Welcome to Arts Education

 

Edutopia "New Studies Link the Arts to Crucial Cognitive Skills" 
Video by George Lucas Educational Foundation

 

Overview of Arts Education

The Arts – Dance, Music, Theatre, Visual, and Media Arts – are essential components of a complete and well-rounded education. Through the Arts, we share and celebrate humanity’s highest achievements and develop enduring historical and cultural understandings of ourselves and the world around us. A balanced, comprehensive, and sequential program of study in the Arts allows Arizona’s students to learn and practice 21st-Century skills and behaviors that foster critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creative problem solving. The Arts seamlessly integrate with other disciplines and subject areas to create engaging and rigorous learning opportunities for all students. Instruction in the Arts builds discipline, enhances self-esteem, inspires creativity, fosters linguistic, numeric, and aesthetic literacy, and encourages students to make and reach personal and academic goals. Preparing students with the skills to thrive in the 21st century and to pursue a future in the creative industries, if they choose, is the goal of a high-quality arts education. As of 2016, Arizona employs 91,878 people in arts related jobs. Explore the diverse career possibilities of an arts education!

Arts programs are not just nice to have, they are an essential part of a well-rounded education system. Arts education fosters critical thinking skills, improves overall academic performance, and sparks creativity. In short – we need the arts to ensure students realize their full potential.     - Superintendent Kathy Hoffman

  

The mission of the Arizona Department of Education Arts Education is to provide support to Arts educators, classroom teachers, school and district administrators, and Arts stakeholders – including Arts and education organizations, community groups, and service organizations – so that every student has the opportunity to experience the power and beauty of the Arts, and the joy, creativity, and intellectual stimulation that instruction in the Arts provides.

The Arts Education Specialist will serve the internal and external customers of ADE by championing Arts Education for the State. They will work closely with arts agencies and schools to create a unified revitalization of values and goals for arts education providing content expertise while continuously creating arts opportunities for our students, teachers, teaching artists, administrators, and policy makers. It is through these actions that the artistic literacy of our state will flourish. Specific responsibilities include but are not limited to:

  • Serving as primary Arts Education Advocate for ADE
  • Providing professional development in Arizona’s Academic Arts Standards, Arts assessment, and Arts integration
  • Promoting quality Arts education programs in all of Arizona’s schools
  • Providing a variety of high-quality tools and resources for LEAs interested in learning how to create balanced, comprehensive, and sequential Arts learning programs for their students
  • Serving as a liaison to the state’s Arts educator

 

From the Arts Education Blog

Title IV-A Podcast Season 2 Debut! The One About Arizona Arts Education Thu, Sep 16 2021 Spotlight

Join Dustin Loehr, Director of Arts Education and Title IV-A, as he sits down with two mavericks of Arizona Arts Education, Zarco Guerrero and Catherine "Rusty" Foley. They chat about their roles influencing the Arts Education landscape in Arizona and their personal experiences that brought them to the field. This is one you don't want to miss!
National Arts in Education Week - Friday Thu, Sep 9 2021 State of the Arts

HAPPY NATIONAL ARTS IN EDUCATION WEEK 2021

Dear Arts Education Community,

National Arts in Education Week is a national celebration recognizing the transformative power of the arts in education. Here in Arizona we know that the Arts – Dance, Music, Theatre, Visual, and Media Arts – are essential components of a complete and well-rounded education. Through the Arts, we share and celebrate humanity’s highest achievements and develop enduring historical and cultural understandings of ourselves and the world around us. A balanced, comprehensive, and sequential program of study in the Arts allows Arizona’s students to learn and practice skills and behaviors that foster critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creative problem solving. The Arts seamlessly integrate with other disciplines and subject areas to create engaging and rigorous learning opportunities for all students. Instruction in the Arts builds discipline, enhances self-esteem, inspires creativity, fosters linguistic, numeric, and aesthetic literacy, and encourages students to make and reach personal and academic goals.

In this newsletter we will explore the history of National Arts in Education Week, hear from Superintendent Kathy Hoffman about why arts are essential, and explore recent studies about the benefits of arts education. We will also hear from students, teachers, parents and community members about how arts education has impacted the lives of Arizona students. As we wrap up from an exciting week that celebrates the power and beauty of arts in education, we look forwards to a bright future for Arizona as shaped by arts education.

ADE Arts Education