JoEllen Florio Rossebo Community Arts Team Member & President, Chief Executive Officer Arts for Learning, The Indiana Affiliate of Young Audiences
I hope that this initiative will bring the importance of arts in education to the forefront, engage the whole community, and make a real difference in the lives of all IPS students.
A few weeks ago, my trip to New York via a quick visit to see my family in Philadelphia became a long snowbound weekend. Of course, I welcome any excuse to spend time with my 3-year-old granddaughter, and she didn’t seem to mind the confinement at all. She dragged out a number of potential costumes for her living room dance production, turned on the music, and the creative play began. She was on and off the “stage” changing costumes and props, making formal announcements, bowing, and including all of the pertinent elements of a stage production. Her mother attributes this enthusiasm for dance to a recent pre-holiday attendance at The Nutcracker. Apparently, my granddaughter’s first audience experience at the ballet was quite memorable.
If one experience in a child’s life can have this much impact, how can we deny the power of the arts? How can we not provide these experiences for all children?
That is why I am so honored to be on the Community Arts Team for the Any Given Child initiative. What a tremendous opportunity for Indianapolis Public Schools and the City of Indianapolis. The Any Given Child initiative is providing IPS with all of the resources to map the district’s arts in education strengths, weaknesses, and gaps in arts instruction, integration, and experiences. I hope that this initiative will bring the importance of arts in education to the forefront, engage the whole community, and make a real difference in the lives of all IPS students.
About the Author
JoEllen Florio Rossebo has served as the leader of Arts for Learning since 2003, having previously served as the Arts Partners Director for more than eight years. She is currently on the Fine Arts Committee for Ivy Tech Community College, Indianapolis and serves on the national certification and education committees for Young Audiences Inc. JoEllen is President of the Indianapolis Consortium of Arts Administrators.
Voices for Any Given Child Indy is an initiative that gives leaders in the Indianapolis community the opportunity to focus on issues in arts education and in the community, as well as their personal investment in the success of Any Given Child Indy. Be on the look out for new posts from community leaders on anygivenchildindy.org.
