The Arts Council of Indianapolis has been awarded an Art Works grant from the National Endowment for the Arts in the amount of $50,000 to support arts education in Indianapolis. This grant is among the $80 million approved by National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Jane Chu as a part of the NEA’s second major funding announcement for fiscal year 2018.
The effort is part of a national initiative titled, Any Given Child developed by The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC that works with collective impact partnerships in 25 communities. Any Given Child Indy is a collective impact partnership between the Arts Council of Indianapolis, Indianapolis Public Schools, and the City of Indianapolis. The program’s aim is to ensure ongoing comprehensive and quality arts education for all K-8 students in the Indianapolis Public Schools, including charter schools.
“The variety and quality of these projects speaks to the wealth of creativity and diversity in our country,” said NEA Chairman Jane Chu. “Through the work of organizations such as The Arts Council of Indianapolis, NEA funding invests in local communities, helping people celebrate the arts wherever they are.”
“The Arts Council is honored to receive this grant from the NEA to benefit K-8 students in Indianapolis Public Schools,” said Dave Lawrence, President & CEO of the Arts Council of Indianapolis, “Since late 2015, Indianapolis arts organizations have worked together through Any Given Child Indy to support schools in expanding access to the arts including field-trips, weekly arts instruction and professional development for arts integration strategies. Through this partnership, we’ve seen firsthand how the arts impact student motivation and success. This grant will allow us to expand our work from nine schools to 20 schools during the 2017-2018 school year.” The 2018-2019 plans marks the very beginning of the “sustaining” phase, and the partners will use NEA funds to (1) Advance the vision and action steps; (2) Establish shared measurements; (3) Align program design with needs; (4) Build public support for arts education; (5) Advance arts education policy; and (6) Mobilize partners for resource development.
Specific efforts will include robust professional development for teachers in nine schools and 63 arts organizations to create sustainable arts partnerships; coalition building and knowledge sharing. Additionally, funding will provide artists in schools during National Arts Education Week, and coordinated support for field-trips year-round. Finally, the support will provide for improved data collection and dissemination of plans and outcomes to parents and the general community. This is the second year for the program with a long-term goal of reaching 66 K-8 schools for a total of 23,000 students.
Key organizations and individuals providing leadership for implementation during the 2018-2019 school year are: JoEllen Florio Rossebo, Arts for Learning; Justin Wade, Young Actor’s Theatre; Nathan Tuttle, Head of School for Edison School of the Arts, David Newman and Greg Newlin of Indianapolis Public Schools, and Ernest Disney-Britton and Leesa Jing of the Arts Council of Indianapolis.
The Art Works category is the NEA’s largest funding category and supports projects that focus on the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and/or the strengthening of communities through the arts.