range of cultures, the Museum serves more than one million visitors annually.

Its diverse education endeavors include after-school programs, a very popular

“Evenings for Educators” series for teachers, and the Teachers Academy.

Based on focus-group discussions with teachers and school administrators in

the late 1990s, LACMA designed and conducted its first Teachers Academy for

elementary teachers in 1998. Conducted during the summer months, the

Academy helps teachers gain new insights and skills in visual arts education,

such as developing strategies for looking at, thinking about, and discussing

works of art; and learning how their students construct meaning through the

creation of art.

The collaborative experience encourages teachers to exchange information

and share their insights with one another and with museum staff. The

Academy program, coupled with in-gallery workshops and studio sessions

with practicing artists, creates an environment conducive for learning about

arts instruction. During the school year, the teachers attend several Saturday

“continuation” sessions designed to reinforce and further develop ideas and

materials introduced during the summer program.

Along with this supportive atmosphere, other “teacher-friendly” features of

the program attracted participants and made the initial summer program a

success. These included salary points or university continuing credit for participation; interdisciplinary, grade-specific lesson units and other teaching

materials; and free buses for both student field trips and weekend “Family

Days at the Museum” for students and their parents. At the heart of the

Academy’s design is the required commitment from participating teachers and

their principals, not only to the summer program but also to strengthening the

arts programs at their schools. 

Following three successful summers, LACMA applied for and received a

National Endowment for the Arts Education grant in 2001. This grant helped

expand the program to include more teachers and schools citywide. The two

sessions of the Academy supported by the NEA served more than 60 teachers

from elementary schools in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art

5905 Wilshire Boulevard

Los Angeles, CA 90036

www.lacma.orrg

PROJECT: TEACHERS ACADEMY

38 L E A R N I N G T H R O U G H T H E A R T S

The following is a selected list of partners

and organizations the Arts Endowment

works with and supports on arts education projects and initiatives. 

REGIONAL ARTS ORGANIZATIONS 

ARTS MIDWEST

2908 Hennepin Avenue, Suite 200

Minneapolis, MN 55408-1954

612/341-0755

FAX: 612/341-0902

info@artsmidwest.org

(Serving Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan,

Minnesota, North Dakota Ohio, South Dakota,

Wisconsin)

CONSORTIUM FOR PACIFIC ARTS 

& CULTURES

735 Bishop Street #310

Honolulu, HI 96813

808/545-2785

FAX: 808/545-4128

cpac@pixi.com 

(Serving Guam, American Samoa, Northern Mariana

Islands)

MID-AMERICA ARTS ALLIANCE

912 Baltimore Avenue, Suite 700

Kansas City, MO 64105

816/421-1388

FAX: 816/421-3918

info@maaa.org

(Serving Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska,

Oklahoma, Texas)

MID ATLANTIC ARTS FOUNDATION

201 North Charles St. #401

Baltimore, MD 21201

410/539-6656

FAX: 410/837-5517

maaf@midatlanticarts.org

(Serving Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland,

New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico,

Virgin Islands, Virginia, West Virginia)

NEW ENGLAND FOUNDATION FOR 

THE ARTS

266 Summer Street, 2nd Floor

Boston, MA 02210

617/951-0010

FAX: 617/951-0016

info@nefa.org 

(Serving Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New

Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont)

SOUTHERN ARTS FEDERATION

1401 Peachtree Street, Suite 460

Atlanta, GA 30309

404/874-7244

FAX: 404/873-2148

saf@southarts.org

(Serving Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky,

Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South

Carolina, Tennessee)

WESTERN STATES ARTS FEDERATION

1543 Champa Street, Suite 220

Denver, CO 80202

303/629-1166

FAX: 303/629-9717

staff@westaf.org 

(Serving Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado,

Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada,

Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming)

