Teach Creativity/Creative Disconnect

Get Trained, Start Lobbying to Save Your Local Art Ed Programs

2010-02-26T21:57:00.000-08:00

Standing Up for Arts Ed A free webinar to jump start advocacy efforts in your school district!

Tuesday, March 2nd, 4:00-4:45pm. With local school districts across the state making difficult funding decisions and teachers' jobs on the line, the California Alliance for Arts Education will host an online event to empower teachers, parents, and community members to act quickly to protect arts education funding in their school district. The 45-minute webinar, Standing Up for Arts Ed will help local communities develop an action plan, focusing on three key elements: building a coalition, getting the facts, and finding the right leverage points for effective advocacy. Click here to register Questions? Email: sibyl@artsed411.org Copyright. California Alliance for Arts Education.

The Duet of Brain and Music

2010-01-25T19:58:00.000-08:00

Here's another great research piece by Tom Jacobs on the connection between thinking and music. I want you to read this, so I've posted the entire article. If you're interested in all the varied research done by this organization, check out their site.

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By: Tom Jacobs | January 22, 2010 | 07:45 AM (PST) | Comments

How does the jazz musician improvise such beautiful sounds? Why do teenagers comform? Two new studies of music and the brain give us insights and answers.stockxpert.com

Two new studies of music and the brain give us insights into the mind of the improvising musician, and the conformist leanings of teenagers.

It's always fascinating to ask a jazz musician about the experience of improvising. During their spontaneous solos, these remarkable players are producing notes faster than their conscious minds can think of them, and many report their primary effort consists of staying out of their own way.

New brain-scan research, reported in the new issue of the journal NeuroImage, finds a scientific explanation for that quasi-mystical phenomenon.

Meanwhile, a separate study in that same journal examines the brains of teenagers as they listen to music and finds evidence of the strong pull adolescents feel to conform to the preferences of their peers.

For the improvisation study, researchers Aaron Berkowitz and Daniel Ansari studied the brains of 28 people as they improvised five-note melodies on a tiny keyboard. Thirteen were classically trained undergraduate pianists from the Dartmouth College music department. The other 15 were nonmusicians (though some had played instruments for up to three years in the past).

"The two groups showed significant differences in functional brain activity during improvisation," the researchers report. "Specifically, musicians deactivated the right temporoparietal junction during melodic improvisation, while nonmusicians showed no change in activity in this region."

This suggests trained musicians "are entering a different state of attentional focus than nonmusicians as soon as they engage in even the simple act of playing, and that this effect is particularly heightened during melodic improvisation," Berkowitz and Ansari write.

In other words, they effectively blocked out mental distractions, "allowing for a more goal-directed performance state that aids in creative thought."

That ability to intensely focus has a variety of obvious benefits. Indeed, this study could be used as further evidence of the value of maintaining music education in the schools.

Speaking of students, the second study used similar fMRI technology to study the conformist tendencies of adolescents. A research team led by Gregory Berns of the Emory University School of Medicine scanned the brains of 27 youngsters ranging in age from 12 to 17 as they listened to 15-second clips from relatively obscure contemporary pop songs.

During the first round, the adolescents were asked to rate each of the 60 songs on a five-point scale. In the second round, the musical excerpts were replayed, with one crucial difference: Two-thirds of the time, the song's MySpace popularity ranking was flashed onto the computer screen as the music played. Having received this information, participants were asked to rate the song a second time.

"Without popularity information displayed, participants changed their ratings on 11.6 percent of the trials," the researchers report. "With popularity shown, they changed their ratings 21.9 percent of the time."

Why would knowing other people's opinions influence their own? "fMRI results showed a strong correlation between the participants' rating and activity in the caudate nucleus, a region [of the brain] previously implicated in reward-driven actions," according to the paper. "The tendency to change one's evaluation of a song was positively correlated with activation in the anterior insula and anterior cingulate, two regions that are associated with psychological arousal and negative affective states."

The researchers' conclusion: "Our results suggest that a principal mechanism whereby popularity ratings affect consumer choice is through the anxiety generated by the mismatch between one's own preferences and the others'. This mismatch anxiety motivates people to switch their choices in the direction of the consensus."

So, if you're told your peers all like a certain band, but its music doesn't really speak to you, this creates anxiety — which can, and sometimes is, alleviated by deciding you like the group after all. Of course, we eventually outgrow this need to fit in and boldly follow our own paths. Don't we?

New Study Reveals No Child Left Behind Leaves Behind the Arts

2010-01-24T21:05:00.000-08:00

I'm posting this article by Miller-McCune Research in half it's original form. It actually highlights two different studies on two separate topics. We'll start with the obvious -- just about any teacher or principal in the US has already experienced the devaluation of the arts that the researcher confirms. As my daughter's 4th grade teacher so eloquently stated: "I don't teach what isn't tested."

Arts Education Promotes Emotional Intelligence

By: Tom Jacobs Print

Arts education, which tends to be something of an afterthought in many American school districts, is facing an even tougher time than usual. Twin threats — budget cuts necessitated by dwindling tax revenues and the push to focus on math and reading skills as measured on standardized tests — have left music and art classes in a particularly vulnerable state. In December, for example, the Los Angeles Unified School District proposed eliminating its 350 elementary school arts specialists over the next two years.

What is being lost — and what, if anything, can be done about this trend — is addressed in two scholarly papers published in the new issue of the Arts Education Policy Review. One notes students whose education is dominated by rote learning will not be prepared for "the jobs of tomorrow," while the other explores the value of the arts in helping kids understand their emotions.

In "No Child Left Behind and Fine Arts Classes," Tina Beveridge of Lower Columbia College in Longview, Wash., details the obvious and subtle ways a test-centric approach to education devalues arts instruction. (Obvious: School districts being judged on student test scores have little incentive to fund such programs. Subtle: The courses that remain are often classified as "fun," which conveys the unintentional message "the arts do not require skill, knowledge, commitment or work.")

Beveridge finds considerable irony in the fact that the original stated goal of the 2001 federal No Child Left Behind Act, which mandated standardized testing, "was to close the achievement gap in education." She argues that by narrowing the focus of education to a few testable topics, it ends up doing just the opposite.

"If we marginalize all non-tested subjects, we create a system in which only the affluent members of our society have access to the most comprehensive and well-rounded educations, which widens the achievement gap rather than closes it," she writes.

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To read the second research findings regarding emotional intelligence as taught through the arts continue the article:

http://miller-mccune.com/news/arts-education-promotes-emotional-intelligence-1720.print

Art classes and summer art camps for kids

2010-01-22T19:55:00.000-08:00

It may be chilly January, but it's not too soon to think about summer art camp for your kids. Here's a national chain of art providers that might be located in your community. Their programs look very creative and fun. If you're an LA reader, they have locations in the area. Check out Abrakadoodle here:

https://mail.google.com/mail/?shva=1#inbox/12647afa3fa29b97

One Million License Plates for the Arts

2010-01-16T18:27:00.000-08:00

Aside from the current CA budget crisis, historically California's per capita state investment in the arts is the LOWEST in the nation. I just cannot reconcile that lack of investment considering what a powerhouse of talent the state attracts and grows. Creativity is a powerful economic engine, but then you've heard me say that over and over.

Here's one way you can help correct this ridiculous situation -- purchase an Arts License Plate for one or more vehicles. The State Franchise Tax Board has now officially declared these plates to be tax-deductible! In turn, 60% of each sale funds the California Arts Council. That's where the majority of arts funding comes from -- the sale of license plates designed by Wayne Thiebaud (who my brother-in-law had as a teacher at UC Davis!). We could turn around this dismal situation of arts-funding by putting a million license plates on the road.

That's the campaign launched by the California Arts Council. One million new arts license plates on California vehicles will bring an additional $40 million for the Arts Council's work. That action would turn around the dire lack of funding to make CA one of the best-funded arts environments of any state.

Check out the website and order an ART LVR license plate today!

http://www.cac.ca.gov/licenseplate/index.php

Open Letter To LAUSD Board Members: Save the Arts Program

2010-01-09T18:44:00.000-08:00

Please join the letter writing campaign sponsored by Arts For LA. Here's the link:
http://www.artsforla.org/lausd_sendletter

Dear LAUSD Board Members,

I’m writing to thank you for your support of arts education and to encourage you to reconsider the proposal to eliminate 50% of LAUSD’s elementary arts instructional program for the 2010/11 budget year.

I taught at Sendak Elementary last year in North Hollywood through a Community Arts Partner organization. Sadly, my art position was eliminated at spring break. I'm a fully credentialed art specialist, having taught in Washington, northern California, and Texas. It's absolutely shocking to me that this district would consider not fully funding the arts training students need for success in the 21st century.

An elementary art teacher helps provide a balanced education for every child in a school -- the effect more profound than one period a week would suggest. I know, for I've taught thousands in other states. Shouldn't the students attending LAUSD schools have the same chance at a good job in the creative economy? How is it that foreign talent has to be imported because our children haven't been trained for these jobs? It's inconceivable that schools in India or Russia provide better training.

While I know you're under an enormous amount of pressure to eliminate art teachers to help close the deficit, I also know that a lot of our education funding is going to be directed toward more test preparation. The first response should not be to throw out the arts as expendable. That's been the same old response for the last twenty-five years. It might surprise you to know that in Texas -- which invented the testing as proof of teacher /student accountability -- the arts were never eliminated. They were fully funded! Students need a balance and relief from the relentless drill and practice routine of their school day.

The way full-time art, music, PE, and some computer teachers were kept at every school was to tie them to teacher planning time. This model is very effective. All teachers of a grade level are thus given a common planning time. This actually enhances teacher and student performance. It saved the fine arts program. I worked in very competitive and outstanding programs located in tough neighborhoods. Those kids received terrific, comprehensive arts instruction. There was no difference between the education received at a school serving the most needy children or the wealthier schools. The resources were provided.

As a stakeholder and arts provider living in your district, I know firsthand the importance of quality, sequential arts education for all students. Not only does arts education provide the critical skills needed for young minds to become engaged citizens, here in LA it prepares them to succeed in a 21st century workforce created by our regional creative economy.

The creative sector is one of the driving forces of the Los Angeles and Orange County economies, generating nearly 1 million direct and indirect jobs and $140 billion in sales and receipts. In fact, one in six jobs is related directly to the creative economy.

I understand California’s economic crisis has put enormous pressure on the District to fill a $500+ million budget deficit. However, the human cost associated with eliminating elementary arts teachers far outweighs the temporary monetary gain.

LAUSD’s historic ten-year commitment to rebuilding its arts education infrastructure is a success. However, the work is far from complete. Eliminating the instructional foundation from the classroom will only harm students and further push back the District’s goal of providing a complete education for all LAUSD students, regardless of their socio-economic status.

My concern is one of unequity -- children whose parents can fundraise large amounts for their individual school will receive arts training. The parents will pay for it. But what of the schools where that doesn't happen? Those children lose out. We then witness a further erosion of equality and equal access to a balanced education across the district. LAUSD will become a have/have not art education organization.

Your ability to sustain this highly successful program is being put to the test. That is why I am taking this moment to voice my support for this important program and to urge you to maintain the integrity of the arts education program.

Thank you for your continued commitment to ensuring that every LAUSD student has equal access to the tools they need to succeed in work, in our society and in life.

Yours truly,

Tracy Cheney

Help Save ARTS EDUCATION in Los Angeles!

2010-01-09T15:57:00.000-08:00

Got two minutes? Dash off a letter to a LAUSD board member. If the link below doesn't work, copy and paste it into your browser. There's an advocacy meeting coming up January 14.

LAUSD is the second largest school district in the country. It took ten years to build an art program in the district, and it's about to be gutted in the blink of an eye. The arts partners were cut last year. I got two weeks' notice and was gone by spring break before the year was over. Some weren't so lucky and got the ax that Christmas.

This year the plan is to cut half the elementary art teachers, and by the next year the rest will be eliminated.

And that's in the most creative city in the country! Don't you think other districts will follow suit? How are your children supposed to be educated to get a job in this creative economy?

