This week, we look back at National Arts in Education Week with blogs on the power of arts education—especially during a pandemic. We’re also pleased to share opportunities for grants to improve the health of the military community through the arts, webinars on strengthening your organizational brand and caring for public artworks in emergency situations, and news about one of our own staff participating in a national cohort for BIPOC leadership.

ARTSblog

Member Spotlight: Bernadette Carroll by Linda Lombardi
Just as arts organizations across the country shuttered due to COVID-19, Bernadette Carroll hit the ground running to address the needs of schools, arts organizations, and communities served by Act One during the pandemic. Adapting to the changes of remote work, Carroll and her team launched Act One’s new virtual reality field trip program for students.

Creative Confidence and the Education Revolution by Camille Zamora
Developing one’s artistry is an exercise in taking risks and living to tell the tale. The opportunity to correct flies in the face of an educational system predicated on the right/wrong binary of standardized testing. It’s radically freeing to look beyond that binary, and creative confidence is the byproduct. With creative confidence in place, anything is possible for our students.

News Room

Ruby Lopez Harper, Americans for the Arts Vice President of Equity and Local Arts Engagement, Selected to Join BIPOC Leadership Circle Cohort
From September 2021 through March 2022, Harper will participate in artEquity’s eight-part Leadership Circle that brings together 50 BIPOC leaders from across the United States and Canada to provide support, strategies, and systems of accountability in creating dynamic, new leadership models that center BIPOC experiences.

Creative Forces Community Engagement Grants Now Available
As part of the Creative Forces®: NEA Military Healing Arts Network and managed in partnership with Mid-America Arts Alliance, matching grants of $10,000 to $50,000 are available to improve the health, well-being, and quality of life for military service members and veterans exposed to trauma, as well as their families and caregivers.

ArtsU

ArtsU Intensive: Emergency Preparedness for Public Art Collections
In this 3-hour intensive, learn from a public art conservator on how to plan for the worst to care for public artworks, including what policies to have in place for emergency response, what information to have on hand to accurately survey damage, and the steps to take to develop a restoration plan for damaged artworks.

How Your Pandemic-driven Innovations Can Strengthen Your Brand—And Vice Versa
Learn how to build an authentic, compelling brand, configure a brand architecture that ensures innovations will add value in your organization, construct an overarching message, and develop a visual system that will connect all your efforts. Theory connects with practice in this case-study packed session with examples from a range of arts organizations.

Pictured: Students at PS161 with their new Sing for Hope Piano created by artist Keith Carollo. Photo courtesy Sing for Hope.