National Endowment for the Arts Announces Arts Education Initiative

Summer Schools in the Arts awards $250,000 to ten sites in initiative's pilot phase

May 12, 2004

		Contact: Victoria Hutter 202-682-5570

The National Endowment for the Arts announces an arts education initiative, Summer Schools in the Arts, designed to enhance the quality and availability of arts education for young people. Ten sites will receive $25,000 each in this pilot phase of the initiative to support summer learning programs in the arts. Upon completion, these programs will be evaluated for their impact on participating students and their potential as models for rigorous, standards-based arts education.

Each Summer School in the Arts site will measure students' gains in artistic knowledge based on national and state standards. Enhanced study habits and a life-long interest in the arts are additional goals. The Arts Endowment will use the results of the pilot sites' efforts to inform its expansion of the initiative in 2005 and the documentation of effective practices.

A young music student at the Sitka Fine Arts Camp, a program of Alaska Arts Southeast in Sitka, Alaska. The Sitka Fine Arts Camp is one of the programs being funded by Summer Schools in the Arts. Photo by Reber Stein.

Arts Endowment Chairman Dana Gioia said, "Critical to the mission of the National Endowment for the Arts is leadership in arts education. Every child deserves the chance to engage the arts through quality instruction. This initiative represents a significant step forward in developing model programs that communities across the country will be able to select from and implement."

Summer schools in the arts offer several advantages to students. The programs are free of the demands of the regular school day, offer opportunities for students to immerse themselves in an arts discipline, and increase the availability of one-on-one or small group instruction.

The ten Summer Schools in the Arts sites in this pilot phase represent a range of artistic disciplines, regions of the country, and age and ethnicity of students. Programs run from three to six weeks and offer sequential instruction culminating in a performance, exhibition or other demonstration of students' work.

For example, Urban Gateways: Center for Arts Education in Chicago will conduct Art Options, a five-week apprenticeship program in which 20 students will work closely with artists in printmaking and mosaic construction. At Youtheatre, a theater and opera program of the Fulton Opera House Foundation in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, students who face economic and, in some cases, physical challenges will create and perform a theater work with relevance to their lives. And in Boise, Idaho, the Log Cabin Literary Center will manage the Writing Camp at the Fort Hall Shoshone-Bannock Reservation in which students interact with tribal elders and explore natural sites to develop their creative writing skills. Project descriptions for each of the sites are attached.

In the summer of 2005, the initiative will include up to 50 summer schools. Those interested in applying for the 2005 Summer Schools in the Arts initiative should visit the NEA web site at http://www.nea.gov/grants/apply/SummerSchools.html for application information. A statement of interest is due June 7, 2004.

For more information on the Summer Schools in the Arts program or the National Endowment for the Arts, contact the NEA's Office of Communication at 202-682-5570

2004 Summer Schools in the Arts Project Descriptions

Alaska Arts Southeast, Inc.
Sitka, AK
The Sitka Fine Arts Camp will serve children and youth from rural areas for standards-based instruction in the visual arts, theater, writing, media technology, and Alaskan Native art. Approximately 150 youths, in grades seven through 12, will participate either as day campers or in residence at the Sheldon Jackson College campus. Nightly events, as well as the culminating performances, will provide opportunities for students to share their skills with the faculty and public. Among the organizations allied with the camp are the Sitka Summer Music Festival, University of Alaska Southeast, Southeast Alaska Indian Cultural Center, and the Sitka School District.

Arizona Theatre Company
Tucson, AZ
Summer on Stage is a five-week program that will provide an opportunity for students, ages 14 to 18, to work with theater professionals to learn all aspects of the theater and produce a series of performances. In partnership with the University of Arizona Theatre Department and Childsplay, approximately 40 youths will learn the standards-based fundamentals of character development, movement, stage combat, costuming, and acting techniques. Participants will follow a sequential curriculum of creating, performing, and responding in theater and develop individual learning plans. Public performances of student productions will be staged at the historic Temple of Music and Art. Many of the participants are from economically disadvantaged households.

ASCAP Foundation
New York, NY
Summer Music Camp is a four-week musical training and performance experience for public school students from New York City's five boroughs. The project will provide free classical music training with an emphasis on increased performance skills. Developed four years ago by the Manhattan School of Music, the program's selection process is by auditions and interviews. Students will have performance opportunities with the camp's orchestra, concert band, and other ensembles. Approximately 80 students, in grades five through eight, who have limited arts education sessions during the regular school year, will participate. Throughout the summer program, students will perform in concert and/or recital for an invited audience.

