Americans for the Arts

Equity can only be achieved if students of need can perform at the same level as their peers who have the benefit of financial access. If the end goal is artistic excellence, regardless of socio-economic status or ethnicity, we must develop a funding model that provides deep access to training for students at the onset of their arts education journey.  

Colburn’s mission is to provide performing arts education at the highest level. The organization is uniquely situated to provide access and equity because Colburn offers a complete sequential learning program in the arts for children aged 7 months through college. There are no limits to the heights at which a Colburn student can achieve.

“The arts are everything. They are like a master key.”

I recently had an opportunity to spend a couple of hours with the brilliant high school-aged leaders of the Milwaukee Public Schools’ Superintendent’s Student Advisory Council (SSAC). I was one of four presenters discussing city-wide community/collective impact initiatives that are focused on improving outcomes for students. We presented about the mission and vision of our organizations and our own personal backgrounds, but the highlight was when the students presented to us about their “fires” – the issues or injustices they are attempting to tackle through their capstone projects over the course of the next couple of years.

With the help of local partnerships, our public school district of 72,000 students—66 percent of whom are minorities, and 62 percent of whom live in poverty—has created a number of new opportunities for students in the visual and performing arts. And our focus on arts education is paying off, resulting in higher achievement and more chances for traditionally underserved youth to shine.

Who would have thought that a kid from the south side of Chicago, who taught himself to sing listening to the soundtrack of “West Side Story”, (and Frank Sinatra records), would someday become known internationally as “the Shoemaker to the Stars”?

If I can pinpoint one thing #BecauseOfArtsEd—it’s that the arts is a connector, it’s the social tissue that binds us together, it makes us human. When I think about my life and my education, I can’t separate the arts from it.

Preparing students who are “college and career” ready is a common goal for success for high school students across the nation’s school districts; “post-secondary readiness” is included as an indicator for school quality or student success in the Every Student Succeeds Act legislation. Our state education departments and local school districts all have working definitions and metrics for this readiness. So, how prepared are we, the arts education community, to engage in this discussion? Are we building solid college and career pathways in the arts with our higher education partners, institutions and employers? Are we engaging and supporting our families and students in understanding that the arts provide viable college and career opportunities?