The goal is to generate 700 letters to the LAUSD School Board in the next 30 days. The district had been leading the way to reinstating arts education. Can we afford to see this gutted at the dawn of a new decade when we see China rising and poised to overtake the US through its support of its own innovative and entreprenuerial enterprises? Educating creative thinkers is the key to USA prosperity in the 21st century.

Please add your voice to the campaign immediately!

This is an urgent advocacy notice from Arts For LA, who's hit the ground running on this issue:
http://www.artsforla.org/node/734/845#comment-845

Here's the link to the to the LAUSD school board members:
http://www.artsforla.org/lausd_sendletter

More LAUSD Elementary Art Teachers Cut

2010-01-05T21:41:00.000-08:00

I read with dismay this blog entry posted on Arts for LA website. Now the poor Los Angeles School District is facing an additional awful budget crunch this next school year. Out of the remaining 345 elementary art teachers, 173 will be cut. That's 50%! I thought it was dire last year when I left at spring break, but I think this is the end of the arts program that took a decade to build in the district.

Make sure to read the blog post directly below the one I've linked to. The writer is a dance teacher who figured out that it only costs $20.00 per pupil to have her at an elementary school. Quite a contrast to the $200.00 per pupil it costs to have her at a high school! I've always said a district gets more bang for its art dollar by keeping an elementary art teacher who reaches every child in the school, rather than the few who take an art elective in high school. It's surprising how much impact the one elementary art teacher can have in one period a week.

Maybe it needs repeating...kids love art!

http://www.artsforla.org/node/681/774#comment-774

New Year's Resolution for Creativity

2010-01-03T19:27:00.000-08:00

As my busy schedule careened through December, I did not have a chance to write on any of my three blogs for over a month. I couldn't show favoritism and write one and not the others. Too many interests to pursue. I wish I had a single purpose, but like many creative-types, I have fingers in too many pies. My goal is to get back to writing about art, art-making, and the importance of teaching creativity to kids on this blog.

We did make one really great decision in December, which was actually prompted by the need to slow down and catch our breath. We enjoyed a stay-cation in Los Angeles. With everything this city has to offer, including lovely winter weather, it seemed crazy to fight the crowds to fly somewhere else. It was very nourishing to replenish my own creative juices in writing and art, and to plan for student art lessons for the next trimester. It does take a lot to juggle seven grade levels!

I felt the need to connect with some of the creative engine that fuels Los Angeles. The 30 year retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art, a tour of innovative Disney Hall, and the grandeur of the Rose Parade floats sure helped! So did a trip to the snow, the desert, and researching historical sites for a tv show I'm pitching. No wonder we love Los Angeles. The individual threads woven by creative people into a tapestry of art experiences, coupled with the natural beauty is a magical elixir.

Pope tells artists beauty can be a path to God

2009-11-21T14:51:00.000-08:00

Some 250 artists attended a meeting in the Sistine Chapel aimed at renewing friendship. If the link won't take you to the article directly, copy and paste it into your browser.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34 080412/ns/world_news-world_faith

October is National Arts and Humanities Month

2009-10-09T23:16:00.000-07:00

Every October there is an annual celebration of the arts and humanities across the nation. This year is extra special, for President Obama has recognized the importance of the arts through an official Presidental proclamation issued by the White House in support of National Arts and Humanities Month. Obama is the first president to make such a statement. He acknowledges that our cultural assets make a significant economic contribution to US society.

Check out the president's remarks. Also check out the national website listing events across the country.

Visual Literacy Begins in Infancy

2009-10-02T23:05:00.000-07:00

Teaching art full-time does require a lot of preparation and energy -- hence my silence for the past few weeks. But it's not like I don't think about art daily! However, I haven't been so diligent about writing on my favorite topic, art and kids.

I came across this YouTube excerpt about babies and their love of black and white graphics.
When our daughter was teeny, I inked black and white drawings to put at her eye level in the crib. I had read the very recent research at that time about babies' love of these patterns, but there wasn't anything on the market then. Now it's common knowledge. The drawings in this collection are very charming. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJuGkivlqSs

Arts in Crisis Symposium

2009-09-12T21:24:00.000-07:00

Last June there was the excellent LA Arts Town Hall Meeting that brought together artists, art educators, and the foundations who fund the arts in the region and state. The people on the panels and keynote speakers were great, even if the topic under discussion was extremely sober.

Now another opportunity for the arts community to come together has been announced. Arts in Crisis: A Kennedy Center Initiative 50 State Tour will make its southern CA stop at the African American Museum on October 8 from 9:00 - 10:30 a.m. Registration must be received by October 6. Follow this link to register. www.artsforla.org/news/artsincrisis.

One aspect this event will address is the emergency fundraising challenges art non-profits are facing.

Co-sponsors for this event include: Native Voices at the Autry National Center, East West Players, California African American Museum, KUSC, Lula Washington Dance Theatre, LA Stage Alliance, California Arts Advocates, Emerging Arts Leaders/LA and Santa Cecilia Orchestra.

The First Day of School

2009-09-04T23:28:00.000-07:00

Amid the happy excited voices and hugs for old friends, kids return to some schools this week without any sort of art program. It's tough times for Los Angeles public schools. Although teachers are under even more pressure, it's still possible to create a classroom atmosphere conducive to creative thought and expression.

The atmosphere needed to promote creative growth is not the same as that required to memorizing math facts or spelling words. To learn math or spelling, the child has to concentrate and get past any feelings of dislike. He's dependent on the teacher for direction, and validity as to doing it right. Art is the opposite. It's about emotion, taking initiative. It's not memorization that's needed, but inventiveness, and independent thinking. The teacher can't be looking for the one right answer.

Teachers should be able to switch gears. It's more nebulous to nurture the creative spirit, but it's done through accepting and rewarding it. Children are usually good about pursuing self-directed activity, they just need the opportunity. The key behavior for the adult is being warm and friendly -- gee, those are the qualities we want expressed around kids anyway!

Even a teacher who doesn't feel like he/she has any artistic ability can't use that as an excuse for not providing opportunity for her students to develop their own (but everyone has creativity just like anything else that needs practice). The fear for such a teacher is that she thinks she has to teach her kids how to draw. But kids will figure that out. All the teacher has to do is let them draw part of the curriculum instead of filling out a worksheet. Providing a "right brain" activity during the school day gives the kids some balance -- and even some relief -- from the totally left brain environment of school.

A Motto For The School Year

2009-08-25T22:41:00.000-07:00

I love this quote. It makes a great mission statement for any school.

"There are only three colors, ten digits, and seven notes: it's what you do with them that's important."
Ruth Ross

Confirmation -- Kids Need Art!

2009-08-24T22:22:00.000-07:00

I found this blog entry from another arts organization committed to teaching creativity that confirms what I've been saying for years -- kids start losing their creative expression around age 10. Now, I've contended that kids need art instruction in realism at this point to get over the hump.
Abrakadoodle is having a lot of success doing just that.
http://www.abrakadoodle.com/blog/?p=214

Back to School -- Ready for a Creative Year

2009-08-23T21:38:00.000-07:00

I didn't intend to take the summer off from blogging, but we went from one adventure or endeavor to another. My creative pursuit was building a pocket garden out of our bare patio. You can read my diary blog about this DIY project at http://pitifulgardener.wordpress.com. Here it is time for school to begin and we're still fiddling with the plants. Gardening is one big problem-solving experience, for sure! It's not my favorite thing to do, but when I finally get it right, I do enjoy the results.

At an educator's conference I attended in Chicago, two of the keynote speakers discussed creativity at school. It's a topic hitting the mainstream more and more. Wouldn't it be great if the people directly responsible for giving the green light at the school level could embrace it -- by understanding exactly what creativity is and why we have to teach the skills to develop it? What a revolution!

I spent the month of August preparing to teach in a brand new art room. Though we are in a recession, this private school just completed a fine arts building. It was time to move out of a dark 25-year-old modular -- and if you know anything about art teachers, they've got stuff stashed to the rafters since they can't bear to throw anything out. The new room is a bright space banked with windows overlooking fields and hills. Wow! How could creativity not flourish in such a space? Not only are the students ever so fortunate, but so is this teacher!

The summer art studio for kids -- teaming up with Reptacular Animals and all their kid-friendly critters -- begins tomorrow. That's Monday, August 24. The focus is on giving kids a chance to work on longer projects in different media, inspired by the animals doing the modeling. We're starting off meeting a pile of wriggly snakes -- long and short, pythons and boa constrictors, and several varieties I don't know. First the kids play with the snakes, then make a life-size papier mache snake. This week we'll also make a pond project, featuring frogs and fuzzy ducklings, and a painting of the rainforest featuring live parrots, and even a macaw. This is certainly the most unusual art class in the Los Angeles region...maybe anywhere! Kids get to look closely at a big array of animals. Observation always improves drawing.

Information is stored in our thinking as pictures. Drawing provides direct access to creative thinking. It's the "doing" that helps spark it. Even if you feel you're bad at drawing, do it anyway. It's the simplest, most effective tool at your disposal. It's not the product you're after, but the thinking that results from the activity. If you've got kids in the house, make sure they get to draw every day. Doodles count!

Urge Your Senator to Support NEA Funding

2009-06-28T07:56:00.000-07:00

Great news from capitol -- the House of Representatives funded the National Endowment for the Arts at $170 million. Although this is below the funding level of 1992, it is far better than expected.

The NEA funds a wide variety of arts programs and events across the country. You may not even realize its effect in your community or region. But to maintain any sort of viable arts presence, your action is now needed to press the Senate to vote for the spending bill. Here's the link, which will take all of two minutes to fill out the form and send it off. Hearing from constituents on what matters to them really does have an impact on legislators. If they don't hear anything, they're likely to conclude it's not that important. Well all you arts advocates out there, we know it's important because it's our jobs and our kids' futures that are at stake!!

http://capwiz.com/artsusa/issues/alert/?alertid=13627991

LA Arts Town Hall Meeting Official Website

2009-06-22T22:19:00.000-07:00

Here's your opportunity to "attend" the big LA Arts Town Hall meeting yourself. They've put up a cheerful website, even though as I've reported previously, we were listening to some rather grim news. Explore the issues yourself!

http://www.artsforla.org/2009_la_arts_town_hall_information_center

Those Groovy Art License Plates

2009-06-22T21:59:00.000-07:00

Want to support the CA Arts Council? Fully sixty percent of its funding comes from the sales of the iconic license plate. Designed by the iconic Wayne Thiebaud, who is now about 95, we in the art field should all have these. (My brother-in-law had Thiebaud as an art teacher at Davis, where Thiebaud was part of a very hip crowd of pop artists/educators). I'm looking to buy a new vehicle before the year is over to take advantage of the sales tax credit off our income tax. It's gonna look great sporting one of these plates!

Proceeds from the sale of the arts license plates supports the popular Artists in the School program, one of many programs that makes art education available to children.

http://cac.ca.gov/licenseplate/index.php

Art Education: the Antidote to Pharma Prescriptions for Kids

2009-06-21T22:08:00.000-07:00

There's a natural way to elevate kids' moods that doesn't require a drop of drugs -- it's art!! Yes, art is an antidote to big Pharma's hold on the childhood of too many kids. Art-making is a brain activity that transports anyone to the "zone" -- that amazing place where time seems to disappear, and one's mood is raised to a different level than could ever be achieved through drugs. You can't run out of this mood-enhancer. And it's cheap, if not entirely free. ADHD? No problem. Art is kinesthetic because it's doing. Doesn't matter if there's a "popcorn" kid (one who's up and down out of their seat) in the class, because they can do their art standing up.

Art certainly offers a viable alternative to the prison pipeline we've got going now. It's quite shocking that we spend more on building new prisons than schools! We currently have 1% of the US population locked up -- more than other country in the world. And what are the majority of people in prison for? Drug offenses. Does anybody else see a corollary here?

Kids are naturally wired for art in its many, many forms. Drugs can't replace this deep need. Kids don't lose interest in hands-on, brain-based education; quite the contrary, their hearts, hands, and minds are totally engaged.