STATE ARTS AGENCIES 

ALABAMA STATE COUNCIL ON 

THE ARTS

201 Monroe Street, Suite 110

Montgomery, AL 36130-1800

334/242-4076

FAX: 334/240-3269

taff@arts.state.al.us

ALASKA STATE COUNCIL ON THE ARTS

411 West 4th Avenue, Suite 1E

Anchorage, AK 99501-2343

907/269-6610

FAX: 907/269-6601

info@aksca.org

AMERICA SAMOA COUNCIL ON ARTS,

CULTURE & HUMANITIES

PO Box 5436 

Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799

011-684-633-4116

FAX: 011-684-633-2059

ascach@samoatelco.com 

ARIZONA COMMISSION ON THE ARTS

417 West Roosevelt Avenue

Phoenix, AZ 85003-1326

602/255-5882

FAX: 602/256-0282

general@ArizonaArts.org 

ARKANSAS ARTS COUNCIL

1500 Tower Building

323 Center Street

Little Rock, AR 72201

501/324-9766

FAX: 501/324-9207

info@arkansasarts.com

CALIFORNIA ARTS COUNCIL

1300 I Street, Suite 930

Sacramento, CA 95814

916/322-6555

FAX: 916/322-6575

cac@cwo.com 

COLORADO COUNCIL ON THE ARTS

750 Pennsylvania Street

Denver, CO 80203-3699

303/894-2617

FAX: 303/894-2615

coloarts@state.co.us 

CONNECTICUT COMMISSION ON 

THE ARTS

755 Main Street

Hartford, CT 06103

860/566-4770 

FAX: 860/566-6462

jostrout@ctarts.org

DELAWARE DIVISION OF THE ARTS

State Office Building

820 North French Street

Wilmington, DE 19801

302/577-8278

FAX: 302/577-6561

delarts@artswire.org 

A R T S L E A R N I N G P A R T N E R S A N D O R G A N I Z A T I O N S
N A T I O N A L E N D O W M E N T F O R T H E A R T S 39

