Americans for the Arts presents the 2010 Arts Education Award to KID smART, a New Orleans-based arts education organization. This award is given each year to an arts education program with the best program design and leadership. KID smART has been serving New Orleans for more than 10 years, serving more than 16,000 underserved students at 110 different locations. Last year alone, the program helped nearly 3,000 students. In 2006 KID smART developed a program called Arts Experiences in Schools (AXIS), which was an arts integration professional development program for teachers. This is just one example of how the program provides assistance and support for students, teachers, and administrators at the over 100 schools the program serves. KID smART uses its passionate group members and innovative ideas and techniques to transform schools using the arts and arts programming.

KID smART Executive Director Echo Olander accepted the award at the Americans for the Arts Half-Century Summit.