LA Arts Town Hall Meeting

2009-06-16T23:10:00.000-07:00

I always like it when artsy people get together just to see what kind of jewelry they're wearing. I realize this is a rather shallow view, but I look forward to the displays of creativity worn about the neck and on ears. Yes, Tracy Cheney does enjoy fun jewelry.

Perhaps the anticipation of somber art news hadn't inspired many of the participants when they got dressed this morning. There were a few crafty pieces to admire among the crowd of 575, but for the most part, it wasn't a particularly festive group that gathered in the gray morning mist. The gray mood matched the sky.

This town hall meeting was an assessment of the state of the arts -- particularly funding.

I suppose the news many of us heard who were dependent upon grants confirmed what we already knew. The foundations who provide so much of our funding are in deep trouble, like any of us who lost money in the Wall Street fiasco. The largest supporter of the arts in CA, the Irvine Foundation, saw $600,000,000 disappear this year! Oweee.

I think the saddest news is that this was not the worst year... that's coming up, and will last for three years. I didn't know that foundations operate on three year cycles with the IRS. So this year sort of didn't count. Most foundations tried to delay the pain and maintain what they had committed to (except for positions like mine that were cut!). The deep gouges are expected to last through 2012. Of course, things could pick up!

Not all was doom and gloom: $50,000,000 was secured for the arts in Obama's stimulus package. This will be distributed out to state art agencies. 85,000 art supporters -- many in the room -- had written or called Congress. Rep. Norm Dicks shepherded it through. Robert Redford and other celebrities made calls the night before the vote.

What will the public get from this money? 40,850 arts-related businesses employ 190,267 people in Los Angeles County. In LA, 4.3% of all businesses are art-related, and that's 2.3% of all jobs across the US -- 6 million of them. There are more non-profit art organizations than ever. In 1965 there were 7,000. Today it's 100,000! Now 10% of those are in danger of going under, as 20% of the private funding disappeared in the blink of an eye.

The arts are the most invisible, secret weapon. It's too bad we have to continuously make the case for our existence!

Looking for Exciting Kid Art Classes This Summer?

2009-06-08T22:09:00.000-07:00

ART WITH THE ANIMALS

Every now and then I have offered art classes for kids. I'm teaming up with Reptacular Animals this summer for a truly unique art teaching experience -- they will bring a different exotic animal to class each week as the class models! If you're looking for kids art classes in Los Angeles, these will be fun ones to attend.

Instead of going to the zoo, a mini-zoo of kid-friendly animals will come to art class. The children get to handle the animals, and then make an art project based on them and their habitat. Doing something exciting like this is enough to get me out on a Saturday morning. This will be a very memorable art experience for creative kids. I'm having fun planning what we'll be doing. Drawing with a 10 foot python draped around the shoulders would be a totally different way to learn art!

Check out Reptacular's really neat website to see who will be coming to art class http://www.reptacularanimals.com/. They have over 150 animals from giant reptiles and creepy crawlies to furry pocket pets and colorful parrots.

This will be hands-on instruction in every sense of the word. We'll be drawing, painting, and making sculptures of the live animals. We'll look at animals in famous artworks.

Saturday classes run throughout the summer. Children may come to one or all sessions. An art camp will be offered during the last two weeks of August. Those are the hardest weeks of the summer for kids and parents...all the other camps are finished...kids are bored...parents can't wait for the school year to begin again.... So, that's why you'll want to bring them to make some art. This is an unparalled opportunity for kids who want art classes in Los Angeles!

Here are the details:

For elementary school-aged students.

All materials supplied.

Classes will be taught at Berkeley Hall School located at 16000 Mulholland Drive, Los Angeles 90049 -- halfway between the San Fernando Valley and the west side off 405.

Saturday classes 9:30 to 11:00 a.m. $125 for 7 weeks or $20 a class for drop-ins. July 11 - August 22.

Summer Camp 1 August 17 to 21 (focus on color)
Summer Camp 2 August 24 to 28 (focus on media)
10:00 to 2:00 p.m. $200/ sibling discounts.

Call 818.727.1594 to register!

L.A. Town Hall Meeting About the Arts

2009-06-08T21:37:00.001-07:00

Friday, June 12th, art educators, artists, and arts organization leaders will be streaming into downtown LA for a town hall meeting at the Japanese American Cultural Center. The sorry state of arts funding is sure to be on everyone's mind. This all-day event will be exploring arts advocacy. The roster of speakers certainly have years of experience to share.

Even if you can't attend, check out www.artsforla.org/townhallsessions to see what's happening. There have been events, petitions, rallies, and protests around the state -- and even at school board meetings. Since artists are used to problem-solving in all aspects of creating and teaching, you have to believe that this dire situation we find ourselves mired in can be turned around -- creatively!

One of the cool things experienced when working through the creative process is watching chaos begin to form into order. And then discovering how all the pieces come together once the solution becomes evident. Surely, the same is true for our present crisis. The solutions may not be evident now, but the creative process sets about working on them even when we're not fully aware of doing so. The "right brain" techniques used by artists a great deal of their time can't be made to produce on a specific time table -- it's not like a "left brain" function such as adding two numbers together to get the same predictable answer every time, anytime. Ah, that's a major reason why citizens need to be taught through the arts: they need to know how to problem-solve -- especially in situations where there is no one right answer to be found!

Parents and Kids Out to Save Teacher Jobs

2009-05-11T21:42:00.000-07:00

Literally, parents and kids are walking out on strike this Friday, May 15! There's a group of parents who are boiling mad about what's happening in the Los Angeles School District (LAUSD) -- the pink slips, cuts, funding or I should say, the lack thereof. Maybe they can't save my art job, but they sure want to try. They are standing up for their kids and their school experience.

Here's what they're doing -- they're setting up lemonade stands around the city. If you see one, stop! Buy! Support! Protest! The goal is to get one up in front of every school on Friday afternoons until LAUSD changes. Started by three angry moms, they're taking a stand.

If you want to hear about this in person, head to Balboa Park in Encino on Friday morning at 10:00 a.m. If you can't make that event, support the lemonade initiative. A yummy, kid-based protest!!

http://www.lemonadeinitiative.com/The_Lemonade_Initiative/HOME/HOME.html

Another Art Teacher Cut From the Schools!

2009-04-22T23:45:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, that art teacher is me! Yep, the art job disappeared at spring break when the grant money evaporated. While other teachers in LAUSD got pink slips the same day, but still teach until the end of the year, the art program had to pack up and go home. The big stimulus package didn't trickle down far enough to save the position. Sad for kids, sad for education, sad for me!

In California, and LA in particular, art teachers exist at the edge. While funding has been precarious over the years, never more so than now. It is especially sad when you realize that despite the money issues, this will be the only time the kids are in elementary school and the opportunity is lost for them.

Hopefully, the brief time we had together at that school will always be memorable. How many spelling tests do you remember throughout your life? But art projects you do. It's always been remarkable to me to listen to adults recount those in later life. I well remember a sixth grade maraca project made out of light bulb -- it's what made me decide that teachers shouldn't grade art projects if they can't help students fix their art!

However, we just wish there was still an art class to fuss about right now! It's going to be a long climb to tackle this money hill and restore art to its rightful place in the school curriculum.

How the Creative Classroom Differs From the Traditional

2009-03-15T22:22:00.000-07:00

When the goal is to create students who self-initiate their learning and are excited by it, they have to have a teacher who provides that kind of atmosphere. First of all, the teacher has to believe in it and support these kind of activities. The classroom must be a warm and friendly place. As much as I'm in and out of various classrooms, I see this attitude less and less. Believe me, there's so much intense pressure to drive kids through a very prescribed curriculum that I understand it to a degree.

I think that what's happening in education is destroying teachers and kids alike. For creative thinking to take place, teachers must be able to provide the kinds of activities that stimulate it. Not much time for that, I'm afraid. They also have to train kids not to be dependent on them as the authority for all right answers. But in "left-brain"subjects, correct answers are all there are. The teacher either knows them, or the book that has them is right on her desk. The solution is already worked out. Of course, that's how it is when kids have to learn multiplication or spelling.

But if we want kids to be good problem-solvers, they need a different kind of approach entirely somewhere in their school day. In this case, the teacher is not the final authority, as the focus is not on finding the one right answer. Instead, an encouraging atmosphere conducive to exploration in depth and experimentation is needed. This is the opposite of memorization. Kids and teachers have less and less experience with this type of classroom activity. And yet, this kind of thinking is what society will need.

I was rather sad to read about studies that show the naturally creative child is not always liked by his/he teacher. If good behavior is considered to be polite and quiet, the child who is full of curiosity, questions the teacher, and has plenty of original ideas himself can be a handful. But once engaged in a meaningful activity, the student is no longer out of his seat and distracted, but actively learning independently. This is actually the habit we want to cultivate -- taking individual initiative and making meaning of their learning. But since school has become almost entirely "left brain" -- focused on the subjects that can easily be measured by through testing -- students have become extremely dependent upon the teacher for every aspect of their learning. Kids either sit waiting to be told what to do, look constantly for her approval, or must follow formulaic procedures rather than explore their own inventiveness.

I see the result of this in art classes, even down to the youngest students in kindergarten. They are so conditioned to work sheets, and being spoon fed instructions each step of the way, that they have a hard time knowing what to do when presented with an open-ended project to figure out on their own. It's hard to witness this happening, but it's really accelerated in the last decade under No Child Left Behind. I'd say, No Imagination Left!

Art Education is on the Minds of Some Famous Folks

2009-03-11T17:24:00.000-07:00

With the National Endowment for the Arts in the news due to its small portion of the stimulus package -- and being the ever-favorite punching bag of some politicos -- the LA Times ran a fun survey. They asked 30 famous faces what they'd do if they were in charge of the agency. Of course, my personal favorites are those who zero in on art education: Phylicia Rashad, Tim Robbins, and Joel Wachs all said they'd put art back into the schools. Well, if those aren't the smartest celebs on the block -- sign them up. I hear the chair of the NEA is open! Hire one of them please, as my teaching job is in jeopardy!

Yes, the grant funding my teaching program at an at-risk school has dried up suddenly. Friday the 13th is "Wear Pink" day in the Los Angeles School District -- as that's the day thousands of colleagues will receive their pink slips. I've already made a little button to wear, "I Got Mine, How About You?" At least those teachers can earn to the end of the year. My job ends now in three weeks. This financial mess has definitely gotten personal!

Anyway, catch the article here, and click on your favorite famous face to read their comments.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2009/02/nea-if-i-ran-th.html

Doodling Is GOOD For You Say Psychologists

2009-03-08T16:42:00.000-07:00

Art educators are forever having to justify to their own school colleagues, school board members, legislators ... and just about everybody in society except kids and parents, that what they do is really important. So, I loved finding this little snippet on a fun art site called Abrakadoodle. Click on their links to find good art ideas and projects for kids. See, it isn't only me telling you guys this stuff!

From www.abrakadoodle.blogspot.com:

"New research published February 27, 2009 in the Journal of Applied Cognitive Psychology shows that the act of "doodling" may help improve memory recall. Study researcher Professor Jackie Andrade, Ph.D., of the School of Psychology, University of Plymouth said, "This study suggests that in everyday life doodling may be something we do because it helps to keep us on track with a boring task, rather than being an unnecessary distraction that we should try to resist doing."

Ah-ha! To all of you doodlers out there, take heart. What you've been told about your creative habit is all wrong!

If you'd like to find some doodle art ideas for kids, Abrakadoodle features online creativity games -- look under the "Kids" tab on their website. And you know how it is, the more you do something, the better you get at it. Fortunately, you don't have to be a great artist to doodle, but doodling may turn you into a great artist.

http://www.abrakadoodle.com

March is Arts Education Month

2009-03-07T21:09:00.000-08:00

Traditionally March has been celebrated as Youth Art Month with displays of art work hanging in all sorts of public venues across the country. CA Assembly Member Davis (D-Los Angeles) introduced a bill declaring March 2009 as Arts Education Month. Assembly Member Davis is the chair of the Assembly Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism and Internet Media Committee. We'll take all the support and publicity we can get -- including $$.

