NEA Welcomes Ayanna Hudson as New Director of Arts Education
In 2011, the National Endowment for the Arts awarded more than $13 million in funding through its arts education program. Beginning on July 2, that significant level of support will be guided by Ayanna Hudson, the agency's new director of arts education. Hudson joins the NEA from the Los Angeles County Arts Commission where she led the commission's lauded Arts for All regional collaborative designed to return arts to the core curriculum.
Chairman Rocco Landesman made the announcement today at a national forum sponsored by the Arts Education Partnership.
Since September 2001, Hudson has been the director of arts education with the Los Angeles County Arts Commission. She developed and led the implementation of Arts for All, ensuring equitable access to arts education for 1.6 million students in the county's 81 school districts, the largest educational system in the country. Arts for All was cited in 2008 by the RAND Corporation as among the top three collaborations nationwide in its study Revitalizing Arts Education through Community-wide Coordination. Last year, Arts for All received the 2011 Arts Education Award from the national service organization Americans for the Arts.
Hudson replaces Sarah Cunningham who left the agency in July 2011 and is now executive director of research at the School of the Arts for Virginia Commonwealth University.