A Note from Tooshar: Congratulating Our Partners in Advancing Arts Education

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We congratulate our partners on their continued excellence in advancing arts education this year!

 

  • National YoungArts Week was held from January 8-15, 2023. Top YoungArts competition winners convened in Miami to collaborate with peers across 10 disciplines and develop their craft with internationally recognized leaders in their field.  

  • The National Arts Education Association (NAEA) held its 2023 National Convention in March. More than 4,600 visual arts, design, and media arts education professionals joined the convention in person in San Antonio, Texas, as well as virtually. Our President and CEO, Nolen V. Bivens, attended an arts education townhall with NAEA Executive Director, Mario Rossero, and others. 

  • The National Association for Music Education held its 2023 Hill Day and National Assembly. Nolen joined a panel with NAfME Executive Director, Christopher Woodside, and Mary Luehrsen, Director of Public Policy at the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM). 

  • The Educational Theatre Association held its Advocacy Fly-In on July 18 and 19. I was honored to join their advocacy training session where we discussed the importance of well-rounded funding, NEA funding, and data collection for arts education at the U.S. Department of Education. 

  • I was also honored to speak on the Arts Are Education Podcast earlier this year focusing on the importance on the National Arts Standards. 

  • The National Endowment for the Arts has awarded a $50,000 grant to the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA) to support “Creating A Community for All Learners- Reimagining Standards-based Arts Education for Equity & Inclusion." Creating A Community for All Learners, a joint initiative of EdTA and other members of the National Coalition for Arts Standards (NCAS), including Americans for the Arts, will convene diverse education stakeholders from under-represented populations and experts on culturally responsive teaching practice in arts education. 

  • I attended the National Federation of State High School Associations’ (NFHS) and the National Association of Music Merchants’ (NAMM) first Performing Arts Education and Creative Industry Meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana. More than 50 leaders from 21 states and a combined 40 state and national organizations convened January 25-26 at the Conrad Hotel.

  • Congratulations to the National Association for Music Merchants on a successful in-person NAMM Show this past April. 

  • Congratulations to the Arts Education Partnership which will be hosting its annual convening in Portland, OR on September 13 and 14.