IEA Newsletter for Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Welcome to the Institute for Education and the Arts weekly newsletter for April 25, 2007. The newsletter is published each Wednesday morning to the IEA listserv and is archived here on the IEA blog.

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REPORTS
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CREATIVE COMMUNITIES INITIATIVE SUMMARY REPORT
National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts, 4/11/07
The Creative Communities Initiative Summary Report “summarizes strategies for successful arts education partnerships with public housing communities. Findings were gleaned from an extraordinary three-year, $4.65 million partnership between the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and National Guild. Many of the findings are relevant to a wide range of cross-sector arts education partnerships. ‘The Creative Communities Initiative did what many of us hope to do—broaden, deepen and diversify participation in the arts,’ said Jonathan Katz, CEO of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA). ‘This helpful report summarizes the lessons learned from this three-year project to build a sustaining connection between community schools of the arts and people living and working in public housing.’ Coordinated by the National Guild, the Creative Communities Initiative channeled resources from the NEA, HUD and 10 corporations and foundations to partnerships between community schools of the arts and public housing communities in 20 cities. The Initiative was successful in delivering high-quality arts instruction to more than 7,000 children and youth. Of these students, 94% reported feelings of safety and belonging in their classes, more than 90% reported wanting to learn more about the arts, and more than 75% felt that their capacity for self-expression increased.”
Learn more

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REFORMING EDUCATION
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WORK FOR REAL EDUCATION REFORM
Commentary by William Spady, Denver Post, 4/7/07
”The new education reform report called ‘Tough Choices or Tough Times’ is the first national report of its kind in recent years to truly address and challenge the deeply entrenched and systemic factory-model nature of our educational system. Our traditional time-defined paradigm of "school" has become so legalized, institutionalized, internalized and continuously reinforced that it is ingrained in our culture and way of thinking. That's why virtually all other major educational reform reports or initiatives have either reinforced this outdated and counter-productive paradigm or simply tried to apply Band-Aids to it. Since most Americans love the image of the school they attended, they can't imagine anything else and don't want to see it changed. That's a key reason why real educational change proceeds at a snail's pace, gets blocked or never really materializes … But, in spite of containing some far-reaching ideas, this report is entirely too one-dimensional to serve as a template for addressing educational change in a truly visionary and comprehensive way. Its rationale and proposals focus exclusively on ‘economic man’ - but not social man, humane man, creative man or any other metaphor we might use to characterize a complete, fulfilled and empowered human being.”
Read more of the commentary
Read the “Tough Choices or Tough Times” report

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ARTS IN THE CURRICULUM: NATIONAL POETRY MONTH
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POETRY IN MOTION:
QUICKMUSE.COM SHOWS THE CREATIVE-WRITING PROCESS AS IT UNFOLDS
Damien B.M. English, Edutopia, 4/07
”[T]here may be no art form more perplexing, and less yielding in an anatomy lesson, than poetry. Even the ability of the Internet to unlock secrets would seem inadequate to demystify the poetic process. Enter QuickMuse.com, the brainchild of Ken Gordon. Gordon's original idea … was to capture the poet's creative process online for the world to see and to add an element of improvisation to the procedure. To accomplish this, he employed a clever piece of technology devised by a Web wizard named Fletcher Moore … The remarkable site pits prominent poets such as Robert Pinsky, Charles Bernstein, and Mary Jo Salter against one other and the clock in what Gordon calls an agon, from the ancient Greek word meaning ‘contest’ or ‘challenge.’ In an exercise of literary improvisation, two poets are given a topic, a quote, a picture, or some other prompt and then have fifteen minutes to compose a poem. The process is recorded and posted online.”
Read more of the Edutopia article
Experience QuickMuse

POETRY RESOURCES FROM THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
In Honor of National Poetry Month, browse the Library of Congress’ poetry resources, including former Poet Laureate Billy Collins’ Poetry 180 project, which provides a poem a day for high school students.
Learn more

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HURRICANE KATRINA DVD AVAILABLE
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SPIKE LEE HURRICANE KATRINA DOCUMENTARY FREE FOR EDUCATORS
’Teaching The Levees’ is a curriculum that uses Spike Lee's movie, When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, from HBO Documentary Films, as a text to encourage democratic dialogue about race and class in America. The curriculum asks participants to consider what they understand about these topics, to test their understandings against other points of view, and to formulate a response through civic engagement. The documentary, is rated TV-14. The curriculum lessons are aimed at three audiences: high school social studies students, … college students in history-related courses, and adult learners in civic, religious, and community groups. The curriculum package is currently being developed at Teachers College, Columbia University. Through the generous support of the Rockefeller Foundation, free copies will be made available to teachers, schools, libraries, and community groups. The package will include copies of the When the Levees Broke DVDs and the curriculum book.”
Request a copy (available in late Summer 2007)

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SUMMER FESTIVALS
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41ST ANNUAL SMITHSONIAN FOLKLIFE FESTIVAL
This annual festival, held on the National Mall, will focus on three cultures this year: the Mekong River area, Northern Ireland, and the Roots of Virginia Culture. Festival dates: June 27 – July 1 and July 4 – July 8, 2007.
Learn more

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THE LAW FOR ARTS & ARTISTS
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THE LAW PORTAL: LAW PRIMER FOR THE ARTS
“The goal of The Law Portal is to present legal primers – relatively brief summaries of the law for non-lawyers - on matters that affect the arts, artists, and arts institutions. The materials have been created by a wide variety of non-profit organizations, government entities, and for-profit businesses. The site was created by Sandra Braman at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, with support from the Rockefeller Foundation.”
Learn more

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GRANTS, FUNDING, CONTESTS, AND AWARDS
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AIRBORNE TEACHER TRUST FUND
The Airborne Teacher Trust Fund awards funding to projects promoting art, music, drama, and crafts. The maximum award is $10,000. K-8 teachers in public and private schools are eligible; however, check the Web site to see if grants are offered in your state. Grants are awarded quarterly; the next deadline is 4/30/07.
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PARTNERS IN EXCELLENCE / PARTNERS IN ARTS EDUCATION GRANTS
“The National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts and MetLife Foundation will award grants of up to $20,000 to support exemplary community school of the arts/public school partnerships. The application deadline is Friday, May 25, 2007.” Consult the Web site for eligible communities.
Learn more

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