2015 was an exciting year for Young Audiences! Together, the Young Audiences Network has been involved in bringing the arts to over 5 million students in communities around the country in many different ways, from providing programs that enhance students' 21st century skills through STEAM, to organizing advocacy and arts-based community building events. Check out just a few of 2015's highlights from around the network below!
Community Building
The arts are capable of uniting and bringing communites together through shared artistic and cultural experiences, even in times of hardship. To this end, many of our affiliates are beginning to integrate more programming that aims to build up a sense of community as well as help guide students through important topics such as social justice and civil rights. Read about some of the communities brought together through the arts by Young Audiences affiliates around the country.
Arts for Learning Indiana Helps Near Eastside Indianapolis Look to the Clouds
Fresh Food, Local Artists: Bringing a Community Together
Bridging the Access Gap
According to Learning Less (2012) by the Farkas Duffett Research Group, over 51% of all 3rd-12th grade public schools teachers that were surveyed said that there was less instructional time and were fewer resources allocated to the arts currently than at any point in the 10 years prior. In Arts Education in America (Rabkin, N., & Hedberg, E.C., 2011) it was found that the percentage of African American and Hispanic 18-24 year olds who recieved arts education in their childhood years decreased from 51% and 47% to 28% and 26% respectively. Young Audiences belives that access to the arts in education should be a right of all students and that we should do whatever we can to reverse this negative trend of arts inaccessibility. Read about some of the work our affiliates are doing to help bridge the Access Gap.
Bringing the Arts to San Diego's Most-At-Risk Students: YA of San Diego's Title 1 Initiative
Young Audiences of Houston Strives to Bridge Gap in Arts Access in HISD
A4L Miami Teams Up with Miami-Dade DoCA to Provide Accessible Arts Experiences for Children
Arts in Education Advocacy
Advocacy is an important part of the work of Young Audiences. Young Audiences believes that in order to ensure that all students have access to the arts as a part of basic curriculum, we must engage decision makers at the highest level and let them know that the arts are not “extra”curricular, but are in fact a vital part of a well-rounded and successful education for our children. Catch up on some our advocacy efforts from the past year.
Young Audiences Arts for Learning Hosts Congressional Steam Caucus Briefing in Washington D.C
Arts Advocacy Day: A Great Success, But There is Still Work to be Done
A Look back at Young Audiences Arts for Learning Week 2015
Arts Integration
Arts Integration is a technique for teaching and learning that utilizes arts forms in conjunction with standard subject area curricula in order to facilitate comprehensive and effective learning in both the art form and traditional subject areas. Young Audiences Arts for Learning believes that the demonstrated benefits of implementing arts-integrated curricula make it impossible to ignore it as a viable option for improving education for our children.
Students Shine in New Ways with Arts Integration
5 Reasons Why the Arts Are Vital to Education
Turning Lemons into Lemonade Brooklyn Style: Young Audiences New York Presents County of Kings
21st Century Skills and STEAM
Steam is an acronym which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math, and represents an educational ideology that emphasizes using these five core subjects to build a more complete and enriching learning experience for students, which will translate to future success in school and the workplace. Check out some of our favorite STEAM themed highlights from the past year.
Missouri Students Learn about STEAM through "The Art of Baseball"
21st Century Skills for a Globalized World