Even with this public show of support, Laurie Schell, California Alliance for Arts Education Executive Director, cautions that the future of arts education in California is at a critical juncture right now. Although a new state budget was finally, belatedly passed on February 19th that included art money for schools, there are changes that concern educators and activists regarding the visual and performing arts instruction in our public schools.

The good news -- which we haven't heard much of lately -- is that the Arts and Music Block Grant remained in the budget, and will so for the next four years. The bad news is that these funds have been cut 15% this year, to be followed by another 5% next year. Well, it could have been far worse in my view -- 50% cuts, or funding left out altogether.

The bigger concern is that new regulations have been included which give the districts complete flexibility as to how they'll spending state funds. Given the dire circumstances they're facing, it's not out of the realm of possibility that school districts will choose to spend that money on something other than arts education.

So, arts advocates have been busy around the state -- showing up at school board meetings to protest cuts. It's caused some districts to reverse their proposed course of actions. If you'd like to help swell the grassroots movement, head to: http://www.artsed411.org/advocate/tips.aspx It's only with a lot of support from ordinary citizens that we're going to find the solutions to turn this thing around! Ultimately, that's good for the state and all kids.

"Burning Moms" on Fire to Change Schools

2009-02-20T21:29:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Power of ONE can move mountains. Meet Spike Dolomite Ward, the founder and director of Arts in Education Aid Council. Her passion to have art for her own kids in school has inspired her to bring art to as many San Fernando Valley students as possible. I work at one of those schools. She's positively impacting thousands of young lives with the kind of education they crave.

Spike is one of those "burning moms," a group of moms on fire to change LAUSD's culture and assault on the arts. In fact, these moms -- under the tutelage of radio personality Sandra Tsing Lo -- have created a support/activist group. They are also planning their second Million Mom March to the state capitol in June. Art educators -- art lovers -- support them!

Meet some moms who are fired up:

http://www.twcsocalnews.com/index.php?option=com_seyret&Itemid=26&task=videodirectlink&id=1443

(if you look closely, there's shot of some of my student artwork -- a San Fernando Valley still life)

http://www.955klos.com/Article.asp?id=634993&spid=24579

What the Senate Giveth, It Also Threatens to Taketh Away

2009-02-08T21:20:00.000-08:00

I have taken this news alert as it appeared directly from Americans For the Arts. Just when it seemed we in the arts were gleefully jumping up and down as our recognition as job creators was part of the stimulus bill, the proverbial rug gets yanked out once again! When will the enlightment ever occur???!!! Want to do something good for the economy and for the soul? Throw some much-needed written support towards the Senate ASAP. Here's how to do it:

February 6, 2009

Breaking News
This afternoon the U.S. Senate, during their consideration of the economic recovery bill, approved an egregious amendment offered by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) that stated “None of the amounts appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be used for any casino or other gambling establishment, aquarium, zoo, golf course, swimming pool, stadium, community park, museum, theater, art center, and highway beautification project.” Unfortunately, the amendment passed by a wide vote margin of 73-24, and surprisingly included support from many high profile Senators including Chuck Schumer of New York, Dianne Feinstein of California, Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, and several other Democratic and Republican Senators.

If the Coburn amendment language is included in the final conference version of this legislation, many arts groups will be prevented from receiving economic recovery funds from any portion of this specific stimulus bill. It is clear that there is still much work to be done in the Senate and in the media about the role that nonprofit arts organizations and artists play in the nation’s economy and workforce.

Plan of Action

Arts advocates need to quickly contact Senators who voted for the Coburn Amendment and express your extreme disappointment with their vote. We need these Senators to know that their vote would detrimentally impact nonprofit arts organizations and the jobs they support in their state. We have crafted a customized message for you to send to your Senators based on their vote on the Coburn Amendment. The correct letter, customized to each of your Senators will appear when you enter your zip code. If your Senator voted for this funding prohibition, you can send them a message expressing your disappointment and ask them to work to delete this language in the final conference bill with the House. If your Senator voted against the Coburn Amendment, you can thank them for their support of the arts.
We need as many news articles as possible this coming week to publish stories about the economic impact of the nonprofit arts industry and how the recession is negatively affecting arts groups across the country. Please click here to customize an opinion editorial to your local media. We have provided you with easy-to-use talking points.
Next week, Americans for the Arts will be sending you another action alert that targets the White House and the soon-to-be-named Senators and Representatives who will serve as conferees to the final economic recovery bill. Please be prepared to take action on this alert as well.
Americans for the Arts itself is submitting op-eds to several national newspapers and online blogs. We are enlisting high profile leaders to co-sign these letters as well.
Americans for the Arts is purchasing full-page ads titled “The Arts = Jobs” in Washington’s top political newspapers in Roll Call, Politico and The Hill on Monday and Tuesday of next week. We encourage you to post the ad on your social network sites.

Please help us continue this important work by becoming an official member of the Arts Action Fund. Play your part by joining the Arts Action Fund today -- it's free and simple.

Please May I Have a Sliver of the Economic Recovery Pie?

2009-01-29T06:08:00.000-08:00

A perennially grumpy loser of the election greeted me with a comment that got me thinking: since he believes the Economic Recovery Plan was filled with pork for just about everybody and anything, I'd probably get some of that wasteful $5o million earmarked for the arts. Well yes, I would like that! Could "trickle down" economics finally work for me?

Let me assure you that the arts organizations give a lot of bang for their bucks. They are expert at squeezing as much worth as they can from what they're given -- trying to touch as many lives as possible. Artists and the creative community do with very little, but give far more in return.

I am most fortunate to work part-time for an arts organization solely funded by grant monies from foundations and individuals who believe that arts education in the schools is a fundamental necessity. I work alongside all the teachers at a school, teaching hundreds of students -- putting in the same school day, arrive an hour ahead for prep and stay an hour or more afterward to clean up, commute 30 miles, have a master's degree in education -- yet I do not receive a salary that covers my rent, pay a whopping self-employment tax, receive no benefits, retirement, or health insurance. Even so, I love sharing with students how to use their creative skills that will ultimately lead to a successful work experience for them.

Yep, I'd like a slice of that stimulus package to be able to continue stimulating all those little minds.

New President - New Hope for the Arts

2009-01-22T16:58:00.000-08:00

It looks as if there's going to be a $50 million arts appropriation in Obama's "recovery" plan! The arts community is so used to being shunted, that this recognition seems downright shocking. For us? Not just crumbs?

Music producer Quincy Jones has been spearheading a campaign to urge President Elect Obama to appoint a Secretary of the Arts or Culture within his administration (this is just one of the recommendations put forward in the Arts Policy in the New Administration ). You can see Jones discuss the need for this position in an interview from last December and sign the online petition to show your support.

Proposals to Congress to Save the Arts

2009-01-16T22:50:00.000-08:00

Last week, Americans for the Arts officially proposed Nine Recommendations for Economic Recovery & the Arts to Congress to help nonprofit and governmental arts groups as well as individual artists during this economic downturn. Today, Americans for the Arts President and CEO Bob Lynch met with the Obama Transition Team to discuss these and other ideas.

These are the proposals:

Americans for the Arts Recommendations	House of Representatives Proposal
Include artists in the proposal for Unemployment & Healthcare Benefits for Part-Time Employees	Proposes to extend unemployment insurance coverage for low-wage, part-time, and other jobless workers
Boost arts projects in Community Development Block Grants (CDBG)	$1 billion in additional funding for CDBG
Provide economic recovery support to the National Endowment for the Arts to be administered by local arts agencies	$50 million in additional appropriations for the National Endowment for the Arts
Include cultural planning through Economic Development Administration program (Department of Commerce)	$250 million for Economic Development Assistance
Increase community cultural facilities support in Rural Development Program (Department of Agriculture)	$200 million for critical rural community facilities
Provide more support for arts projects in Transportation Enhancements (Department of Transportation)	$31 billion to modernize federal and other public infrastructure
Fulfill the Obama pledge for an “Artist Corps”	$200 million to put approximately 16,000 additional AmeriCorps members to work doing national service
Make Human Capital Investments in Arts Job Training (U.S. Department of Labor)	$5 billion for working training and employment services

Take Action
The Senate and the White House will likely unveil additional versions of an economic recovery package. We are calling on arts advocates to contact your House and Senate members and your local media to raise the profile of why it’s important to ensure there is support for the nonprofit arts sector in the federal economic recovery plan.

March on Washington, D.C. in March

2009-01-12T20:33:00.000-08:00

Okay, I realize Obama's inauguration is still a week away, and here I am advertising the Arts Advocacy Day planned for March 31. If you aren't one of the lucky millions heading to the capital on January 20, then go when it's less crowded! Arts Advocacy Day will be important, and you'll actually get to meet some Washington, D.C. bigwigs. You'll be able to get a hotel room, too!

Now, the idea is to visit your congressional members and push for funding for the arts and art education. An army of support is needed to peg every single one of them. There will even be a "Lobbying 101" workshop to attend on March 30 to make sure everybody is effectively engaging their state's delegation.

Sound fun? Sound important? That's why I'm telling you now so you can make your travel arrangements. It'll be spring break, so don't wait until the last minute.

Check out the details here:
http://www.artsusa.org/events/2009/aad/default.asp

The Power of One

2009-01-11T21:14:00.000-08:00

A New Year's resolution for all of you art education supporters would be to do something tangible to save or support our favorite topic at this blog. Now! You can make a financial donation to your favorite arts organization, even sign a petition of outrage over LAUSD's freezing of art funds and art teacher salaries in December until our governor signs a budget (which a month later has still not happened!). Or you can do as Spike Dolomite Ward has done, and go out and secure grant money and give it back to your school to maintain any shred of an art program it has left.

I first heard of Spike in a chance comment made by one of my favorite local NPR commentators, Sandra Tsing Loh. She happened to mention that Spike was busy trying to save art in San Fernando Valley public schools. Whoa! I wanted to meet this woman, and through a variety of twists and turns found her in a closet-sized office in Canoga Park distributing funds she'd raised herself to a couple hundred schools!!!

Spike started off like a lot of moms of little kids entering LA public schools -- she was totally shocked to discover that her kindergarteners' school did not have an art program. And this in the most creative city anywhere, where there are great-paying jobs for those trained in the arts. Being an artist, Spike volunteered in her son's classroom...which spilled over to other classrooms. You know how volunteers are when they're passionate about something. They give!

After a couple of years, Spike found herself making a promise to the school principal -- she'd fund an art program the next year. Spike had been paying for her own supplies when she taught her own classes. Now she'd really put herself on the line. What a daunting prospect: where was she going to get the money for every class, and an art teacher?? She needed at least $14,000 she figured, and it wasn't coming from her grocery money.

Operating out of her garage at first, she did it! In fact, after nine years, she's secured support from something like 30 organizations and foundations. And you have to realize, she's doing this for other peoples' kids. She gives the money for cultural field trips, music lessons, and art supplies free to 200 schools. She funds full-time programs at five elementary schools for students who would not have access to any of it. We're talking about an individual school program that costs around $100,000 a year. All given free!

Don't you think your PTA could at least do that for the children of your own school?

There are another 195 elementary schools in the San Fernando Valley waiting for an art program.

If Spike Dolomite Ward thinks it can be done, then why not join her? A contribution to her arts organization would be an outstanding New Year's art resolution, don't you think? "Arts In Education Aid Council" says it all. I promise the money goes to a good cause. I should know, I now teach in one of the schools Spike supports. You could supply paint and paper and tangibly touch a child's soul.

Here's your New Year's good deed: read all about www.aieac.org and make a donation.

And if you want to help urge the Los Angeles school board to rescue what little is left of the arts programs in LAUSD schools, here's that link. Sign the petition right now. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/restore-funding-for-lausds-arts-partners

How to Keep the Elementary Art Teacher Position

2008-12-09T22:22:00.000-08:00

Californians often wonder how the Houston area schools managed to have one - two (yes, count them -- TWO) art teachers at each elementary school. When I tell them I was an elementary art specialist in Texas, it's rather a hard concept to grasp, since art has been out of CA schools for a couple of generations now. Actually, it's a pretty ingenious method. Art, Music, and PE are tied to teacher planning time. And by having all the children in the same grade level go to a specialist at the same time, all the teachers in that grade share a common planning time. Voila - the arts are preserved, valued, and each child enjoys a more rounded education.

