The program wants to use artists and students to spread the message  that arts are important to American schools. Read more on the contest that corporate sponsors HP and AMD are participating in.

Make Art Save Art

Visit  MakeArtSaveArt.org to get  details on how you can participate in the contest:

dosomething.org

In celebration of the 23rd annual Arts Advocacy Day, Americans for the Arts is asking everyone on Twitter to include “#arts” in their tweets today. The goal is to push “#arts” into today’s trending topics on Twitter and in turn, spread awareness about the importance of the arts and art education.

To find out more about Tweet “Arts” Day, visit: http://www.tweetartsday.org/

Americans for the Arts is the nation’s leading nonprofit organization for advancing arts in America. They can be found on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/americans4arts

This spring, engage in the art of drinking wine and support arts education programs in America’s K-12 schools. As part of its “Art of Education” program from March through June, KRIS wine will donate 25 cents of each bottle sold for a total of $25,000 to national and local organizations committed to improving academic achievement through arts education.

KRIS winemaker Franz Haas and his wife Maria Luisa Haas are passionate about art—from the winemaking itself to the commissioning of modern mini masterpieces that are the KRIS labels.

“We are very excited to support the advancement of arts education programs for young people,” said Haas. “As our family has created hand-crafted wines for seven generations, we understand and appreciate the importance of artistic production in determining the ultimate character of our wines.”

KRIS will work with its national partner Americans for the Arts in addition to several regional partners to channel donations to schools around the country.

To learn more about the promotion, please click below.

Support the Art of Education with KRIS

In tandem with its 50th anniversary, Americans for the Arts has published a ten year study (1998 — 2008) evaluating the health of the arts industry in the United States called the National Arts Index. The first of its kind, this study was designed to measure 76 national-level research indicators which were broken into nine measurement categories: Capacity & Infrastructure, Participation, Contributed Support, Employment, Nonprofit, Creativity, Arts Education Demand, Arts Business, and Competitiveness.

Some key findings of the National Arts Index include:

• The index hit its all time low in 2008, with a score of 98.4, dropping 4.2% points from 102.6 in 2007.
• The U.S. arts industry is composed of 100,000 nonprofit arts organizations, 600,000 art businesses, and employs 2.24 million artists in the workforce. However, economic difficulties have decreased consumer spending on the arts.
• Consumption patterns are changing; personal arts creation is on the rise, but charitable donations to the arts have declined.

The good news? Demand for arts in education is growing. In the past ten years, the numbers of students graduating with college arts degrees has increased from 75,000 to 120,000. Furthermore, based on past patterns Americans for the Arts estimates the arts to make a comeback by 2011. Said Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts, “For our part, we will dedicate 2010, which is our 50th anniversary, to strengthening the arts field by developing new business models for arts delivery that better suit an evolving industry as well as strengthening audience demand.”

To read the full report, click here.

• 4 times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement
• 3 times more likely to be elected to class office within their schools
• 4 times more likely to participate in a math and science fair
• 3 times more likely to win an award for school attendance
• 4 times more likely to win an award for writing an essay or poem

To learn how you can get your children more involved, read: Ten Simple Ways Parents Can Get More Art in Their Kids’ Lives.

What are you doing to inspire your children?

Throughout the month of October, a variety of events will be taking place across the country, giving people a chance to experience and participate in art related activities in their local communities. A full listing of events can be found on the National Arts and Humanities Events Map.