NYFA’s Teaching Artist Source
Teaching Artist Source is NYFA’s new database designed specifically for use by teaching artists. The database is versatile and has the capacity to run personalized searches, allowing teaching artists to access information on grants, services, and publications. The Teaching Artist Source program also provides telephone and email assistance to New York State teaching artists. Teaching Artist Source is a feature of NYFA Source, a national database of grants, services, publications, and programs for artists of all disciplines, the most comprehensive of its kind in the country.

The Awards section of the database contains comprehensive information on grants, awards, and residency programs. The Services & Publications sections contain an array of information, ranging from After School Programs in New York City to Curriculum Resources and Conferences for the field. The Teaching Artist Source webpage provides directions for using the database and assistance is available for teaching artists by calling 800.593.3298 or emailing teachingartistsource@nyfa.org. The Teaching Artist Source database can be accessed by visiting www.nyfa.org/source and clicking on Teaching Artist Source in the left-hand sidebar.

The Art: 21 Educators’ Guide and Online Lesson Library
Now in its third season, Art: 21 is a series of hour-long programs broadcast on PBS. Each episode discusses themes in contemporary art and visits with artists who embody those themes. This season’s themes are Power, Memory, Play, and Structures.

To compound the television programs, Art: 21 has released an Educators’ Guide which is designed for use in teacher training programs, schools, and other educational venues. The Guide includes sections tailored to before and after the viewing of each Art: 21 program and is interdisciplinary—activity suggestions are appropriate for visual and performing arts, language arts, and social studies classes. Content is designed for secondary level students, but is easily adaptable to younger and older students.

Art:21’s website also includes an Online Lesson Library that presents a range of theme-based lesson plans across disciplines. Finally, the website also contains a section of writings by teachers discussing how they were able to successfully integrate Art: 21 into their classroom. For more information on Art: 21 and on using the program in the classroom, visit www.pbs.org/art21.

The Association of Teaching Artists Blog
The Association of Teaching Artists (ATA) hosting a blog on its website written by teaching artists. The current blog is written by Alex Simmons, a writer, performer, and teacher who has directed children's theater and taught acting classes.

To view Simmons' blog on the ATA website, visit www.teachingartists.com/TABlog.htm.

ArtScan
The July issue of the Arts Education Partnership’s (AEP) Critical Link newsletter has announced that AEP is partnering with the Education Commission of the States to offer state-by-state arts education policy information in the form of a searchable database called ArtScan.

ArtScan will track arts education policy changes and revisions in every state and will ultimately analyze the effectiveness of specific policies. Further information about the database is available at the Education Commission of the States’ website, www.ecs.org.

New York Schools Ready to Assist Victims of Hurricane Katrina
The New York State Education Department’s website currently contains a message from Commissioner Richard P. Mills on the commitment of New York’s schools to aiding those displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Mills writes that New York’s school districts will act in accord with the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act to expedite the acceptance of displaced schoolchildren.

In addition, several New York-based colleges and universities are offering expedited admissions and waivers or assistance with tuition to students who were attending colleges and universities in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama at the time of the hurricane. New York’s public CUNY and SUNY universities are providing in-state tuition rates to displaced students.

To read Mills’ memo, visit http://www.nysed.gov.

*Image on Table of Contents page is of a collaborative portrait by students from IS 49 in Brooklyn in a collaboration with the Rotunda Gallery that was shown in an exhibition of student work at the Hillwood Art Museum. The exhibition included work by students from seven different partnerships from throughout New York State.
(Caption text: Philip Alexander)