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COMMISSION ON

THE ARTS & HUMANITIES

410 Eighth Street, NW

Washington, DC 20004

202/724-5613

FAX: 202/727-4135

dccah@erols.com

FLORIDA DIVISION OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS 

Florida Department of State

1001 DeSoto Park Drive

Tallahassee, FL 32301

850/487-2980

FAX: 850/922-5259

parichardson@mail.dos.state.fl.us

GEORGIA COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS

260 14th Street, NW, Suite 401

Atlanta, GA 30318-5730

404/685-2787

FAX: 404/685-2788

info@arts-ga.com

GUAM COUNCIL ON THE ARTS 

& HUMANITIES

Office of the Governor

PO Box 2950

Hagatna, Guam 96932-2950

011-671-646-3661

FAX: 011-671-646-3660

arts@ns.gov.nu

HAWAII STATE FOUNDATION ON

CULTURE & THE ARTS

250 S. Hotel Street, 2nd Floor

Honolulu, HI 96813

808/586-0300

FAX: 808/586-0308

sfca@sfca.state.hi.us 

IDAHO COMMISSION ON THE ARTS

PO Box 83720 

Boise, ID 83720-0008

208/334-2119

FAX: 208/334-2488

dharpole@ica.state.id.us 

ILLINOIS ARTS COUNCIL

State of Illinois Center

100 West Randolph, Suite 10-500

Chicago, IL 60601

312/814-6750

FAX: 312/814-1471

info@arts.state.il.us

INDIANA ARTS COMMISSION

402 W. Washington Street, 

Room 072

Indianapolis, IN 46204-2741

317/232-1268

FAX: 317/232-5595

arts@state.in.us

IOWA ARTS COUNCIL

600 East Locust

State Capitol Complex

Des Moines, IA 50319-0290

515/281-4451

FAX: 515/242-6498

Julie.Bailey@dca.state.ia.us

KANSAS ARTS COMMISSION

Jayhawk Tower

700 SW Jackson, Suite 1004

Topeka, KS 66603-3761

785/296-3335

FAX: 785/296-4989

KAC@arts.state.ks.us

KENTUCKY ARTS COUNCIL

Old Capitol Annex

300 W. Broadway

Frankfort, KY 40601

502/564-3757

FAX: 502/564-2839

kyarts@mail.state.ky.us

LOUISIANA DIVISION 

OF THE ARTS

PO Box 44247

Baton Rouge, LA 70804-4247

225/342-8180

FAX: 225/342-8173

arts@crt.state.la.us 

MAINE ARTS COMMISSION

193 State Street

State House Station 25

Augusta, ME 04333

207/287-2724

FAX: 207/287-2725

bryan.knicely@state.me.us 

MARYLAND STATE ARTS COUNCIL

175 W. Ostend Street, Suite E

Baltimore, MD 21230

410/767-6555

FAX: 410/333-1062

jbackas@mdbusiness.state.md.us

MASSACHUSETTS CULTURAL COUNCIL

10 Saint James Avenue, 3rd Floor

Boston, MA 02116-3803

617/727-3668

FAX: 617/727-0044

mary.kelley@art.state.ma.us

MICHIGAN COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS &

CULTURAL AFFAIRS

525 West Ottawa Street

PO Box 30705

Lansing, MI 48909-8205

517/241-4011

FAX: 517/241-3979

artsinfo@cis.state.mi.us

MINNESOTA STATE ARTS BOARD

Park Square Court

400 Sibley Street, Suite 200

St. Paul, MN 55101-1928

651/215-1600 or 800/8MN-ARTS

FAX: 651/215-1602

msab@state.mn.us

MISSISSIPPI ARTS COMMISSION

239 North Lamar Street, Suite 207

Jackson, MS 39201

601/359-6030

FAX: 601/359-6008

vlindsay@arts.state.ms.us

MISSOURI STATE COUNCIL ON THE ARTS

Wainwright Office Complex

111 North 7th Street, Suite 105

