The Arts Endowment wants to help those involved in arts education organize and share their knowledge with each other and with others outside the arts. Moreover, the content is organized along exciting and useful categories such as community connections, resources for students, and a unique Curriculum Studio for the development of new curricula in the arts.
Teachers spend four to eight weeks of summer in full-time independent study in the arts.
One award winner in Wisconsin pursued independent study of jazz education materials and, subsequently, developed a jazz improvisation program for elementary school students. One New Jersey art teacher and ceramist studied crystalline glazes and applied that new knowledge to interdisciplinary teaching with his school's chemistry classes. A teaching sculptor created a new work based on her research into experiences of African-American women, translating her impressions of women and race into visual metaphors. The purpose of this process was to develop a plan for collaboration on the national level in order to maximize the role of the arts in improving education and helping schools and students achieve the National Education Goals. The meetings produced an action plan that identified a number of critical actions in which all Americans must be actively involved at the state and community levels in order to realize the benefits of arts in education.