Now, a common planning time is exactly what research says teachers need, and what teachers say they want. I've certainly heard all the excuses why this couldn't happen over the years in every district I was in up until we moved to Texas. I have to admit, I bought into it -- that is, until I actually participated in it and saw it work very effectively. It took some leadership and vision on the part of the Texas districts do this. But that's how you save the arts programs. Texas requires far more PE minutes than either California or Washington, so this model ensures that elementary children meet that requirement. Kids rotated through the arts programs -- three days of PE, one of music, and one of art in a week. How much sense does that make?! How much did kids love their specialist time? How much did teachers love that specialist time? They valued that regular planning time each day.

Having a common grade level planning time supported the new teachers on staff, as they had access to their mentors right in the middle of the day. It made scheduling so easy -- none of this crazy jostling of open slots for teachers, which makes for a patchwork quilt kind of day. While it's not so hard on a PE teacher, an art teacher jumping between grades all day long is hard. Setting up and taking down for 5th, then heading to 3rd, then kareening to kindergarten, and then maybe back to a 5th grade lesson can get schizophrenic.

It required four specialists per school in one district's model - two PE, one art, and one music. Another district always had two art and two music specialists, along with the two PE coaches at each school. Some larger schools also put their librarians and computer teachers into the mix, so that class sizes remained small. This ensured that school librarians were also planning and offering instruction in the library, rather than only being a check-in, check-out service. Because we were all held to the same evaluation standards and considered faculty with just as much to contribute, and had our programs funded adequately, the librarians were dynamite. PE programs were creative and exciting, music was outstanding, and art was integrated into the regular curriculum as much as possible. And none of these excellent schools were middle class schools. These were in the toughest, most at-risk neighborhoods. But you couldn't tell from the quality of the work on the walls, or the abundant supplies in the cupboards.

What a difference a lively elementary arts program made in the lives of kids who would have had none of it in their experience. I heard school administrators say on more than one occasion that the parents would have a meltdown if they tried to cut out the elementary arts programs. There was a firm commitment, even in tough economic times. So it can certainly be done. If I'd never taught it, I wouldn't have thought it possible. But I'm telling you, it is.

Wouldn't it be great to sit down with any west coast, supposedly progressive school administrator, using these existing models, and explore the ways those Texas districts did it? Texas gives less money per pupil than California does. Oh, and was there ever a competitive spirit among all those schools to produce top programs. There was nothing wishy washy about them at all. We were expected to be good -- and help our students to be excellent, regardless of their economic situation at home. And they were/are!

Another Report on Creativity and the Workplace: The Need Keeps Growing

2008-12-03T22:12:00.000-08:00

I found another report on my favorite topic. This need for creativity in the workplace is receiving more attention. I don't think we're at a tipping point yet. Regarding the recession, many reasons could be made for continuing as we are. However, perhaps we wouldn't be in the mess we are if our leaders and CEOs had been more creative -- or at least somewhat responsive -- towards the problems as they were coming up.

I'll quote the beginning of the article here, and then you can click over to it. I'm always cheering when I find someone smart who articulates the topic so very well!

"Educators and employers agree that creativity is increasingly important in U.S. workplaces, according to a recent report. Yet, the report suggests a disconnect exists between what survey respondents say they believe and how they act: In fact, findings indicate most high schools and employers provide creativity-conducive education and training only on an elective or "as needed" basis.

The report, "Ready to Innovate: Are Educators and Executives Aligned on the Creative Readiness of the U.S. Workforce?," was released in April by the Conference Board and Americans for the Arts, in partnership with the American Association of School Administrators (AASA). Researchers surveyed 155 public school superintendents and 89 American business executives to identify and compare their views on creativity.

The study is a follow-up to a 2006 report from the Conference Board, Corporate Voices for Working Families, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, and the Society for Human Resource Management, titled "Are They Really Ready to Work? Employers' Perspectives on the Basic Knowledge and Applied Skills of New Entrants to the 21st Century U.S. Workforce." In that earlier report, employers rated creativity and innovation among the top five most increasingly important workplace skills over the next five years. (See "Survey reveals the skills employers covet.")

The Conference Board also noted in a study last year that stimulating creativity and enabling entrepreneurship are among the top 10 challenges now facing U.S. CEOs."

Click here to finish the article:
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/?i=53690

How Will Obama Change Education Priorities?

2008-11-30T20:53:00.000-08:00

Getting together with friends and family over the holidays, talk turns to education as it almost always does with us. We come from an education family -- going back generations. My ancestors were Pilgrims, who valued education and reading and invented "public" school. Another walked from his home in Ohio to California to make his fortune in the Gold Rush. He was one of the fortunate who returned with at least some meager earnings, and then put his daughters through teacher college -- pretty unheard of in those days for farm kids of the 1850s. Since my husband is a school administrator, and I still teach art to kids whenever there's an opportunity, we live and breath education issues. When I had my radio show "Making the Grade" I got to yak about it on the air with everybody from teachers to governors.

So, the chatter this Thanksgiving centered around the severe budget meltdown facing LA Unified and the possible ramifications, art teachers with no supplies, the enormous frustration with No Child Left Behind, the sometimes ridiculous hoops that teachers have to jump through to stay certified...oh what fun! Truly, only conversations that educators would love. (That's why I had to become a teacher after art school, just so I could join in.)

If Obama is interested, teachers have plenty of advice gained from some crazy real-life experiences. I have my share of war stories, too -- and moments of shining brilliance. After teaching in 21 schools in three states off and on over three decades (started teaching 3rd grade in 1978!!!), I've seen kids change, society change, and education change innumerable times. But I think the verdict is universal -- education has got to change direction now. The testing has reached absurd proportions, teachers and kids are exhausted, vast sums have been spent on testing materials, and though everybody has given it 110 percent, not a lot has changed fundamentally.

What's the 21st century outlook? Are we still educating for the past century? Or even the one before that? If we could start over completely, what would education look like? Tinkering around the edges isn't the change we need.

We haven't heard any rumors about Obama's Secretary of Education yet. But if you've got a solid "how-to" plan, send it to Change.gov. I think we can bag this Texas model that we've all labored under. Having taught in Texas, I finally understood it. But I think a new vision -- along with the capital to fund it -- can be transformative. Maybe the new vision is funding all those mandates! That would be a change.

But maybe we should be like England, Singapore, Finland, and even China -- who are now changing the focus from testing being the primary goal and function of education to teaching students how to think creativity, with the focus on innovation. We kind of got into this testing thing to keep up with the rest of the world. But guess what? They've concluded the way to beat the USA is in the area of innovation -- and that is not achieved through high-stakes, find-the-right-answer type of testing and education.

I've been in a unique position as an art teacher, especially when I traveled between schools in the same district. Not only did I see all the kids in a school from Kindergarten on up, I got to see how policies played out across a district between at-risk and upper-end schools. I knew first-hand how much harder we all worked at schools serving the most challenging neighborhoods and the attitudes towards us from our own colleagues in the comfortable middle class suburbs. Like other specialists who serve an entire school, I knew who the good teachers were and those who were struggling.I've had the opportunity to work under a variety of principals and the effect they have on staff. Basically, I have to say that teachers are amazing. They are one of the few adults who willingly work with other peoples' children, towards the betterment of our country. I salute everyone of you!

President-elect Obama, bring in teachers -- not those who've been out of the classroom for years or holed up in ivory towers. Those who have been in the trenches know what the real scoop is. I can recommend some truly awesome, but unsung heroes. They could really turn things around if we quit hamstringing them!

Is Art Academic?

2008-11-16T14:41:00.000-08:00

As I was finishing up teaching an art lesson to a class of school kids, their teacher admonished them to, "Hurry up -- fun and games are over. Time to get back to real learning."

Ouch!

We were just finishing a lively session where 100 percent of the kids were 100 percent engaged for the entire period. Since this was said right in front of the kids, I piped up, "Actually, they have been learning the whole time. This was a right-brain activity. "

The teacher corrected me, "Real education is reading and math and that's what we do in my classroom."

Me: "This is educational also. It was open-ended to promote critical thinking and doing. Art is hands-on. The kids made choices and fixed problems along the way to end up with a finished project that they created."

Teacher: "Like I said, real education is what goes on in my classroom."

What do you think?

Here's my condensed version of why art and teaching creativity is academic and educational.

For those of you who haven't had formal teacher's training, there's a 50-year-old academic model that we've all been taught and supposedly use when planning lessons. It's called Bloom's Taxonomy. Essentially, it identifies how learning takes place on any topic.

There are seven levels of Bloom's Taxonomy:
The first four levels are learned in the "left-brain" modality

Knowledge: Remember - learn the basic facts
Comprehension: Understand
Application: Practice
Analysis: Examine
...........................................
Creative thinking begins here once students have mastered the subject. The highest levels of learning occur in the "right-brain" modality

Synthesis: Create
Evaluation: Assess

Creativity is "connectivity." It's the ability to take what you've learned and do something new with it. It's the realization that there are many ways to solve problems. And it's the ability to make choices from all the possibilities. That takes practice. What do you hear when kids haven't had practice at this? "I don't know what to do!" Creativity = doing!

If teachers don't extend lessons to get to the top two levels of Bloom's taxonomy, students remain stuck in analytical, "left-brain" thinking -- learning the rules of how to find the one correct answer. That is how they spend a good deal of their school day.

But creative thinking is exactly the opposite! The rules of "right-brain" thinking are expansive. To activate these, kids have to DO. What is art? DOING.

Filling out mounds of boring white worksheets is not academic.

Remember When School Looked Fun?

2008-11-15T18:47:00.000-08:00

I guess I haven't finished addressing my concerns about the lack of children's art and original projects being displayed on the walls of some school hallways and classrooms. This noticeable, sterile trend has been bothering me. Not simply because it devalues the very thing that children actually value, but it devalues creativity in education as being at least nominally acknowledged.
It's very uneducated, in my opinion.

A comment by a kindergarten teacher not too long ago is what concerned me. She had mentioned that a supervisor had told kindergarten teachers she didn't want to see artsy type of work on the walls - only "real" work like writing and numbers. But the real work of five-year-olds is cutting and pasting and drawing in preparation for doing writing and numbers!

What would these supervisors who dictate what's going up on classroom walls think of the Texas elementary principal who didn't allow ANY pre-made imagery to be put up in place of teacher or student-made. Teachers didn't run to the teacher supply store when it came time to change the the bulletin boards. Every classroom and hallway display was handmade -- created from scratch to be visually stimulating and appealing.

Sure it was demanding, but the students and teachers were cocooned in an environment that celebrated creativity as an integral part of academic life. They saw the thought-process made evident. I only wish I could have seen the distinct visual impact of this building. I heard about it from a teacher who taught there when I complimented her very cool bulletin board. Of course, she'd saved all the pieces to pull out when needed year after year.

My belief is those children were far more engaged than the kids spending their days gazing at slick posters they could never hope to reproduce, never seeing peer-created art work to learn from, ignoring walls of never-ending word lists, or trying to jumpstart their bored brains to find something new and interesting to contemplate in the steady diet of bland adult-generated worksheets they're given to consume -- color or fill in the blanks. Again, the lowest level of learning and engagement. A definite creative disconnect.

Children learn a great deal from seeing child-produced artwork and projects.

Elementary Classrooms Devoid of Childrens' Presence

2008-11-15T10:18:00.000-08:00

As often happens in education, we veer from one extreme to another when forced to follow the pressures of current demands while making honest efforts to increase student learning. Since I first began teaching third grade in 1978, and covered education on local public radio for close to five years, you bet I've seen a lot of pendulum-swinging. With the opportunity to spend time in various classrooms and watch trends develop and then be interpreted over time, I've now seen the next extreme. It has wiped out the presence of the child altogether on the walls and bulletin boards of more and more classrooms in one district.

