What does Arts for Learning do?
We connect schools and community organizations with professional artists and programming of the highest caliber. We recruit and vet teaching artists, assist them in developing workshops and residencies that meet the evolving needs of educators, and encourage and provide ongoing professional development for teaching artists. Our goal is to unlock student potential, while working closely with teachers to make cross-curricular connections that open students’ hearts and minds to learning.
Arts for Learning Four Essential Elements
At the core of all our programming are four essential elements that guarantee the strength and quality of each experience. These elements are:
EXPERIENCE: providing participants with a live, professional-level art experience delivered by a professional artist.
UNDERSTAND: providing participants with a new or enhanced understanding of an art form, such as its cultural context, history, tools, or contemporary forms.
CREATE: providing participants with the opportunity to create and to empowering them to make artistic choices.
CONNECT: providing participants with a link between program content and personal experiences, other academic learning, and/or life-skill development.
Our Services
We offer programs in various forms including interactive performances, hands-on workshops, in-depth residencies, and professional development. Our programs are designed to fit within a variety of academic and life-skill curriculums.
Despite the challenges presented by Covid-19, our mission continues to inspire us. We are determined to find innovative ways to connect children with arts experiences wherever – and however – their schooling is taking place. If your school or other program is operating virtually, know that we are working directly with our teaching artists to develop, rehearse, and implement student-focused Virtual Arts Experiences to be available this fall.
If your school, community center, or other program is open for in-person programming, we have artists who are ready to deliver their quality arts programs.
In-Person Programming Guidelines [COVID-19]
| Interactive Performances | Performances are large assemblies that provide a high-quality experience to engage students in an exciting and educational show. |
| Hands-On Workshops | Workshops place teaching artists directly in classrooms, where they work collaboratively with students to create unique works and provide them insight into an art form and content area. This creative process improves students’ ingenuity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. Workshops are typically conducted with 30 students or fewer and last about 45 minutes. |
| In-Depth Residencies | Residencies are curriculum-based and consist of multiple sessions of sequential learning—three or more—in which a teaching artist works with the same group of students in a focused setting.
Residencies begin with a planning meeting between the classroom teacher/site coordinator and teaching artist to set the goal and expectations of the residency. They often close with a reflection meeting to discuss the outcomes. |
| Professional Development | Professional development is offered to teachers to provide strategies on how to use the arts to leverage learning in other content areas to make student learning more meaningful and engaging. No arts experience or background is required for these sessions. |
