Arts Education
Grantmakers in the Arts holds arts education as one of its core funding focus areas. GIA is committed to invigorate funding and support for arts education within federal policy and defend that every resident has access to the arts as part of a well-rounded, life-long education. In 2012, GIA formed the Arts Education Funders Coalition (AEFC), an interest group within GIA, to address identified needs in comprehensive arts education and to strengthen communication and networking among arts education funders. Advised by a committee of Coalition members, GIA engaged the services of Washington, DC-based Penn Hill Group, a firm with education policy expertise and experience working with diverse education groups to research, develop, and promote educational policy strategies.
Most recently, GIA worked with Representative Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) on the development of the Arts Education for All Act, the broadest arts education policy bill ever introduced in Congress.
In Spring 2021, GIA influenced the U.S. Department of Education to highlight the importance of equitable access to arts and culture to the process of reopening schools and to make explicit how racialized this access was prior to the pandemic and that addressing this inequity is essential to effective reopening.
Grantmakers in the Arts is delighted that in 2020 Congress passed the Supporting Older Americans Act, including our recommendations that the Administration on Aging include the arts in the issues to be identified and addressed and be included among supportive services for older Americans.
GIA has successfully lobbied to include arts-related provisions in the Child Care for Working Families Act, which proposes to better help low-income families pay for childcare and expand high-quality state preschool options.
GIA is extremely proud of our work over the past several years on raising the visibility of the arts in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) in its legislative form. GIA and Penn Hill Group continue these advocacy efforts around the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), guiding GIA members and their grantees in advocating for new or expanded arts programs at their local schools and districts.
As you may know from GIA’s previous webinar “New Horizons in Arts Education: The Student Support and Academic Enrichment program,” the Student Support and Academic Enrichment (SSAE) program, authorized under Title IV, Part-A of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) established flexible formula grants to support the following three areas of activities – well-rounded educational opportunities, which include the arts as defined by ESSA; safe and healthy students; and effective use of technology.
Read More...At the Stockton Rush Bartol Foundation, we are grateful every day for teaching artists.
Read More...The nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street recently announced the new Joan Ganz Cooney Fund for Vulnerable Children, which will support Sesame Street in Communities, an initiative that helps caregivers and community service providers give children a strong and healthy start.
Read More...Jerry Brown, the governor of California, signed on June 27 a $139 billion state budget that includes a $44,080,000 one-time federal Title IV funding for grants enhancing arts education or expanding access to physical and mental health care in schools in fiscal year 2019.
Read More...The finding is not surprising: wealthier children are about twice as likely to visit a cultural institution or historical place or see a play or concert during the summer, as compared with children from lower-income families, points out an article by Chalkbeat.
Read More..."What was the original goal of the arts education policy and advocacy grantmaking work?" That is one of the questions the education and policy firm, Education First, tackled after the Hewlett Foundation commissioned an evaluation of its arts education grantmaking over the past decade.
Read More...This past Wednesday, Congress finally released its funding bill for the current fiscal year (FY) 2018. This bill was voted upon by the House and Senate and on Friday it was signed into law by President Trump. There is good news within the bill for the larger arts community and for all our collective work to advance arts education.
Read More...New Mexico has adopted the National Core Arts Standards which will ensure that public school students in grades K-12 have an opportunity to study at least one of five disciplines: dance, music, theater, visual arts, and media.
The change will also let educators teaching other subjects to weave those art elements into core classes, including math, reading, and social studies, announced Christopher Ruszkowski, New Mexico Public Education Secretary-designate.
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For the months of January and February, GIA's photo banner features work supported by The Boeing Company ("Boeing"). Boeing's Global Engagement programs implement Boeing's strategic philanthropy through its charitable investments, volunteer programs, employee drives, disaster response, and other integrated programs. In 2017, the company provided approximately $170M to communities around the world – its key priorities include Veterans, K-12 Education, and Dynamic Communities.
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