There simply is no original or student-generated work on display anywhere in some of these rooms! Hallway bulletin boards are sterile. It feels like the child's presence has been obliterated. I think sometimes I might as well be in a community college setting, as these buildings don't feel like elementary schools which should be brimming with lively, vibrant, creative, authentic work that only young children can produce. Instead it's adult computer-produced, adult-directed, and boringly similar. It's "instructional."

When I first began noticing this, at first I thought I was only seeing evidence of lazy or tired or disinterested teachers. Okay, that definitely exists and has for years -- as evidenced on many high school classroom bulletin boards! But not so much in elementary schools. Now it seems to have come down from the top not to display student work that isn't "educational." The interpretation seems to be expressed only as writing and endless word strip banks, and homogeneous look-alike prepacked projects.

Now, I have nothing against word banks. I thought they were a great idea when they first appeared and still do. I used them myself in the art room with art vocabulary or when listing the big variety of art-related jobs, etc. However, it's become the all-consuming and only "decoration" in too many classrooms.

The brain continually needs new visual stimuli to connect all those synapses. It needs interesting imagery to contemplate. But these classroom walls and white boards covered with sterile word strips have become visual deserts, void of intellectual life! It's definitely visual clutter. The words aren't even printed by the children. There's nothing of the child.

I know the intention is to make it look like education is going on. To make it uniform. To ensure teacher compliance. But once it's registered with a child, these word lists are ignored - maybe referred to now and then with the teacher's guidance. But those that don't change them are doing nothing to stimulate the growing brain. The brain's smart - it got it the first time and skips over what it's already learned. And so nothing is being offered on those classroom walls to provide new, exciting stimulus.

I think it's become a crutch for some -- see, I've put up everything in the reading kit and there's no room for anything else. It's easy to staple up the district-purchased materials -- and in a teacher's best interest to do so. As one teacher told me, "I'd never teach this way. But I'm forced to." What can we say of a system where teachers trained in child development are reluctant to put up child-generated projects because their supervisors will criticize them -- or worse, affect their evaluations negatively!

Although I am a trained teacher evaluator, in my capacity as an art consultant I don't advise teachers to go against directives issued by their district supervisors. However, if it was up to me, I'd be cutting out much of this basic knowledge clutter once it was learned. I'd be looking for student-generated projects as direct evidence that the highest levels of instruction was taking place in that classroom. Only then is real learning taking place. The student must take the basic knowledge and use it or transform it in some way. That's what creativity and divergent thinking are all about. Unless teachers take the kids to that point, they're just pursuing a round and round loop at the lowest levels of the learning cycle.

Gaining the facts is only the beginning of the learning process. It's not the be all and end all. But getting beyond that these days seems to be a very fearful proposition. I understand the reasons why. It will take some strong leadership at the top to make the transition and give assurances that it's vital to provide creativity in education if our US economy is to remain on top this century. Other countries are getting that message and spending mucho $$$ to revamp their education systems to embrace the teaching of creativity.

Are Some Students More Deserving of Art Education Than Others?

2008-11-08T17:09:00.000-08:00

I recently had a conversation with a teacher at an at-risk school in a low-income area about their lack of art education. She voiced an opinion that I've heard in similar locales over the years. She assumed elementary kids in the well-to-do areas of the city had art -- that those parents would insist on art teaching at their schools or pay for it themselves.

It's sad that we've come to expect/accept that kids in our poorer neighborhoods don't "deserve" to have art for one reason or another, the same as the other district students. The excuses can range from financial, lack of parental push, or most usually the notion that the kids have to spend all their time preparing for the tests and couldn't possibly spare a moment for such stuff. Isn't it sad that the teacher serving the at-risk students believes/accepts that she and her school receive second-rate treatment because of who they are?

This is not idle opinion. I was pretty shocked while serving on the board of an alternative high school to hear it voiced publicly in the mid 1990's by a city representative, from the mayor's office no less. No joke. At a large group gathering, we were discussing the possibility of going for a bond to remodel the ancient building housing the school. Over the past few meetings we'd already come to the conclusion that we could perhaps halt the drop-out rate if we installed an art track at the school. We were pretty excited about it. It was going to be first-class.

However, at this meeting to discuss the bond idea, the city rep stated frankly, "Why should the icky kids deserve this?" I was stunned, and embarrassed for her. I've never forgotten that. Because these were the "icky" kids (her exact word, not mine), she didn't feel they should have equal -- or perhaps better than -- the "good" kids at the districts' three regular high schools, who already had art programs. The implication was that the alternative school should be a punishment center without decent facilities or "fun" programs, I guess.

The good news was, we went forward with the bond, the school was beautifully remodeled, an exciting art program (including glass blowing) installed, and attendance rocketed. The alternative school truly became an alternative school -- kids from around the district voluntarily asked to attend so they could enjoy an alternative school experience outside the typical big high school experience. Very gratifying.

I've had the blessed experience to work in three school districts that really did right by their low-end schools. I chose to teach art at the lowest-scoring schools in those districts because I believe art can really make a difference in many ways for those particular students. The districts also believed that it was important to include art, and built beautiful schools in those neighborhoods, not subjecting those students and teachers to substandard buildings. Plus, they (we) enjoyed well-funded art programs.

Those schools were populated by kids facing huge odds. But they were really vibrant places to teach. I should add, they were exhausting, too. But the staffs were incredibly talented and dedicated, as they often are in such schools. Many of our students won art contests, and I made sure student artwork was continuously displayed. When taught creativity, you couldn't tell the difference between our kids' work and the very affluent ones living at the opposite ends of the districts. They proved themselves to be just as talented and creative when given the same opportunity!

Send Obama Congrats and Urge Support of the Arts

2008-11-07T20:20:00.000-08:00

While the election of Barack Obama is still reverberating, now is a great time to send him and his team a note about the arts. They are formulating their agenda. Obama has expressed support for the arts. Join an online movement over at American for the Arts. They are sponsoring the "Congratulations letter" campaign.

Add your signature here:

http://www.capwiz.com/artsusa/issues/alert/?alertid=12162316&type=CU

Cast Your Vote For the Arts

2008-11-03T17:18:00.000-08:00

This article from the LA Times is a little old, but insightful if you're an arts supporter.
http://http//articles.latimes.com/2008/mar/04/entertainment/et-polartists4

Archive for Tuesday, March 04, 2008

The arts of the campaign trail

March 04, 2008

When it comes to campaign themes, the arts can’t compete with healthcare reform, national security, the sluggish economy – just about anything you might name.

But this presidential primary season, people who work at the crossroads of politics and culture say the arts have attained a higher profile than usual – and the push for an arts agenda has established a foothold in the campaign landscape.

Linda Frye Burnham, well known in Los Angeles arts circles for starting High Performance magazine and co-founding Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica, began hearing in January about Barack Obama’s support for the arts.

Along with thousands of other arts figures, she received an e-mail detailing how Obama would increase support for the National Endowment for the Arts, embrace arts education, strengthen cultural diplomacy, advocate an artist-friendly tax law and propose an Artist Corps to send young artists to teach in low-income areas.

In Ohio, meanwhile, Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign worked to arrange a gathering at which her advisors hoped to win arts-interested voters with her commitment to the same ideas. Mike Huckabee has promised that should he be elected, he’d follow through on his devotion to arts education, especially. And last March, John McCain answered a New Hampshire theater manager who said he hoped the senator would support the arts by sending the man a personal check for $500.

The statements and promises, as it turns out, reflect an initiative called ArtsVote2008 mounted by the political arm of a group called Americans for the Arts, or AFTA.

In advance of the Iowa caucuses, ArtsVote gave all the candidates then running a 10-point plan for the arts in public life. No. 1 stresses NEA grants to the sorts of local arts agencies and groups that AFTA represents. No. 6 urges candidates to enhance healthcare coverage for arts groups and artists. (The complete text is available at http://www.americansforarts.org/.) ArtsVote then urged the candidates to address these points in public.

Such political pressure “is pretty common among other advocacy centers, but for the arts it is somewhat new,” says Rindy O’Brien, director of the American Arts Alliance, which represents opera, ballet and orchestra groups in Washington. “I come out of the environmental realm, and they would do a lot of that electoral work – and Planned Parenthood does – but, for the arts, you haven’t seen it.”

One reason it’s visible now is a matter of resources. In 2002, AFTA received a $127-million gift from Ruth Lilly, heiress to the Eli Lilly pharmaceutical fortune.

The money, given in annual installments and spread across the group’s political, educational and service activities, lifted its yearly budget to $14 million from about $8 million. And those extra millions helped give clout to ArtsVote, a part of AFTA’s political arm, the Arts Action Fund.

With its 10-point plan in place, ArtsVote tracked candidates’ responses by giving a $40,000 grant to a group called New Hampshire Citizens for the Arts so it could hire Suzanne Delle Harrison, who runs a theater in the state. She, in turn, put candidates and their staffs on the record by asking them about their views before the state’s primaries. On the ArtsVote website are both the campaigns’ arts statements and a diary of Harrison’s lobbying adventure:

The diary alludes, for example, to a lecture Huckabee gave ArtsVote volunteers that Harrison described in an interview as a “fascinating” evangelistic interpretation of human creativity as a conduit for the creative role of God.

Beyond his $500 gift, McCain doesn’t appear in the log. His silence, arts advocates say, is already framing a clear difference on public financing for the arts between whichever Democrat runs and the Republican front-runner. “It would be a stark contrast, especially since Sen. McCain hasn’t responded in any way about supporting the arts,” says Narric Rome, director of federal affairs for the Arts Action Fund.

An issue of particular interest on the ArtsVote agenda is arts education, which, arts advocates say, became a casualty of the test-driven No Child Left Behind Act.

Obama, Clinton and Huckabee all extol exposing students to the arts. Speaking before the Virginia primary, Obama declared: “I want our students learning art and music and science and poetry and all the things that make education worthwhile.”

Pollsters have not attempted to measure the power of a national arts vote, and it’s hard to know how such stands will sway the public.

But the Arts Education Partnership, a coalition of 140 organizations, recently commissioned a poll of 1,000 likely voters from Lake Research, a Democratic polling firm. It showed that 57% of the respondents would more likely vote for a candidate who supported the development of the imagination in schools.

The poll, which had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points, also found that 57% of voters would be less likely to pick a candidate who voted to cut funding for arts education.

Current and former Clinton and Obama campaign staffers speak of the candidates’ self-driven support for the arts. But they also credit former Americans for the Arts officials and members of other arts organizations for helping AFTA develop its 10-point plan. O’Brien of the American Arts Alliance says it was consulted. And Rachel Lyons, the Clinton campaign’s deputy political director in New Hampshire, is a former director of the American Arts Alliance, which ArtsVote’s Harrison believes won her a particularly “open and knowledgeable” hearing with the campaign.

Last spring, a key Arts Action Fund official gave an extensive briefing calling for more funding for arts education and its other priorities to the Obama campaign’s Arts Policy Committee, a growing volunteer group of arts professionals, researchers and artists that both considers arts policy and works politically.

In addition, novelist Michael Chabon has written a statement of principles for the campaign called “Thoughts on the Importance of the Arts to Our Society”.

Clinton advisors, for their part, speak of the ArtsVote proposals as one of several influences. The Clinton campaign exchanged e-mails with Rome about arranging the arts gathering in Ohio.

According to Clinton officials, the campaign has no arts policy committee but instead has opted for what domestic policy advisor Catherine Brown calls “a more organic approach” of reaching out to “Hillary Clinton’s many friends who know about her passion for the arts.”

Overall, the Democrats’ formal responses to ArtsVote are similar in how they parallel the ArtsVote priorities.

The Clinton campaign has outlined nothing comparable to Obama’s Artist Corps, but it has proposed a Putting Arts in Reach initiative, which would “offset the cost of musical instruments, art supplies, drama equipment, and other things used in arts education for children from low-income communities.”

Will such words actually produce programs?

Says Burnham: “I’ve lived long enough to know that platforms mean relatively little when people get in there and find out what is going on. They give a sense of whether the candidate gets it or not – the value of the arts to the American public. I know that Americans for the Arts will keep rattling their cage for change, whether it is Obama or Hillary.

