Nan Westervelt
To hundreds of cultural organizations and artists throughout the state, the New York State Council on the Arts’ (NYSCA) Arts in Education program (AIE) is known for funding partnerships between arts organizations, teaching artists, and schools which focus on teaching and learning in and through the arts. A lesser-known, but truly vital, role of NYSCA’s AIE Program is its support and development of the arts-in-education field by funding various services that:
• Network AIE constituents on local, regional, and statewide levels;
• Advocate for the role of the arts in education;
• Disseminate information on issues and actions relative to the field;
• Learn and build capacity in AIE through professional development; and,
• Access AIE partnership funds at a local level.
To ensure that the broad range of services throughout New York State are being delivered in a coordinated, comprehensive, and non-duplicative way, NYSCA’s AIE program staff launched a series of face-to face conversations last spring with representatives from each of the organizations funded to support and develop the field. The task was to begin mapping a “blueprint” for how best to serve the statewide arts-in-education field with the available monetary and personnel resources.
As a first step, the “Blueprint Team” mapped the services currently provided through their organizations or NYSCA initiatives and networks. The services were then organized into broad categories: Advocacy, Professional Development, Networks, and Information. To complete the exercise and identify gaps, needs, and overlap of services, the representatives listed the delivery system (electronic, print, listserv, etc.), stakeholder group, timing of the service, and purpose of the work for each service.
For example, in reviewing services offered in the Information category, the group noticed a need for, and an absence of, a centralized website that could provide links to information about arts-in-education in New York State and beyond. The “Blueprint Team” brainstormed housing a portal at one organization as a possible solution, producing ideas such as having a home page with links to service organizations, grants, professional development opportunities, and advocacy resources.
Preliminary gaps in the Advocacy category targeted a need for tools and training for stakeholders involved in advocacy. In Professional Development, a need for targeting teaching artists, cultural organization administrators, and parents was cited. In the Networking category, a gap in connecting with various stakeholders such as parents, State Teachers Associations, School Boards, and policymakers was glaring.
As fall approaches, the “Blueprint Team” will meet again to divide the labor that will be required to address the needs that have come to light through this exercise. Documentation of the process, as well as the final blueprint itself, will be disseminated to the arts-in-education field in print and electronic formats through the communications mechanisms of the partner organizations and representative networks and consortia. It is hoped that this important document will help current constituents find the information and resources they need to effectively work in the field. The team also hopes that the blueprint will provide a means of outreach to those constituents who are not currently “in the know” and that all stakeholders in the field will benefit from better coordinated and more comprehensive service programs.
The “Blueprint Team” included:
• Dale Davis (Association of Teaching Artists, Arts for Special Populations in Alternative Education Settings)
• Phil Alexander (Metropolitan Opera Guild, Fiscal sponsor of the ESP Professional Development Program, Regional Leadership Networks)
• Penelope Dannenberg (New York Foundation for the Arts)
• Rob Lunski and Carol Fineberg (New York State Alliance for Arts Education)
• Laura Reeder and R.J. Rapoza (Partners for Arts Education)
• Greg McCaslin (Center for Arts Education)
• Nan Westervelt (Local Capacity Building Initiative)
• Amy Duggins Pender and Gary Dayton (New York State Council on the Arts, Arts in Education AIE Program; Arts in Education Regional Roundtables; The Museum Education Network; and the Design Education Network).
NYSCA’s Grant Programs for the Arts-in-Education Field
In addition to funding partnerships between arts organizations, teaching artists, and schools that focus on teaching and learning in and through the arts, NYSCA’s AIE Program also supports and develops the arts-in-education field with its grant programs.
Through a variety of mechanisms, including the Services to the Field grant category and the Local Capacity Building Initiative re-grant program, NYSCA offers opportunities for constituents to:
• Network on local, regional and statewide levels;
• Advocate for the role of the arts in education;
• Disseminate information on issues and actions relative to the field;
• Learn and build capacity in AIE through professional development; and
• Access AIE partnership funds at a local level.
NYSCA’s AIE program also supports Arts-in-Education Regional Roundtables, Regional Leadership Networks, and several other topic-based networks from across New York State. These networks and consortia offer stakeholders the opportunity to learn from and with one another and to address issues of concern via face-to-face meetings and printed and electronic communications devices on a regional or local level.
The AIE program’s Local Capacity Building (LCB) Initiative re-grant program has 24 sites across the state. Each administering organization receives a block grant from the AIE program, which is re-granted to the field to support small or initial forays into arts-in-education by schools in each site’s service area. LCB sites also offer professional development opportunities open to all constituents in their service areas.
For more information on NYSCA’s programs, visit www.nysca.org.
Nan Westervelt is currently an arts-in-education and nonprofit management consultant after a 15 year tenure as executive director of Young Audiences of Rochester, Inc. A former actress and creative drama teacher, she also created and implemented the Community School Volunteer program for the Gates-Chili, NY school district. She is the former president of the New York State Alliance for Arts Education and served on the National Governance Committee for the Kennedy Center Alliances for Arts Education.
