At the end of last year, Dean Mary Schmidt Campbell of the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University retired. She has been the face of arts and culture in New York for over 23 years. Prior to her role as Dean at Tisch School, she was the chairwoman of the New York State Council on the Arts, commissioner of New York City’s Cultural Affairs Department, and Executive Director of the Studio Museum in Harlem.

So what is on this arts and culture leader's agenda for the New Year?

First on the list is speaking up louder about the issues most important to her, starting with arts education.

“It is a demonstrated fact that if you put well-designed arts programs into the schools — particularly in areas that are underserved — and you integrate them into the curriculum, you can raise the performance in reading, math and science,” she said during a recent interview in her office. “It drives me crazy that we are still struggling to make that case around the country.”

Campbell was confirmed for her second term on the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities in November 2013, and will continue to press her point of view as vice chairwoman.

Americans for the Arts works closely with Turnaround Arts Initative, which was formed after the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities “Reinvesting in Arts Education: Winning America’s Future Through Creative Schools” — released in 2011 found that building creatively rich schools and integrating arts strategies into classroom instruction across disciplines is vital to preparing students for success. Members of the committee have “adopted” eight of the country’s worst-performing schools — as determined by the federal Education Department — visiting multiple times, teaching classes, and meeting with parents and students. Many of Americans for the Arts' Artist Committee members, including actress Kerry Washington and cellist Yo Yo Ma have adopted schools. Kerry Washington adopted Savoy Elementary School in Washington, YoYo Ma and the dancer Damian Woetzel have Orchard Gardens K-8 Pilot School in Boston; the painter Chuck Close has Roosevelt School in Bridgeport, Conn; and the actress Sarah Jessica Parker has the King School in Portland, Ore.

Americans for the arts joined the National Coalition for Core Arts Standardsin 2013 - a partnership of organizations and states - in revising the national voluntary learning standards for dance, music, theater, visual arts and media arts for grades pre-K to grade 12. Campbell seeks to use her voice to continue the work she did advancing the arts at Tisch School on a national level.