We took particular interest in innovative programs which might result in replication. The project will design, document and pilot-test assessment strategies and develop an evaluative frame through which the educational effectiveness of community arts centers can be documented. Centers will be able to use the evaluative frame to substantiate successes and to consider alternative educational approaches. The distinguished cognitive psychologist Howard Gardner, professor of education and co-director of Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, will head the project. In each residency a composer is commissioned to write a new work specifically for the school band, ensemble, or orchestra.
All residencies culminate in a public concert featuring the commissioned work.
In addition, the composers conduct such activities as helping students create vocal music to accompany their own poetry and workshops in which the students create their own compositions. Priority is given to neighborhoods traditionally underserved by arts education programs. Many arts institutions all over the country are working to create new agendas for themselves, that recognize and encourage cultural pluralism. We have sought to strengthen culturally diverse arts organizations, helping them to collaborate with each other and with other organizations in new ways, and have also supported efforts of arts institutions to diversify their board, staff, and audience. The symposium examined the role of a politicized popular culture in political, economic and social change in the black community.