Americans for the Arts

The High Museum of Art has been on a journey of diversity, equity, and inclusion in recent years. With the diversification of our board and staff, the inclusion of programs for students with cognitive and physical disabilities, boosting our family programming, and more, the Museum has taken a concerted effort to truly reflect the community it serves. One of these areas is in our teen programming. In 2016, we applied for a contract with the Kennedy Center VSA to develop programming for students on the autism spectrum. In this program, we work closely with the students, teachers, and administrators to develop tours and workshops that are interactive, sensory-friendly, and responsive to the needs of all learners. The High Museum also has a program called Teen Team, a yearly group of 15 to 20 rising juniors and seniors representing a wide range of students from public, private, charter schools who create and host public programs at the Museum. 

It was a proud day the morning of November 17, 2016, as I stood around my colleague’s computer screen with a group of Armory friends watching our First Lady Michelle Obama honor one of our own teens with the most prestigious award the nation gives for an outstanding after school program. My eyes and heart filled with tears of joy as aspiring seventeen-year old photographer Dalon Poole received the award on behalf of the Armory Center for the Arts for the 2015 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award. In that moment, I found myself reflecting upon my own journey, the last twenty seven years of service in arts education, and what brought me to the Armory in the first place, and most importantly what has kept me inspired for all these years.

Laura Perille is an Americans for the Arts member and recipient of the 2016 Arts Education Award. Find out more about the Americans for the Arts Annual Leadership Arts Awards.

We all know the narrative: arts education has suffered from years of neglect and decline in our schools to make room for tested subjects and to balance squeezed school budgets. This trend has played out in many communities across the country. The data on arts access, especially for students of color and those from disadvantaged backgrounds, makes the impact clear.http://www.edvestors.org/news-item/new-report-how-collective-action-revitalized-arts-education-in-boston/

From tattoos to political candidates to arts education, here are 15 things we heard from the American public in our most recent public opinion survey.

Here’s what I know for sure: if it hadn’t been for my access to excellent arts educational opportunities through Seattle Public Schools & TeenTix, my interest in business might have led me down a very different path. Instead, I chose to pursue an arts administration degree that allowed me to study at the intersection of business, public administration, and artistic practice.

"American Dance Corner" consisted of two lectures about American dance history with a focus on cultural diversity. The lectures were followed by choreography activities where the students expressed themselves in English and developed dance moves. The movement created was then assembled into a dance throughout series of four technique and choreography workshops in the rehearsal room at The School of Arts.