St. Louis, MO 63101

314/340-6845

FAX: 314/340-7215

moarts@mail.state.mo.us

MONTANA ARTS COUNCIL

316 North Park Avenue #252

Helena, MT 59620

406/444-6430

FAX: 406/444-6548

mac@state.mt.us 
40 L E A R N I N G T H R O U G H T H E A R T S

OHIO ARTS COUNCIL

727 East Main Street

Columbus, OH 43205

614/466-2613

FAX: 614/466-4494

wlawson@oac.state.oh.us

OKLAHOMA ARTS COUNCIL

PO Box 52001-2001

Oklahoma City, OK 73152-2001

405/521-2931

FAX: 405/521-6418

okarts@arts.state.ok.us

OREGON ARTS COMMISSION

775 Summer Street, NE

Salem, OR 97301-1284

503/986-0082

FAX: 503/986-0260

oregon.artscomm@state.or.us 

PENNSYLVANIA COUNCIL ON THE ARTS

Finance Building, Room 216

Harrisburg, PA 17120

717/787-6883

FAX: 717/783-2538

phorn@state.pa.us

INSTITUTE OF PUERTO RICAN CULTURE

Apartado Postal 9024184

San Juan, PR 00902-4184

787/724-3210

FAX: 787/722-2033

jrois@icp.gobierno.pr

RHODE ISLAND STATE COUNCIL 

ON THE ARTS

83 Park Street, 6th Floor

Providence, RI 02903-1037

401/222-3880

FAX: 401/521-1351

info@risca.state.ri.us 

SOUTH CAROLINA ARTS COMMISSION 

1800 Gervais Street

Columbia, SC 29201

803/734-8696

FAX: 803/734-8526

surkamsu@arts.state.sc.us

SOUTH DAKOTA ARTS COUNCIL

Office of Arts 

800 Governors Drive

Pierre, SD 57501-2294

605/773-3131

FAX: 605/773-6962

sdac@stlib.state.sd.us

TENNESSEE ARTS COMMISSION

Citizens Plaza

401 Charlotte Avenue

Nashville, TN 37243-0780

615/741-1701

FAX: 615/741-8559

rboyd@mail.state.tn.us

TEXAS COMMISSION ON THE ARTS

PO Box 13406

Austin, TX 78711-3406

512/463-5535

FAX: 512/475-2699

front.desk@arts.state.tx.us 

NEBRASKA ARTS COUNCIL

Joslyn Castle Carriage House

3838 Davenport Street

Omaha, NE 68131-2329

402/595-2122 or 800-341-4067

FAX: 402/595-2334

cmalloy@nebraskaartscouncil.org

NEVADA ARTS COUNCIL

716 N. Carson Street, Suite A

Carson City, NV 89701

775/687-6680

FAX: 775/687-6688

seboskof@clan.lib.nv.us 

NEW HAMPSHIRE STATE COUNCIL 

ON THE ARTS

40 North Main Street

Concord, NH 03301

603/271-2789

FAX: 603/271-3584

mdurkee@nharts.state.nh.us 

NEW JERSEY STATE COUNCIL ON 

THE ARTS

PO Box 306

20 West State Street

Trenton, NJ 08625-0306

609/292-6130

FAX: 609/989-1440

njsca@arts.sos.state.nj.us

NEW MEXICO ARTS DIVISION

228 East Palace Avenue

Santa Fe, NM 87501

505/827-6490

FAX: 505/827-6043

kminette@oca.state.nm.us

NEW YORK STATE COUNCIL ON 

THE ARTS

175 Varick Street, 3rd Floor

New York, NY 10014

212/627-4455

FAX: 212/620-5911

nysca@artswire.org

NORTH CAROLINA ARTS COUNCIL

Department of Cultural Resources

211 E. Lane Street

Raleigh, NC 27601-2807

919/733-2821

FAX: 919/733-4834

mary.regan@ncmail.net

NORTH DAKOTA COUNCIL ON 

THE ARTS

418 East Broadway Ave., Suite 70

Bismarck, ND 58501-4086

701/328-3954

FAX: 701/328-3963

comserv@state.nd.us

COMMONWEALTH COUNCIL FOR ARTS &

CULTURE (NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS)

