51 mins ago
#ArtsMatter: Arts Education Fuels Creative Thinking
Arts Matter is an unprecedented campaign to revitalize arts education in the nation’s second largest school district. The campaign has been developed to drive public awareness for the critical role of arts education in public schools. By bringing together leading contemporary artists, including Barbara Kruger and John Baldessari, as well as Los Angeles entertainment, civic, and education leaders, Arts Matter is focused on rebuilding arts education in the creative capital of the world.
The Los Angeles Fund for Public Education was inspired to spearhead this initiative to address the creativity crisis existing in Los Angeles public schools. Today, only 2% of all instructional time is devoted to the arts in L.A. elementary schools. The purpose of Arts Matter is to develop a system that integrates arts instruction with traditional core subjects to dramatically increase creative thinking and learning for all students.
All proceeds raised throughout Arts Matter will directly support an innovative R&D fund to support arts integration in L.A. public schools. The objective of this fund is to provide at least $750,000 in seed funding for multi-year arts integration professional development programs in K-12 public schools across the city.
About The Issue
Over the last three years, a statewide funding crisis has forced LAUSD to cut nearly $1.5 billion from its annual operating budget resulting in ongoing cuts to the elementary arts program. At its peak in 2009, 335 elementary arts teachers were employed to ensure that every elementary school received instruction in at least two art forms each year. In four years, the District has gone from running a nationally recognized arts education program, to today struggling to piece together a drastically reduced and inequitable program. In a school district with nearly 80% of its student population living in poverty, in the world’s arts and entertainment capital, the children with the greatest need are being left further behind.
The need for robust arts education, however, has never been clearer. In its landmark 2006 study, the Conference Board surveyed business leaders who overwhelming identified critical thinking and problem solving as the most critical competencies needed in the workforce. In addition to critical thinking, employers further identify creativity as an essential skill for success in today’s workforce. Just as there is unanimity on the need for the education system to produce more creative and adept problem solvers, there is consensus that a robust arts education is the most effective way to do so.
In addition, a robust arts education has proven a critical factor in improving, not only student academic performance, but also student attitudes, behavior and social awareness. In his 2009 study, researcher James Catterall found significant empirical evidence that the arts rich schools can dramatically improve outcomes for inner-city students and those classified as English language learners. For the nation’s second largest school district, one that serves approximately 179,343 English language learners and 524,744 students living in poverty, the need for high-quality arts education has never been clearer.
The Los Angeles Fund for Public Education was inspired to spearhead this initiative to address the creativity crisis existing in Los Angeles public schools. Today, only 2% of all instructional time is devoted to the arts in L.A. elementary schools. The purpose of Arts Matter is to develop a system that integrates arts instruction with traditional core subjects to dramatically increase creative thinking and learning for all students.
All proceeds raised throughout Arts Matter will directly support an innovative R&D fund to support arts integration in L.A. public schools. The objective of this fund is to provide at least $750,000 in seed funding for multi-year arts integration professional development programs in K-12 public schools across the city.
About The Issue
Over the last three years, a statewide funding crisis has forced LAUSD to cut nearly $1.5 billion from its annual operating budget resulting in ongoing cuts to the elementary arts program. At its peak in 2009, 335 elementary arts teachers were employed to ensure that every elementary school received instruction in at least two art forms each year. In four years, the District has gone from running a nationally recognized arts education program, to today struggling to piece together a drastically reduced and inequitable program. In a school district with nearly 80% of its student population living in poverty, in the world’s arts and entertainment capital, the children with the greatest need are being left further behind.
The need for robust arts education, however, has never been clearer. In its landmark 2006 study, the Conference Board surveyed business leaders who overwhelming identified critical thinking and problem solving as the most critical competencies needed in the workforce. In addition to critical thinking, employers further identify creativity as an essential skill for success in today’s workforce. Just as there is unanimity on the need for the education system to produce more creative and adept problem solvers, there is consensus that a robust arts education is the most effective way to do so.
In addition, a robust arts education has proven a critical factor in improving, not only student academic performance, but also student attitudes, behavior and social awareness. In his 2009 study, researcher James Catterall found significant empirical evidence that the arts rich schools can dramatically improve outcomes for inner-city students and those classified as English language learners. For the nation’s second largest school district, one that serves approximately 179,343 English language learners and 524,744 students living in poverty, the need for high-quality arts education has never been clearer.
