Americans for the Arts

We don’t empower young people for the simple concept of empowering young people—but instead because it is the right thing to do. How dare we sit around as adults to discuss the future of arts education without the young people who participate and benefit from that arts education present? Additionally, I know that from experiences like advocating publicly, we are building the leadership skills of the next generation through intergenerational dialogue and cyclical mentorship. We learn just as much from young people as they do from us. Lastly, we know that decision-makers respect the power of authentic youth voice, speaking from experience. So, my message this National Arts in Education Week is simple: Let us take the lead of our youth to support a shared vision for the future of arts education in America.

There’s an important role arts education can play in relation to school violence: prevention. Since the Columbine High School shooting in 1999, Maine high schools have had access to Building Community Through the Arts, a performing arts program that lowers social barriers and builds trust within the classroom. The Maine Alliance for Arts Education sends professional theater and dance educators into high school academic classrooms to engage all the students in the class in creating an original drama or dance piece together over eight hours of class time during school hours. The group experience is daunting at first for many students, and many are initially reluctant, but by the end the students feel differently about each other and about theater and dance itself. A pre- and post-test administered to each class, designed by the University of Maine, gives us the data that confirms this.

While helping with research for Americans for the Arts’ Emerging Arts Education Leadership toolkit, I was able to find the true potential in the reciprocal exchange and cyclical mentorship of arts leaders in the field. Originally, I came to this project as just an artist and, therefore, a believer in the power of the arts, but I knew very little of the landscape and infrastructure of support for the arts in my region or my nation as a whole. I lacked that knowledge of how to create coalition as an arts leader, how to inspire others to action in the best way, or that there was even a cycle of mentorship that could tap into. Through this project, I realized how many resources and how much support there really is (and how much support there can be) for the intersections of identity and culture within arts education programs in America.

Often, the pathways to job positions at the highest levels in the arts field are not very clear. The Diversity in Arts Leadership internship (DIAL) helps ensure undergraduates interested in leadership at arts organizations gain the skills, networks, and experience needed to assume leadership roles in the arts. Each intern in the Americans for the Arts’ DIAL Internship has displayed a combination of passion for the arts, some experience leading meaningful projects, and self-identifies as being from a background traditionally untapped for arts leadership. The DIAL internship then provides the platform for competitively selected undergraduates to explore nonprofit careers in the arts, taking the arts practices they love and combining them with meaningful experiences in business and leadership. While most internships can be considered experiential, the DIAL internship is a ten-week experience.

To make the case for the value that pursuing equity and access to arts education provides to arts organizations themselves, I want to look at two ongoing and current topics in arts production.

The first topic is diversity in all forms. In the past three years, as part of a larger national conversation on diversity that has revolved as much around micro-aggressions and the slow grind of institutionalized discrimination as around shocking, devastating, and violent events, America’s arts communities have been challenged to examine the unwitting ways in which they maintain this status quo. With the best intentions, we produce excellent artistic work meant to have a universal appeal, and are surprised when audiences are not diverse. The discussion revolves around this question: If artistic excellence and a desire for diversity aren’t enough to eradicate the barriers that prevent our arts institutions from serving a representative audience, what more do we need to do?

The second topic is the audience of the future. Arts production seems to be hovering around perpetual invalid status, always wondering what it will take to get an infusion of new blood. As the average age of season ticket holders rises, we wonder where the next generation of arts supporters will come from. The discussion revolves around this question: If excellence isn’t enough, and marketing to young adults fails to promote long-term engagement, what can we do to reach new audiences?

I’m always amazed at what a teacher can do with a small grant. This year, as I managed another round of grants through our partnership with Vans, I was again filled with appreciation for how much impact $2,000 can have for an arts program at a school. For the next week, Americans for the Arts will be sharing success stories from schools that were awarded Custom Culture grants.