May is Arts Education Month in Washington state. Together with ArtsEd Washington, we invite you to join the statewide campaign celebrating and promoting arts education. Read Mayor Mike McGinn’s proclamation in support of Arts Education Month. And check out ArtsEd Washington’s suggestions on how you can get involved and their Arts Education Month toolkit to learn more about the issues.

Through our Arts Education Partnership with Seattle Public Schools, we are working to give students in all schools an arts education that prepares them for success in school and in life. In March, we hosted a series of five community meetings in partnership with the school district with the goal of creating a comprehensive, multi-year, district-wide K-12 Arts Plan. More than 250 people attended and gave input on the Arts Plan. The school district will compile the results in a report to be released later this month. We will partner with the district to host follow-up meetings in the fall and continue to provide updates on the status of the Arts Plan. Stay tuned.

We’re also partnering with the Washington State Arts Commission (WSAC) on their Roster of Teaching Artists. The roster identifies and promotes experienced teaching artists in all disciplines who are qualified to work in K-12 public schools in Washington state. The roster is open to artists residing in Washington state, or who reside in Oregon or Idaho but live within 60 miles of a Washington-state public school.

Applications for the roster are now open with a deadline of June 11. Applicants will be notified of their application status by September. Download the roster application guidelines and forms. For more information, contact Lisa Jaret, WSAC Arts in Education program manager, (360) 586-2418. 

Check out WSAC’s current roster. We will link to the updated roster, once available, on our website.

And finally, at the 2012 Arts Education Forum in February, hosted by the Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, the Seattle Arts Commission and the school district, community members spoke about what arts education means to them. Watch this video to hear what they had to say.

Please take 10 minutes to complete this 25 question survey.  The last day to complete the survey is Monday, April 30.

The information will inform the development of tools and resources to help organizations like yours.

Read about the Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs’ Arts Education Partnership with Seattle Public Schools here.

Families, students, teachers, artists, arts administrators and supporters of an equitable and well-rounded education for all are encouraged to attend. Join in the discussion about arts education, creative learning and student success. Provide input and help create the arts plan.

The first meeting is 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 13 at Ballard High School, 1418 N.W. 65th St.  For the complete schedule, go here.

Children are welcome. Free supervised arts activities and snacks for school-aged children will be provided at the first four meetings. Space is limited; RSVP is required.

 RSVP for a community meeting here: arts-ed.eventbright.com

We are also seeking people to help facilitate discussions and take notes at the first four meetings. If interested, please contact Irene Gomez, (206) 684-7310, by March 15.

Check out our March eNews, with information about upcoming arts education community meetings, funded CityArtists, opportunties to join our team, a new exhibition documenting family homelessness,  and more.

Check it out here.

Applications are due to ArtsEd Washington by March 30. Go here for more information, including eligibility and application requirements and a link to the nomination form.

For more information, contact info@artsedwashington.org or (206) 441-4501.

Families, students, teachers, artists, arts administrators and supporters of an equitable and well-rounded education for all are encouraged to attend. Join in the discussion about arts education, creative learning and student success. Provide input and help create the arts plan for Seattle Public Schools.

Translators for Spanish, Somali, Chinese, Vietnamese and Tagalog will be at two meetings. See the schedule for details. 

The work is made possible by a grant that Seattle Public Schools received from national philanthropy The Wallace Foundation. The creation of the arts plan builds on the multi-year Arts Education Partnership between the Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs and Seattle Public Schools.

Go here here for more information on the partnership. Sign up for updates here.

The forum was presented by the Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, Seattle Arts Commission and Seattle Public Schools with support from Seattle University College of Arts & Sciences.  

Our director Vincent Kitch also talked about arts education on Q13 Fox’s “Arts Around” segment. Hear about the upcoming public meetings (beginning in March) to engage the community in the creation of the arts plan. Watch that video here.

1. Take this short survey to help Seattle Public Schools prioritize how to implement the arts plan. 
2. Join Mayor Mike McGinn, Seattle Public Schools Interim Superintendent Susan Enfield and youth at the 2012 Arts Education Forum, 6:30 to 8 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 16, at Seattle University’s Pigott Auditorium. 
3. Attend one of five arts education public engagement meetings that will be held throughout the city.  Stay tuned for details. You can sign up to receive information from Seattle Public Schools about these meetings in the survey.

The school district recently received a grant from The Wallace Foundation to engage the community in developing a comprehensive K-12 arts plan to provide greater arts education access citywide. The grant runs through January 2013.

Read about the Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs’ Arts Education Partnership with Seattle Public Schools here.

Northwest Girlchoir. Photo by Sara Gray.

Make sure it’s on your calendar! Join Mayor Mike McGinn, Seattle Public Schools Interim Superintendent Susan Enfield and youth for a lively panel discussion and community forum about arts education, creative learning and student success. The 2012 Arts Education Forum is 6:30 to 8 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 16, at Seattle University’s Pigott Auditorium. The forum is presented by the Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, Seattle Arts Commission and Seattle Public Schools with support from Seattle University College of Arts & Sciences.

Bring your questions for our panel of students and policymakers and hear how our office and Seattle Public Schools are partnering to help ensure arts learning can be a part of a complete education for all students. Learn about a coordinated effort to create a comprehensive K-12 visual and performing arts plan for Seattle Public Schools. The district recently received a grant from The Wallace Foundation to engage the community in developing a plan to provide greater arts education access citywide.

Youth participants include panel moderator Henry Luke, a 2011 graduate of Nova High School and the Seattle coordinator for Youth Speaks, a nonprofit spoken word and youth development program; Maddie Thomas, a junior at Ballard High School, member of Seattle Art Museum’s Teen Advisory Board and a fashion blogger; Vivi Perez, a 2010 graduate of Ballard High School and JustServe AmeriCorps Anti-Violence Corps team leader.

Children are welcome at the forum. Free supervised arts activities and snacks will be provided for school-aged children. To sign up, call (206) 684-7372 by Friday, Feb. 10.

Sign up to receive e-mail updates about the city and school district’s partnership and learn about opportunities to get involved.