Young Audiences Arts for Learning (YA) is pleased to announce the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) as a primary sponsor of Where Art Lives, the 61st annual National YA Conference. NAMM’s generous gift supports Where Art Lives, a three-day conference that will be held on April 24-26 at the US Grant Hotel in the heart of downtown San Diego. YA is especially thrilled with the sponsorship because both organizations share similar goals. NAMM believes every child has a deep desire to learn music and a recognized right to be taught. YA’s mission is to inspire young people and to expand their learning through the arts.
“Young Audiences is a leading national organization that is advancing resolve and support for music and arts education for all children; we are grateful for their work in many communities and are honored to support their national conference from which many more important ideas will no doubt emerge,” said Mary L. Luehrsen, Executive Director, NAMM Foundation.
“We are very thankful for NAMM’s generous support; there is such a strong synergy between both missions in meeting the needs of our nation’s school children,” comments David A. Dik, Young Audiences Arts for Learning National Executive Director.
The theme of Where Art Lives addresses numerous topics, such as developing STEAM programs and collaborations, building community partnerships, improving grass-roots advocacy, and engaging parents and their organizations. Participants will include Young Audiences and arts education professionals from across the country and every role will be represented from leadership staff and board members to teaching artists and partner teachers.
The conference offers a variety of breakout sessions that address topics relevant to our diverse audience and highlight best practices in the arts-in-education field. Participants have the opportunity to learn about the framework, misconceptions and history of Common Core State Standards; how to best engage Tweens in afterschool programming; how to develop and market STEAM collaborations; and how to best engage government officials through grassroots advocacy and civic leadership.
YA is proud to welcome Alfie Kohn and Cindy Marten as the Where Art Lives keynote speakers. Alfie Kohn is the author of 13 books on education, parenting, and human behavior, including Punished by Rewards (1993), Beyond Discipline (1996), The Schools our Children Deserve (1999), and The Homework Myth (2006). Kohn has written hundreds of articles for academic journals, popular magazines, and newspapers including The New York Times, The Harvard Business Review, and Psychology Today. Time magazine described him as “perhaps the country’s most outspoken critic of education’s fixation on grades [and] test scores.” Cindy Marten is the Superintendent of Public Education in San Diego Unified Schools. For more than 25 years she has focused on student success in the public school system. She began as an elementary school classroom teacher, served as a school-wide literacy specialist and then as an instructional leader and principal.
Young Audiences Arts for Learning would also like to thank Southwest Airlines, the National Endowment for the Arts, the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture, and Jones Soda for their generous support of Where Art Lives.
Learn more about Where Art Lives.
The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) is the not-for-profit association with a mission to strengthen the $17 billion music products industry and promote the pleasures and benefits of making music. NAMM’s activities and programs are designed to promote music making to people of all ages. NAMM is comprised of approximately 9,000 Member companies located in more than 87 countries.