PO Box 5553, CHRB

CNMI Convention Center

Saipan, MP 96950

011-670-322-9982 or 83

FAX: 011-670-322-9028

galaidi@gtepacifica.net
N A T I O N A L E N D O W M E N T F O R T H E A R T S 41

UTAH ARTS COUNCIL

617 E. South Temple Street

Salt Lake City, UT 84102

801/236-7555

FAX: 801/236-7556

bstephen@arts.state.ut.us

VERMONT REGIONAL ARTS COUNCIL

136 State Street

Montpelier, VT 05633-6001

802/828-3291

FAX: 802/828-3363

info@arts.vca.state.vt.us 

VIRGIN ISLANDS COUNCIL ON 

THE ARTS

41-42 Norre Gade, 2nd Floor

PO Box 103

St. Thomas, VI 00802

340/774-5984

FAX: 340/774-6206

vicouncil@islands.vi

VIRGINIA COMMISSION FOR 

THE ARTS

223 Governor Street

Lewis House, 2nd Floor

Richmond, VA 23219

804/225-3132

FAX: 804/225-4327

vacomm@artswire.org 

WASHINGTON STATE ARTS COMMISSION

234 East 8th Avenue

PO Box 42675

Olympia, WA 98504-2675

360/753-3860

FAX: 360/586-5351

krist@wsac.wa.gov

WEST VIRGINIA DIVISION OF CULTURE &

HISTORY, ARTS & HUMANITIES SECTION

Capitol Complex

1900 Kanawha Blvd. East

Charleston, WV 25305-0300

304/558-0220

FAX: 304/558-2779

richard.ressmeyer@wvculture.org

WISCONSIN ARTS BOARD

101 East Wilson Street, 1st Floor

Madison, WI 53702

608/266-0190

FAX: 608/267-0380

artsboard@arts.state.wi.us

WYOMING ARTS COUNCIL

2320 Capitol Avenue

Cheyenne, WY 82002

307/777-7742

FAX: 307/777-5499

jcoe@state.wy.us

FEDERAL PARTNERS

INSTITUTE OF MUSEUM AND LIBRARY 

SERVICES

1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Room 510

Washington, DC 20506

202/606-8536

imlsinfo@imls.gov

NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR 

THE HUMANITIES

1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Room 503

Washington, DC 20506

800/NEH-1121

info@neh.gov

PRESIDENT’S COMMITTEE ON THE 

ARTS AND THE HUMANITIES

1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Room 526

Washington, DC 20506

202/682-5409

FAX: 202/682-5668

pcah@neh.gov

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

400 Maryland Avenue, SW

Washington, DC 20202-0498

800/872-5327

customerservice@inet.ed.gov

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, 

OFFICE OF JUVENILE JUSTICE AND

DELINQUENCY PREVENTION

810 7th Street, NW

Washington, DC 20531

202/307-5911

FAX: 202/307-2093

Askjj@ncjrs.org

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING

AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

451 7th Street, SW

Washington, DC 20410

202/708-1112

www.hud.gov
42 L E A R N I N G T H R O U G H T H E A R T S

NATIONAL SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS

AND PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

ALLIANCE FOR A MEDIA LITERATE

AMERICA

c/o KT Enterprises

722 South Washington Street

Denver, CO 80208

888-775-AMLA

www.amlainfo.org

AMERICAN ALLIANCE FOR THEATRE 

AND EDUCATION

215 Knob Hill Drive

Hamden CT 06518-2448

203/407-2000

FAX: 203/288-5938

directorFA@aol.com

AMERICANS FOR THE ARTS

Washington Office

1000 Vermont Avenue, NW

12th Floor

Washington, DC 20005

202/371-2830

FAX: 202/371-0424

www.artsusa.org

ARTS EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP

c/o Council of Chief State School

Officers

One Massachusetts Avenue, NW

Suite 700

Washington, DC 20001-1431

202/326-8693

FAX: 202/408-8076

aep@ccsso.org

ASSOCIATION OF INSTITUTES FOR

AESTHETIC EDUCATION

c/o Lincoln Center Institute for the 

Arts in Education

70 Lincoln Center Plaza

New York, NY 10023-6594

212/875-5545

FAX: 212/875-5539

www.lincolncenter.org/lci/index.htm

EDUCATIONAL THEATRE ASSOCIATION

2343 Auburn Avenue

Cincinnati, OH 45219-2815

513/421-3900

FAX: 513/421-7077

www.etassoc.org

INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF FINE 

ARTS DEANS

Rowan University, College of Fine

and Performing Arts

201 Mullin Hill Road

Glassboro, NJ 08028

Gephardt@rowan.edu

MENC—NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR

MUSIC EDUCATION 

1806 Robert Fulton Drive

Reston VA 22091

703/860-4000

FAX: 703/860-9443

www.menc.org

NATIONAL ART EDUCATION ASSOCIATION

1916 Association Drive

Reston, VA 20191-1590

703/860-8000 

FAX: 703/860-2960

naea@dgs.dgsys.com

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF STATE ARTS

AGENCIES

1029 Vermont Avenue, NW

2nd Floor

Washington, DC 20005

202/347-6352 

FAX: 202/737-0526 

nasaa@nasaa-arts.org

NATIONAL DANCE ASSOCIATION

1900 Association Drive

Reston VA 20191-1598

703/476-3464

FAX: 703/476-9527

www.aahperd.org/nda/

NATIONAL DANCE EDUCATION

ORGANIZATION

4948 St. Elmo Avenue

Suite 301

Bethesda MD 20814-6013

301/657-2880

FAX: 301/657-2882

www.ndeo.net

NATIIONAL GUILD OF COMMUNITY

SCHOOLS OF THE ARTS 

40 North Van Brunt Street

Suite 32

P.O. Box 8018

Englewood NJ 07631

201/871-3337

FAX: 201/871-7639

www.nationalguild.org

NATIONAL NETWORK FOR FOLK ARTS IN

EDUCATION

609 Johnson Place

Alexandria VA 22301-2511

703/836-7499

FAX: 703/836-4820

www.carts.org

SCHOLASTIC, INC./ALLIANCE FOR YOUNG

ARTISTS AND WRITERS, INC.

555 Broadway

New York, NY 10012-3999

212/343-6100

www.scholastic.com/artandwriting/

TEACHERS AND WRITERS COLLABORATIVE

5 Union Square West

New York NY 10003

212/691-6590

FAX: 212/675-0171

info@twc.org

VSA ARTS

1300 Connecticut Avenue, NW

Suite 700

Washington DC 20036

202/628-2800

FAX: 202/737-0725

www.vsarts.org
N A T I O N A L E N D O W M E N T F O R T H E A R T S 43

credits

Page 4 left: The Writer’s Garret, Making A Write Turn Program, Dallas, Texas. Photo 

by Lee Sneath

Page 4 right: The Village of Arts and Humanities, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Photo 

Courtesy of The Village of Arts and Humanities

Page 5 left: Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts, ArtsLink Project 

Vienna, Virginia. Photo by Merlin Petroff

Page 5 right: Theatre Works!, Once Upon a Mojo, Scioto County, Ohio. Photo by Terry 

Stevenson

Page 6 left: Stage One, Professional Theatre for Young Audiences, Louisville, Kentucky. 

Photo Courtesy of Stage One

Page 6 right: The Village of Arts and Humanities, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Photo 

Courtesy of The Village of Arts and Humanities

Page 7 left: Kronos Quartet Children's Concert with Music Instrument Building 

Workshop at Brooklyn Academy of Music in 1995, Brooklyn, New York. Photo by 

Heidi Feldman.

