Several schools in Quebec, Canada, are participating in a research study looking at art’s effect on student behavior and engagement. The schools all make use of a program called ArtsSmarts, a learning strategy that relies on artistic activities as a way to foster students’ growth as creative thinkers.  

The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation launched ArtsSmarts in 1998 to offset the shrinking art education budget in schools. Since then, their mission has changed a bit.

“To introduce the arts back into classrooms is where we were in 1998,” said Executive Director Annalee Adair. “To integrate arts with other disciplines is where it evolved… [We’re] looking at arts as a way of learning itself.”  

To read more about what ArtsSmarts has already done and their plans for the future, please click the story link below.

Art Helps to Focus the Mind

National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Rocco Landesman has an idea on how to fix the economy: invest more in arts organizations. After traveling the country on an Art Works Tour, Landesman has seen the positive effect the arts have on the United States. Jacqueline Trescott of the Washington Post says Landesman claims that the arts help “change the ethos of a town or community. They enliven it, they activate the public life. Art jobs are real jobs that are part of the real economy.”

Landesman recently made his first report to the National Council on the Arts, an organization whose members are appointed by the White House and approves or rejects the NEA’s grants.

To read what Landesman discovered in towns like Peoria, Ill. and San Diego, click on the link below. What is the art scene like where you live?

NEA’s Rocco Landesman Tours Country to Underscore Link between Arts and Jobs

Santa Rosa Schools look for ways to save Art

“In truth, we need a huge infusion of capital and a change in attitude about art and music, math and science. We need to define a well-rounded education and to make the case for its importance in a global innovation economy.”

Read the complete article  Future Leaders Need Art-Infused Education

In an article Sarah Sichman wrote  for Associatedcontent.com, she addresses issues brought forward during Youth Art Month. To read more please follow this link — it will be worth your time.

Celebrate Youth Art Month

“As a product of the public school system, I believe the availability of art education, and the tools necessary to keep up with the technologically advanced direction art is taking these days, needs to be recognized as a serious problem plaguing our public school system.

Chicago was a city built and designed by artists; it was a city that piloted the art education movement with the establishment of the Art Institute as the Academy of Fine Arts in 1879, so why is this very avant-garde location letting the availability of art to its public schools fall behind in comparison to the rest of the country?

Studies have shown an art-infused education leads to better standardized test scores. Also, according to a study by the National Center of Education Statistics, 90 percent of schools nationwide offer visual arts programs, whereas Illinois stands at only 63 percent.

Art assimilation in the classroom teaches children and young adults to build relationships with others while collaborating on a project. As you can see, with the right tools and resources we can help educate and guide the next Daniel Burnham or Frank Lloyd Wright.”

David Twitty writes in his article “Arts an easy target as many states cut budgets” for Associated Press states:

“States across the country are slashing their arts funding for the second year in a row as they cope with falling tax revenues. Those cuts, which often happen during recessions, are a serious blow to arts agencies and individual dancers, painters and actors at a time when private donations are down and many art organizations are being more selective in what they produce.” 

To read more click here: Arts an easy target as many states cut budgets

“We are honored that the president recognizes that access to the arts strengthens both the cultural and civic life of our nation,” Patrice Walker Powell, the NEA’s acting chairman, said in a statement.

To read the full article written by Mike Boehm, visit: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2009/05/obama-nea.html.

For more information on the National Endowment for the Arts, visit: http://www.nea.gov/index.html.