“What I wonder is what would happen if McCain got in and Huckabee were vice president. What would happen to the arts then? I think about that a lot.”

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Listen to an Expert on Teaching Creativity in the Schools

2008-11-01T12:46:00.000-07:00

I felt very vindicated when I first stumbled upon Sir Ken Robinson's talks about creativity and education and human development. He's now living in Santa Monica, and has done consulting work with the Getty. You'd think I'd have plenty of opportunity to hear him in person. My guess is, he'll probably become more prominent on the US education stage with an administration change.

Robinson's thrust is that creativity and the arts were shunted aside due to the education system's hierarchy of math, science, and literacy teaching as the main ingredients of the industrial revolution of the 19th century. We at the bottom of the hierarchy already know that. But that old model is failing before our eyes as degrees become useless for promising job security. Robinson's definition of creativity is "original ideas that have value." Might there be room for such a concept in our children's school day?

I have had a dickens of a time trying to get the link to this talk working. This is the correct address, but in case it doesn't work, try pasting the address into your browser. Excerpts are on You Tube and TED, so you can also go through Google to find Sir Ken Robinson's talks.

It's worth hearing what Robinson has to say on the topic of creativity teaching in the schools. Not only is he quite a humorous speaker, but he's got some substantial credibility. He's responsible for helping England, Singapore, South Korea, and now China reinvent their education systems for the 21st century. He has plenty to say about the ailing US system as well.

http://www.ted.org/index.php/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

Can "Amy the Art Mom" Trump " Sarah the Hockey Mom?"

2008-10-28T22:33:00.000-07:00

Here is a wonderfully insightful piece I found on HuffingtonPost.com. It really captures all of us moms (and dads) who have gotten our kids to sports practice AND to some kind of arts or music lesson on top of it. Don't miss this. It gives you heart. Hopefully, the politicians we elect are the same kind of parents and will begin supporting art funding whole-heartedly.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/benjamin-krevolin/hockey-moms-make-room-for_b_137648.html

Elect Pro-Art Candidates

2008-10-28T22:20:00.000-07:00

The advocacy group Americans for the Arts has identified seven key races across the country that could have a positive impact on the arts. Check out their list complete with supporting statements, then elect one of these candidates if he or she is yours!

http://mail.google.com/mail/#inbox/11d45431b67577f1

Here is a list of all the candidates the Arts Action Fund has contributed to across the country. Let's get our country moving ahead in teaching creativity and supporting American innovation once again.

http://www.artsactionfund.org/pdf/special_reports/2008/pac_contributions08.pdf

Anti-gang Measure Promises Afterschool Art Programs

2008-10-25T16:13:00.000-07:00

If you live in Los Angeles County, you received a glossy flyer in support of Prop A - a minimally priced anti-gang tax. The proponents for the measure include our top law enforcement officers Sheriff Lee Baca and Police Chief Bill Bratton, as well as Mothers Against Gang Violence. Aren't we all against it?

I have some small experience in this arena, so I'm interested in what Prop A will provide. One is my involvement in dealing with gang activity in Washington state, and the other is in being an early provider of afterschool art programs for seven years.

First off, I must digress for a moment to make a comment about the glossy color image on the Prop A flyer. It shows an elementary-aged child showing off her art creation in order to persuade you to vote for the measure. I had to shake my head though, for the girl is holding a glued-together popsicle stick box. Oh, dear. As if this is a fine example of what children will receive in an art program funded by the $3.00 per month tax every home owner will pay. It's an okay craft project for the Brownie troop, but certainly not what a skilled art educator would be teaching. I suppose the ad agency folks that staged this didn't have a better examples at their disposal.

Unfortunately, to me the popsicle stick box exactly typifies what people think of when it comes to elementary art programs. No wonder school personnel think art programs are less than educational if that's the only kind of craft project they ever experienced when they were school-aged. It stands to reason then why administrators don't think kids should spend precious school time pulled away from test prep -- even for 50 minutes per week. I'm not really knocking this fun project, because kids love it, but it doesn't begin to encompass the scope of a comprehensive art program.

Okay, enough soapbox. I don't know that anyone can knock having children and young people productively engaged in those critical hours of 3-6 p.m. Maybe that's where we should focus our right-brain, creative education programs. It's truly something to think about, LA. I'm just curious who will be guiding this new bureaucracy. I haven't been able to find that out.

But back to the gang issue and why we need to act big. After we left LA and moved to Washington, I was appointed by the mayor of our community as the chair of the Mayor's Youth Commission. I enjoyed this position for five years. The commission was charged with overseeing anything concerning youth that city government was involved with in our city of 80,000. Coming from LA, I had a heightened awareness of gang issues. (Indeed, having attended Otis at the old MacArthur Park campus, I was cautious about safety. I had the dubious distinction of being robbed down in the basement dark room, which led to the school finally getting a security guard. I filed a report with the Rampart Station, and my credit card was eventually found on the person of a gang member who'd been enjoying it. I went to court in Watts to press charges.)

So, up in seemingly remote Washington, I was a bit surprised when bits of gang graffiti began to appear. The police and supposed gang experts said it was just wanna-be's and copycats -- not the real thing. (In fact, the belief of the LA cops in my day had been that gangs didn't move outside of their own neighborhoods -- I'd been concerned that since they had my driver's license they'd know where I lived. Now we know that they are very mobile.) But back to Washington: we got a new member on the commission who came from LA and had worked with the Hispanic gangs starting in the 1950s, and then with the black gangs in the 1970s. He knew his stuff. He said he saw evidence all round town of the Crips and Bloods. They traveled unhindered up and down I-5.

We organized neighborhood meetings in order to alert the community. This gentleman stood up and told parents that he would be happy to come to their home and tell them if their child was involved in a gang. He told school principals they had gang members walking right under their noses in the hallways. It was that obvious to him. But nobody believed him. And within two years we had our first drive-by shooting at a local high school, gang-related beatings, etc. It gets rooted quickly when left uncheck.

So now we're back here in LA. And gangs certainly haven't stayed confined to South Central or east LA. Instead of being a problem "over there," it's become an incidious spiderweb across the entire region. The folly of that kind of thinking 25 years ago resulted in not ever addressing the underlying causes. As we all know, the ignored problems festered, than exploded. It seems that communities and neighborhoods once remote and supposedly untouchable are defaced.

Let's support the effort to address this region-wide problem with a region-wide, coordinated response.

During my tenure on the Youth Commission in the mid 90s, there was mounting evidence that afterschool programs were a very promising solution to the problem of latch kids and working parents. But there wasn't much out there, and certainly no outside funding for them. Youth sports programs were dependent upon parents getting the kids to practice and games. They couldn't absorb unattended kids or those in need of transportation. The "Y" hadn't yet begun offering its school programs.

I hired some artists and we took an art program to several schools. This came right on the heels of our district axing the art teacher position at my daughter's school when the first rounds of state testing were dropped on the district. Later when we moved to northern CA I provided a similar program. The biggest problem was that we basically only reached those who could afford to pay our reasonable fees, except for when PTA's provided scholarships for specific kids. So the idea of making art programs widely available to LA kids wins big with me!

This is information is taken directly from the VOTE YES ON PROP A in Los Angeles county:

ANALYSIS
A recent citywide poll indicated that gang and juvenile violence ranked as a top concern for area residents. In fact, a staggering 80% of voters said that gang and juvenile violence was a very serious problem that needed to be addressed. If passed, this initiative will have a dramatic impact benefiting children and neighborhoods throughout Los Angeles by taking kids off the streets and keeping them away from gangs, guns and drugs.

Consider the facts:
There are currently more than 700 gangs and over 40 thousand gang members in Los Angeles.
In 2007, the LAPD reported a 14% increase in gang crime. In the Valley, gang crime is up 4% in the West Valley area and up 11% in the Mission area.
We spend $1.67 million on each gang murder. It costs $218,000 per year to incarcerate a juvenile.
Prevention and intervention programs are needed to complement the addition of more police officers. Chief Bratton has said: “We cannot arrest our way out of this problem.”
Students who take advantage of after school programs like LA’s BEST are 20% more likely to stay in school.
80% of prison inmates are high school dropouts.
If we can keep 120 kids out of jail, we will save the $30 million cost of the measure. If we can prevent 1,000 kids from being jailed, the measure will save $250 million.

THE INITIATIVE
Mothers Against Gang Violence is the principal proponent of an initiative on the November 2008 ballot that will provide $30 million each year to ensure that every student in Los Angeles has an opportunity to participate in safe after school, job training, mentoring, and apprenticeship programs.
Only funds programs that have a proven track record of successfully boosting academic achievement, reducing high school dropout rates and preventing youth from joining gangs or using drugs.
Guarantees a dedicated funding stream for critical programs that focus on gang prevention, job training and after school programs—without the possibility of being redirected to the general fund or other administrative expenses.
Funds apprenticeship and mentoring programs so that at-risk youth obtain job training and learn important life skills and lessons about respect, discipline, and personal responsibility.
Provides additional funding for after-school and community-based programs such as LA’s BEST, to increase opportunities for safe and supervised activities during the critical hours of 3-6pm, which will keep kids out of the streets and out of trouble.
Provides in-school programs such as GAP (Gang Alternative Program) that expands dropout prevention programs and establishes a citywide 4th grade curriculum that has been phenomenally successful in keeping kids away from gangs. Additionally, it funds a program to escort students to and from school that will keep young people safe from gang recruitment.

ACCOUNTABILITY
Will only fund programs that provide kids with real alternatives to gang involvement, programs with actual success.
A Citizen’s Oversight Committee will oversee and make recommendations to the Mayor and City Council about which organizations receives funding.
The measure requires annual City Controller audits to ensure that all taxpayers’ funds are used effectively, efficiently and as promised to fight gang violence in Los Angeles.
Programs that receive funding are required to demonstrate effectiveness, which will be measured by long-term success of kids participating in the programs or an actual reduction in gang violence. Programs that cannot demonstrate effectiveness and not shown to reduce gang violence will not be eligible to receive funds raised by this measure.
Funding comes from a $36 annual parcel tax on each property, with exemptions for low-income property owners, and senior citizens, which comes to $3 a month.

Click on the VOTE YES link to get more information:

http://www.voteyespropa.com/

The Call is Getting Louder to Embrace Creativity Education in Schools

2008-10-22T22:56:00.000-07:00

Another call from an expert to reinstate arts to the schools. Sir Ken Robinson says its imperative to make us competitive in the 21st century. Apparently, the Brits have injected a billion dollars into their education system to improve the teaching of creativity. Singapore, South Korea, and China are reinventing their teaching strategies and testing -- opting instead to emphasize the teaching of creativity. They've decided that curriculum based solely to satisfy test scores is counterproductive to innovation. Ahem!

We can't lag so far behind! That would definitely be a creative disconnect. After all, wasn't it the alarm sounded 25 years ago by the report "A Nation at Risk" comparing our students' test scores against these same countries that sent us in our current direction? We've now arrived at this incredibly intense testing frenzy as if it's going to get our country ahead ... and what has it really gotten us? If we don't pay attention to what the rest of the world is now doing, we're off in left field. We need to be in the right field, providing more right brain education.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=6d37953d-0486-43d0-8cc4-c70f389f4b06

Taking Art-Making Away From Kindergarteners is Anti-Education

2008-10-22T21:08:00.000-07:00

So, I was having another one of those headshaking conversations with a kindergarten teacher that makes me crazy. She mentioned that a LAUSD supervisor had told kindergarten teachers she didn't want to see cutting and pasting or art-type projects displayed on the walls. Teachers were only to put up real "work."

O my gosh!

As parents know -- and supposedly well-trained educators who've completed child development coursework -- the work of five-year-olds is cutting, gluing, drawing, painting, and gaining those fine motor skills in the right and natural way. You can't get to fluid writing until you provide those opportunities consistently.