Page 7 right: Honolulu Theatre for Youth, Honolulu, Hawaii. Photo by Karl S. Hedberg

Page 8 left: The String Academy of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo Courtesy of

The String Academy of Wisconsin

Page 8 right: The Village of Arts and Humanities, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Photo 

Courtesy of The Village of Arts and Humanities

Page 9: Theatre Works!, Once Upon a Mojo, Scioto County, Ohio. Photo by Terry 

Stevenson

Page 21: American String Teachers Association with National School Orchestra 

Association, The String Project at California State University in Sacramento.

Photo Courtesy of American String Teachers Association

Front Cover top: Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Chicago, Illinois. Photo Courtesy of 

Chicago Symphony Orchestra Community Engagement Program

Front Cover middle: Honolulu Theatre for Youth, Honolulu, Hawaii. Photo by

Karl S. Hedberg

Front Cover bottom left: Community School of the Arts, Artist: Krista Gladman, 

Charlotte, North Carolina. Photo Courtesy of Community School of the Arts

Front Cover bottom middle: The String Academy of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

Photo Courtesy of The String Academy of Wisconsin

Back Cover top: Garden City Ballet, Missoula, Montana. Photo Courtesy of Garden City 

Ballet 

Back Cover bottom left: United Cambodian Community Arts of APSARA Performing 

Arts Program, Long Beach, California. Photo by Scott Phillabaum

Back Cover bottom right: The Jamestown Fine Arts Association, Jamestown, North 

Dakota. Photo Courtesy of the Jamestown Fine Arts Association

Page 1: Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Chicago, Illinois. Photo Courtesy of Chicago 

Symphony Orchestra Community Engagement Program

Page 2 left: The Jamestown Fine Arts Association, Jamestown, North Dakota. Photo 

Courtesy of the Jamestown Fine Arts Association

Page 2 right: Magical Experiences Arts Company at Maryland School for the Blind, 

Baltimore, Maryland. Photo Courtesy of Magical Experiences Arts Company

Page 3 left: Center of Contemporary Arts, Mural Residency Program, University 

City, Missouri. Photo by Maurice Meredith

Page 3 right: Center of Contemporary Arts, Urban Arts Program, University City, 

Missouri. Photo by Michael DeFilippo

photos 
44 L E A R N I N G T H R O U G H T H E A R T S

Page 25: The Village of Arts and Humanities, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Photo Courtesy of The 

Village of Arts and Humanities

Page 27: Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts, ArtsLink Project, Vienna, 

Virginia. Photo by Merlin Petroff

Page 29: Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Arts in Community Education, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Photo by B. Artin Haig

Page 30: The Writer’s Garret, Making A Write Turn Program, Dallas, Texas. Photo by Lee Sneath

Page 31: El Puente de Wiliamsburg, Brooklyn, New York. Photo Courtesy of El Puente de 

Williamsburg

Page 33: Oneida Nation Arts Program, Nuturing Roots and Spreading Wings Project, Oneida, 

Wisconsin. Photo Courtesy of Oneida Nation Arts Program

Page 34: The Village of Arts and Humanities, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Photo Courtesy of The 

Village of Arts and Humanities

Page 35: American String Teachers Association with National School Orchestra Association, The 

String Project at California State University in Sacramento. Photo Courtesy of American 

String Teachers Association

Page 36: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Teachers Academy, Los Angeles, California. 

Photo Courtesy of Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Page 43 left: Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Chicago, Illinois. Photo Courtesy of Chicago 

Symphony Orchestra Community Engagement Program

Page 43 right: Honolulu Theatre for Youth, Honolulu, Hawaii. Photo by Karl S. Hedberg

Page 44 left: Ballet Hispanico School of Dance, New York, New York. Photo by Lois Greenfield.

Page 44 right: Center of Contemporary Arts, Urban Arts Program, University City, Missouri. 

Photo by Michael DeFilippo

Page 1: Wendy Wasserstein, Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy, 1999.

Page 9: Dave Brubeck, Music Educators National Conference, 1994.

Page 21: Eric Jensen, excerpted from the article “The Science of the Arts” in the 

November 2001 edition of Principal Leadership, the journal of the 

National Association of Secondary School Principals.

Page 25: Ernest Boyer, keynote speech for the Association for Supervision and 

Curriculum Development, 1993.

quotations
Thank you card drawn by the second grade class of Sunflower Elementary School in Gillette, Wyoming.
National Endowment for the Arts

1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20506-0001

202/682-5400

www.arts.gov