#ArtsEdWeekIndy: A Message from Arts Council President & CEO, Dave Lawrence

Today marks the beginning of National Arts in Education Week, a huge celebration recognizing the importance of the arts in a child’s education. This year, the Arts Council of Indianapolis will celebrate National Arts in…

NAEW Indianapolis Celebration WordmarkToday marks the beginning of National Arts in Education Week, a huge celebration recognizing the importance of the arts in a child’s education. This year, the Arts Council of Indianapolis will celebrate National Arts in Education Week from September 11 – 17 along with the rest of the country.

Throughout the week, the Arts Council’s Any Given Child Indy initiative will bring together arts organizations, educators, community leaders, and citizens for a series of presentations, discussions, and other events to highlight the work of arts educators and the importance of arts education for our city’s youth. To view the full calendar of events, please visit the Any Given Child Indy website at bit.ly/artsedweekindy2016.

Why designate the celebration of arts in education over an entire week? The arts are crucial to every child’s education. The arts create a vibrant city, drive creativity and innovation, build and strengthen our economy, drive tourism, and provide opportunities for communities to come together through positive self-expression and communication. Furthermore, studies have shown the following improved student outcomes as a result of arts education. Students are:

  • Four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement
  • Three times more likely to win an award for school attendance
  • Four times more likely to participate in math and science fairs
  • Three times more likely to be elected to class office

As we know, creativity and graduation rates have a big impact on the strength of any community, and that’s why the Indianapolis arts community is working with the Mayor’s office and Indianapolis Public Schools to improve outcomes for 22,000+ K-8 students through Any Given Child Indy. Since 1987, the Arts Council of Indianapolis has been working to increase access to the arts and encouraging that arts education initiatives are part of funded programs through our Annual Grants Program. Through recent research initiatives and as directed by our most recent strategic plan, the Arts Council endeavored to take a more direct role in providing access to quality arts education for all our youth in Indianapolis.

In 2015, the Arts Council began serving as the backbone organization, or administrative support arm, for a collective impact initiative in partnership with the Mayor’s office and Indianapolis Public Schools to ensure arts access to every K-8 student in IPS, including Mayor’s Charter Schools. The program is an initiative of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. In May 2016, a team of civic, corporate, and nonprofit leaders across sectors completed year one of the program by creating a vision, articulating four specific goals and focus areas, and the beginning of a data-driven action plan based on surveys of teachers and arts organizations that will drive four years of implementation.

We invite you to join the Any Given Child Indy coalition to ensure access to the arts for our children in Indianapolis. Join us in the celebration of National Arts in Education Week in Indianapolis from September 11 – 17, 2016. Visit bit.ly/artsedweekindy2016 for more information on ways to become engaged during the week and celebrate the arts and arts integration programs for all youth in Indianapolis.

Sincerely,

Dave Lawrence
President & CEO
Arts Council of Indianapolis

Special thanks to Metropolitan Youth Orchestra for helping us celebrate #ArtsEdWeekIndy by participating in the following video message from Arts Council of Indianapolis President & CEO Dave Lawrence:

It’s Indianapolis Arts in Education Week! from Arts Council of Indianapolis on Vimeo.