Arts in Education

September 14, 2007

Dear Educator:

I am writing to let you know that the Arts Council will offer an Arts in Education granting program again in 2007-08. The program is operating under the guidelines as described in this letter. The Arts Council will provide up to $250 per day in matching funds for artistic fees to schools that employ an artist or arts group to visit a classroom or school in order to share arts-based educational enrichment programs. This is an opportunity for your students to learn from practicing artists in the safety and convenience of their own classrooms.

To qualify for these funds, you must demonstrate a dollar-for-dollar match, which may come from your school budget, PTA funds, or another private source. You may apply for less than $250, but every dollar must be matched. Requests for funding should be submitted by April 2, 2008.

I am sure that you share our interest in providing quality arts education. We find that most schools are doing a great job with their resources, but are unable to fund some of the "extras", such as a short residency or demonstration by visual or performing artists. The AIE program was created to address that need.

After review of this material, if you have any questions, please call the Arts Council office at 812-422-2111. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Mary Jane Schenk Executive Director

Description of the Arts In Education Program

Introduction:
The Arts In Education program for the 2007-2008 school year is intended to integrate a variety of arts disciplines into school curriculum to supplement classroom teaching. Working hand-in-hand with education administrators, the Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana has designed a program to bring practicing artists into classrooms at little cost to the schools. The artists who are a part of this program are independent contractors, free to arrange as much or as little classroom time as their individual schedules permit.

Objectives:
Education is enhanced by incorporating the arts. Educators have long known that learning occurs in different ways among their students. An art-based curriculum, such as one that requires students to write about an artwork, or uses music to introduce mathematical concepts, offers alternative methods of learning. The Arts In Education program is designed to encourage teachers to integrate outside cultural resources to enrich existing curriculum. It strives to improve teaching and learning through four specific learning domains, or for the intrinsic value of teaching the arts. The specific skills that can be enhanced through an arts-based curriculum include:

• Cognitive Skills. The arts should stimulate, develop, and refine the critical thinking skills of problem posing and solving, analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and decision-making. Arts education improves communication skills and diverse cognitive abilities.
• Creative Skills. Arts education plays a central role in fostering creativity, enabling students to envision alternative possibilities.
• Workplace Skills. The arts help develop “knowledge workers” — those employees who possess higher-order thinking skills.
• Pedagogical Benefits. Because an arts education develops a diverse range of cognitive abilities, it helps foster the development of spatial, mathematical, logical, and physical abilities.

By encouraging teachers to incorporate community talents and cultural resources, the AIE program aims to enrich and revitalize educational goals to achieve these skills, rather than imposing unrelated experiences to an already-crowded school day.

Implementation:
The Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana has obtained funding to underwrite the cost of artistic fees for visiting artists. Up to $250 per day will be available to schools or individual teachers who select an artist to visit a classroom or school to share arts-based educational enrichment programs.

Schools or teachers who wish to receive funding for artistic fees should submit requests to the Arts Council by April 2, 2008. You may request less than $250.00. However, every dollar of must be matched with non-state dollars, such as PTA funds, private or corporate donations, or other sources. All requests will be considered as long as funds are available. The application is available here.

An Arts Resource Directory listing both individual artists and arts organizations is available through our website. In addition, many artists are listed on the statewide database, www.indianaarts.org. Teachers are encouraged to use these resources to identify an appropriate artist for their program; however, artists who are not listed may also qualify as visiting artists.

Each teacher or administrator is responsible for contacting the artist of choice, scheduling the artist’s visit to the school, and then applying to the Arts Council for underwriting of the artistic fees. Checks will be made out to the school, and will be sent to the applying teacher or school administrator. A “Verification of Completed Service” form will be sent with the check. It must be signed and returned to the Arts Council in order for the school to be eligible for future funding.

For more information, please contact the Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana, at 812-422-2111.