Submitted by Ethan Hay (not verified) on September 11, 2007 - 19:55.
Great article.
I am an educational consultant living in Sausalito, California. As a former director of a community nonprofit art center, school counselor, corporate trainer and curriculum developer who now specializes in arts education in the schools, it is gratifying to see increasing interest in arts programming in the schools.
During several years of dramatic cutbacks in arts programming, I found parents coming forward, again and again, to fund private afterschool classes and ongoing art groups for their children. I have met with children in private homes, studios, community rec centers and churches when adequate space for the arts has not been available in the schools. Finding adequate accomodations has been challenging, but interest in the arts and performances has never been stronger.
In 2007 especially, there has been a definitive turnaround in offering arts in afterschool programs and through artist-in-the-schools residencies. For example, Marin Youth in Arts, a nonprofit arts education agency, places artists within the Marin County school system. They are now developing comprehensive arts enrichment programs within the schools and offer an expanding variety of artistic media through the services of local artists.
It will be an achievement when the arts are integrated fully within the academic curriculum at the lower grades, and not seen as a once a week "special" activity or a once-a-year project.
Special activities and single projects such as murals are an important feature in schools and should continue. They offer intrinsic benefits that extend well beyond the immediate activity. But as one who has lectured and consulted on the impact of art as necessary for building visual literacy, developing essential personal and social skills, providing outlets for growth and public service, it is important that the arts become recognized as an essential part of school curricula, and indeed, a life well lived.
-- Ethan
Ethan Hay, MA
New Xings - creative solutions
PO Box 1867
Sausalito, CA 94966
(415) 332-1430
arts in the schools on the rebound in Marin County
Submitted by Ethan Hay (not verified) on September 11, 2007 - 19:55.
Great article.
I am an educational consultant living in Sausalito, California. As a former director of a community nonprofit art center, school counselor, corporate trainer and curriculum developer who now specializes in arts education in the schools, it is gratifying to see increasing interest in arts programming in the schools.
During several years of dramatic cutbacks in arts programming, I found parents coming forward, again and again, to fund private afterschool classes and ongoing art groups for their children. I have met with children in private homes, studios, community rec centers and churches when adequate space for the arts has not been available in the schools. Finding adequate accomodations has been challenging, but interest in the arts and performances has never been stronger.
In 2007 especially, there has been a definitive turnaround in offering arts in afterschool programs and through artist-in-the-schools residencies. For example, Marin Youth in Arts, a nonprofit arts education agency, places artists within the Marin County school system. They are now developing comprehensive arts enrichment programs within the schools and offer an expanding variety of artistic media through the services of local artists.
It will be an achievement when the arts are integrated fully within the academic curriculum at the lower grades, and not seen as a once a week "special" activity or a once-a-year project.
Special activities and single projects such as murals are an important feature in schools and should continue. They offer intrinsic benefits that extend well beyond the immediate activity. But as one who has lectured and consulted on the impact of art as necessary for building visual literacy, developing essential personal and social skills, providing outlets for growth and public service, it is important that the arts become recognized as an essential part of school curricula, and indeed, a life well lived.
-- Ethan
Ethan Hay, MA
New Xings - creative solutions
PO Box 1867
Sausalito, CA 94966
(415) 332-1430