The national Young Audiences Arts for Learning network receives a combined $125,000 in the NEA’s latest major funding announcement
NEW YORK, NY — Young Audiences Arts for Learning (Young Audiences) has been approved for a $65,000 grant award from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in support of the Strengthening Teaching Artist Capacity through Trauma-Informed Practice (STAC-TIP) initiative. Additionally, Young Audiences affiliate Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education (CAPE) has been awarded $60,000 in support of its Collaboration Laboratory program. These projects are among the 1,172 selected in the NEA’s second round of Grants for Arts Projects (GAP) for fiscal year 2021, totaling more than $27 million. Additional support was awarded during the NEA’s previous round to affiliates Young Audiences of Maryland (Baltimore, MD), Young Audiences New Jersey & Eastern Pennsylvania (Princeton, NJ), and Young Audiences of Oregon & SW Washington (Portland, OR), for a total of $225,000 awarded across the national Young Audiences network this fiscal year.
Young Audiences’ STAC-TIP project will include an intensive 15-hour training in trauma-informed practice for up to 75 teaching artists from around the country; the artists will develop deeper understanding and responsiveness to students' social emotional needs in order to foster a safer, inclusive classroom. Young Audiences, Inc. will partner with three affiliate sites: Arts for Learning Miami (Miami, FL), Young Audiences of Louisiana (New Orleans, LA), and Young Audiences of Massachusetts (Boston, MA), to provide nine trauma-informed, arts-integrated residencies with students. Teaching artists conducting those residencies will receive over 30 hours of additional training, as well as one-on-one observation and coaching.
“As we navigate a moment in history that will have profound impact on the future of our students, Young Audiences is extremely grateful for the NEA’s continued support of learning in the arts.” said David A. Dik, National Executive Director of Young Audiences. “This professional learning initiative will help equip teaching artists across the country to support the social-emotional health and healing of young people as we move forward.”
CAPE’s Collaboration Laboratory is an arts-integration professional development program for teachers and teaching artists serving Chicago public school students. Through after-school and weekend professional development workshops, educators will study curriculum design, assessment strategies, and multimedia documentation techniques. Throughout the school year, teams of teachers and teaching artists will hone their skills by co-planning and implementing lessons in the classroom.
“As the country and the arts sector begin to imagine returning to a post-pandemic world, the National Endowment for the Arts is proud to announce funding that will help arts organizations reengage fully with partners and audiences,” said NEA Acting Chairman Ann Eilers. “Although the arts have sustained many during the pandemic, the chance to gather with one another and share arts experiences is its own necessity and pleasure.”
For more information on the projects included in the Arts Endowment grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.
About Young Audiences Arts for Learning
Founded in 1952, Young Audiences Arts for Learning’s mission is to inspire young people and expand their learning through the arts. We are the nation’s largest arts in education network, comprising local affiliates across the country that collectively impact over 5 million young people each year. The national Young Audiences Arts for Learning network works collaboratively to advance arts in education through advocacy, communications, fundraising, program development, professional learning, and other support. To learn more about Young Audiences Arts for Learning and explore our national network, please visit: www.youngaudiences.org