Asheville Art Museum Association, Inc.
Asheville, NC
Summer Art Camp is a program that will provide students in kindergarten through twelfth grade with a strong foundation in the visual arts and knowledge of museum operations through sequential, standards-based instruction led by professional artists and educators. For students in grades seven through 12, the project features an extended summer camp for study in drawing, large-scale drawing composition, and historic and alternative photography. As many as 350 students will participate in single- or multiple-week sessions, and 15 to 20 participants enrolled in multiple sessions will be interviewed and their learning assessed as part of the camp's evaluation. In the fall, at least one art work by each participant will be exhibited in a local gallery.

Columbia Center for Theatrical Arts
Columbia, MD
Teen Professional Theatre is a program for youth ages 13 to 21 that provides summer workshops, mentorships, and a final performance of a Broadway musical. Program partners will include the Howard County Community College and Reservoir High School. Each session will begin with an open audition call. Students will be encouraged to develop their individual theatrical skills through one-on-one and ensemble rehearsals with guest artists, many of whom have played the same roles on Broadway or on regional and national tours. Three-week sessions will take place once during the summer and again during the school year and are based on state arts standards. The project will serve approximately 32 students, several of whom receive scholarships.

Friends of NORD (aka NORD/NOBA Center for Dance)
New Orleans, LA
This project provides tuition-free ballet workshops and summer dance camps for approximately 600 inner-city youths, ages six to 18. The project is a community partnership between the New Orleans Recreation Department (NORD) and the New Orleans Ballet Association (NOBA). Approximately 500 free classes will be offered during the summer, including a seven-week advanced-level dance camp and five summer camps for beginning and intermediate levels. In addition to increased capabilities in ballet, tap, and modern dance techniques, participants also will develop collaborative, teamwork, and critical-thinking skills. Students will be evaluated throughout the program to document the progress of their proficiency in dance.

Fulton Opera House Foundation
Lancaster, PA
Youtheatre is a four-week summer theater and opera program for ethnically diverse, underserved, and disabled youth in rural Pennsylvania. Participants will create and perform an original theater work that has relevance to their life experiences. Artists, including a playwright-in-residence, and educators will teach students scriptwriting and acting, and opera skills such as costuming, vocal technique, and stagecraft. In addition to enhancing their knowledge of their arts, these activities are expected to help youth express their ideas and emotions, expand their and their audience's awareness of diversity and improve their social interaction skills. As many as 40 students will meet for six hours each day during the four weeks. Public performances will be held at the conclusion of the program.

Log Cabin Literary Center, Inc.
Boise, ID
To support a Writing Camp at the Fort Hall Shoshone-Bannock Reservation in eastern Idaho. Students will explore natural sites, meet with tribal elders and other people critical to their understanding of local history and tribal culture, and then draw from these experiences to develop their talents in creative writing. Through partnerships with the Fort Hall Recreation Program and the Shoshone-Bannock School District, professional writers and educators will develop a program that will emphasize the link between reading and writing. As many as 75 students, in grades four to 12, will participate in the five-week summer writing camp, culminating with public readings and a published anthology in which students will present fiction, poems, reviews, and commentary. Writers will be recruited by local schools, the Idaho Commission on the Arts, Idaho State University, and the Museum of Idaho at Idaho Falls.

Urban Gateways: Center for Arts Education
Chicago, IL
Art Options is a five-week summer arts apprenticeship and peer mentoring program in Elgin, Illinois, in partnership with Elgin Public Schools and the Elgin Symphony. Approximately 20 students, ages 11 to 14, will work closely with artists to develop their skills in printmaking and mosaic construction, basic design principles, color theory, and drawing. Based on state arts standards, participants will learn to place their ideas in aesthetic contexts; transfer sketches to print and mosaic designs; critique their own and others' works; and collaborate to design, mount, and staff an exhibition of their art.

Young Audiences of Indiana, Inc.
Indianapolis, IN
Summer Arts for Youth (SAY) is a multidisciplinary arts program for approximately 40 economically disadvantaged youths, ages six to 11. Teams of artists will work with children at three local sites: Flanner House, East Tenth United Methodist Children & Youth Center, and the Hispanic Education Center. For three weeks at each site, artists will use themes from a children's book to discuss basic elements of dance, music, theater, and visual art. Children will select an art form to study, and through a series of workshops will create, perform, and respond to the arts. Based on state arts standards, the program will conclude with student performances at each of the three sites. Two artist residencies at each of the three elementary schools that the participating students attend will extend the arts learning experience into the 2004-05 school year.

TOTAL NUMBER OF GRANTS: 10
TOTAL NUMBER OF DOLLARS $250,000

National Endowment for the Arts
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