Now, kids who have had this normally at home during their preschool years are prepared for the "rigor" of kindergarten. But, our schools are full of children who have not even made marks on paper. The teachers see the result of this every day. Yet their hands are tied. Instead of doing what they know is right, they are forced to make young children try to perform beyond their abilities. It just doesn't work. These kids need double the amount of cutting and drawing opportunities to make up for the deficit.

You know the catch phrase -- we need education reform. True reform means providing education that is developmentally appropriate. Kids learn through art-making. It develops half their brain power, their hand power, their focusing power...which must be in place to master the school-type subjects.

We get more for our education bucks when we provide systematic art education. I've personally seen it work. Just because California hasn't been doing it, in no way means it doesn't work. We have to teach young kids in the way they learn best. Through art. That way, teachers have a better chance of helping kids learn subjects that aren't so natural or of interest to them -- and get those all-important test scores that are important to...adults.

In other school districts that spend less per student, but still have their art programs, they know they can't get rid of them even in tight financial times. There's value in giving kids even 50 minutes per week of art instruction. It's really is so little time out of the frenzy of test prep, so it seems easily expendable. But schools get a big bang for that focused instruction devoted entirely to right brain thinking. It ripples out into the rest of the school day.

Otis Art College Celebrates Its Big 9-0!

2008-10-11T21:04:00.000-07:00

The Los Angeles art institution founded by Otis Chandler of the LA Times turned 90-years-old today. That's some tradition. But is an art education relevant today? You bet it is! Otis is expanding. It's rigorous. It's students are in demand as innovators in the creative industries.

As an alum, I was impressed listening to the presentations made by each department. The college has really grown since I was there over two decades ago. There's a recognition of the variety of opportunities and industries worldwide craving creative talent, so the majors available have expanded impressively. But two Otis hallmarks have remained intact that drew me to it initially: all students spend their first year taking a foundation in basic art fundamentals, and instructors work in the industry rather than spouting outdated theory. Students learn from the pros bringing the latest techniques to the classroom. It's an awesome arrangement.

But here's what I wondered. One department chairman mentioned offhandedly that few Californians were in his program. Of course, when I hear something like that my ears prick up! Also, I was struck by the high caliber of student ability at the freshman level. How many students coming from California high schools could step right into the program? We are cutting our kids off from fantastic opportunities by cutting out part of their K - 12 education.

I think we should reject the wornout argument trotted out by CA districts that the arts cost too much. Not that I want to harp on the point, but Texas districts provide full programs based on far less funding per pupil than the state of CA gives. They have to deal with the same expensive issues such as immigration, special education, and testing -- hey, it's their model of testing that's been imposed on the rest of the country. Even so, they include elementary art and music rooms in buildings each district raises itself without state funds. LAUSD is building new schools for the first time in eons, but they don't include art and music rooms, or gyms. It's not even in their thinking to build for a future when they might have more money in their coffers. That's not tax dollars well-spent, in my opinion.

I think we need an uprising.

Are the Arts "Academic?"

2008-10-07T20:50:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking over the years about having an elementary charter school for the arts. Last spring I took a more serious look into it - visiting other charter schools and interviewing the movers and shakers behind a couple of successful ones to learn about their personal involvement. It was exciting to find a group of eager funders who wanted to put money towards seeding some Los Angeles charter schools. They were actively recruiting founders who didn't have education backgrounds. Really, it was surprising.

With a masters in education, principal certification, and teacher appraiser certification, I thought I was a shoe-in. Ha! My idea for an art-based school couldn't even make it past the initial screening process. I was told straight out: art is not academic, it isn't college-preparatory, it can't get funded. Why would you waste time teaching creativity in school?

My, my.

So, no matter that I who have worked in schools and taught thousands of kids, successfully proposed to a school board and implemented a middle school pilot program integrating art across the curriculum, and have a husband who is a school administrator, was told I didn't have an "academic" school proposal. No wonder it's so easy to cut school art programs when the guys at the top haven't a clue about the academics of art education.

Friends, we have a lot of work to do to if we're going to change this huge misperception.

By the way, if you want to to keep the little bit of funding the legislature has given towards art education for the last three years, there's a "thank you" letter getting sent around. Please sign it. And kindly ask your friends to sign it, too.

Give your legislator a hug. With the latest dismal Wall Street news, there will surely be some very hard choices ahead. Let's try and keep the funding we've got!

Here's the link to California Alliance for the Arts' Thank You Letter. If the link doesn't work, copy and paste it into your browser. Send you letter now!

http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5155/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=710

Importing Creative Talent Instead of Growing Our Own

2008-10-04T17:04:00.000-07:00

Over twenty years ago or so, I got acquainted with the man who was hiring talent at Warner Brothers. As fellow artists and art teachers, we bemoaned what was happening way back then! California's Proposition 13 (freezing property tax at 1978 prices) had been gutting money available to the schools. As a result, he was not able to hire enough US-born talent for the studio's entry level program.

At that point, we were about 10 years into the loss of public school art programs. He said that he almost never, if ever, hired someone from California. I was shocked. A fabulous Los Angeles institution not able to give good-paying jobs to Los Angeles residents! They could find talent from the east coast, but mostly they had begun importing it from India. Imagine that. And it was so expensive for the studio to do that -- $50,000 at 1988 prices! They paid for the visa, helped to buy a home, brought the wife along, etc. I wanted to scream about it from the roof tops. We were cutting our own children off from an education that would provide them wonderful jobs in the creative industry right here. And then complained loudly about foreign talent "taking" the jobs instead.

Has anything changed in the intervening years??? Even Google couldn't find enough creative US educated workforce, and woefully cast an eye offshore. Dear Californians, are you getting the point? Creativity must be taught the same as spelling, or reading, or math. It's not something you grab out of the air.

To the immense credit of the Warner Brothers talent scout, he scraped together a demanding graphic arts program at his local high school in an underserved area of Los Angeles. He knew what the kids needed in their art program before they could even be considered as an intern. Those students had to work extra hard outside of school to make up for the lack of art education from K-10th grade before he got hold of them. They were off to the zoo on the weekends to draw. They took life drawing at the community college at night. It was draw, baby, draw! But he was getting some success for those high schoolers who were driven to make it. Who could help but cheer for them all!

But it shouldn't be so hard. When we recognize that art education provides the foundation for an unbelievable number of industries and jobs that define Los Angeles, we'll start to put it on par with science and math and fund it. The talent's already here; it needs to be educated. It's cheaper to provide meaningful training to work in the creative industries than to let that young talent be idled, unfulfilled, and frozen out from contributing their brain power to fuel our creative economy.

We can change the mindset here. Creativity is about thinking broadly -- looking at things in a different way. Yes, millions have benefited from the windfall Prop 13 has given them over three decades, pocketed their personal pots-of-gold, and not paid their fair share towards our infrastructure. But now that we're seeing the crumbling results thirty years later, we know something's got to be done. Frankly, we crave it. We want thriving, livable communities. We must pay up in order to provide creative schools that prepare students for the well-paying jobs that are right here -- and should belong to them.

ArtsVote Releases Comparison of Obama-McCain Arts Positions

2008-10-03T19:34:00.000-07:00

Americans for the Arts Action Fund artsusa.org>

With only 32 days left to Election Day, now is the time to act and show your support for the arts!

Arts Positions of the 2008 Presidential Candidates
	Sen. Barack Obama Democratic Nominee	Sen. John McCain Republican Nominee
Campaign has met with Americans for the Arts Action Fund to discuss policy issues.	Yes Meeting held 4/1/08	Yes Meeting held 4/1/08
Campaign has published policy proposals on the arts and/or arts education.	Yes Read policy proposal 2/28/08	No
Candidate has made statement on federal support of the arts.	Yes View Pennsylvania speech on 4/2/08	No
Candidate has made statement on federal support of arts education.	Yes View Texas speech on 2/28/08	Yes Read Statement 10/03/08
National party platform includes statement on the arts and/or arts education.	Yes Read platform statement on page 49	No
Candidate has pro-arts Congressional record.	Yes Co-sponsored S. 548, Artist-Museum Partnership Act, 2/25/08	No Voted to cut funding or terminate the National Endowment for the Arts (see listing of votes*)

Arts Positions of the 2008 Presidential Candidates

Sen. Barack Obama
Democratic Nominee
Sen. John McCain
Republican Nominee
Campaign has met with Americans for the Arts Action Fund to discuss policy issues.
Yes
Meeting held 4/1/08
Yes
Meeting held 4/1/08
Campaign has published policy proposals on the arts and/or arts education.
Yes
Read policy proposal 2/28/08
No
Candidate has made statement on federal support of the arts.
Yes
View Pennsylvania speech on 4/2/08
No
Candidate has made statement on federal support of arts education.
Yes
View Texas speech on 2/28/08
Yes
Read Statement 10/03/08
National party platform includes statement on the arts and/or arts education.
Yes
Read platform statement on page 49
No
Candidate has pro-arts Congressional record.
Yes
Co-sponsored S. 548, Artist-Museum Partnership Act, 2/25/08
No
Voted to cut funding or terminate the National Endowment for the Arts (see listing of votes*)

Otis Data Proves It: Creativity is Big Business in Los Angeles

2008-10-02T22:26:00.000-07:00

Some would say creativity is THE business of Los Angeles. Otis College of Art and Design has got the data to prove what tourists have always known -- the LA brand is a powerful economic draw and engine.

Otis College commissioned the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) to compile and analyze the "2008 Report on the Creative Economy of the Los Angeles Region." Maybe it's no surprise that a 90 year-old art education institution such as Otis recognizes that creativity and innovation are what will define and drive the 21st century. Good news for Angelenos: we don't have to try to invent a creative community from scratch. We're already here. It's robust, but rather unrecognized for the powerhouse that it is. That was the most surprising message, given how many jobs and tax revenue it generates.

For number crunchers, the data is undeniable. This is not frill or fluff. As was mentioned time and again, this is serious business. Almost a million jobs are directly and indirectly based on creative industries! This is mind-boggling. Each direct job in the creative industry supports 1.6 indirect jobs. The interconnecting web supports the entire region, even down to containers being unloaded at the port in San Pedro.

An impressive panel of business and community leaders, moderated by KCET's Val Zavala, shared personal insights about "Imagining a Creative Future." The CEOs of Mattel, Inc. and Hurley International (a subsidiary of Nike), the Mayor of El Segundo, and the directors of the California Arts Council and L.A. County Arts Commission were clear about the potential and needs of the creative community. Instead of being ignored by our government agencies, they need to play a bigger role in planning and using us. Considering the significant portion it generates in the 17th largest economy of the world, government and business leaders need to help ensure the future of L.A.'s creative community.

One of the biggest creative disconnects mentioned: the lack of art education in our K-12 schools, while the college and university opportunities are renowned. I aplauded the clarion call of Laura Zucker, Executive Director of L.A. Arts Commission: quadruple the effort to provide art education to the students in the region's 80 school districts. What a concept: educate our own kids to actually get some of these creative jobs, rather than importing talent from other countries. How are the schools in India and Russia and Asia providing a creative education superior to ours?

The second biggest creative disconnect: Los Angeles gives far less to support its creative community than other major cities such as New York, Seattle and Chicago. According to Arts For LA , we rank lowest in public, private, corporate, and individual support for the arts. Isn't it time we changed that? Wow. If you think we're a powerhouse now, just imagine what we can be with some fuel!

You can download the full report at: www.otis.edu

You can support the advocacy movement to improve our creative economy at www.artsforla.org

Otis College of Art and Design Zeroes in on LA's Creative Engine

2008-10-01T22:55:00.000-07:00

Today my alma mater hosted an impressive morning gathering at the Skirball Cultural Center. Art nonprofit organizations, mayors, business CEOs, cultural commissioners, educators, fine and performing artists came to hear Otis College of Art and Design President Sammy Hoi give an eye-opening presentation. It definitely woke up anybody feeling sleepy due to the early hour. One wondered, will artists and designers rescue the economy?

We've been hearing more and more about the creative economy. Some communities -- Austin, TX, Fairfax, VA and Asheville, NC come to mind -- have made a conscious commitment to invest in their creative economies. They are drawing in those types of folks to form a lively community. In fact, the first-ever "National Conference on the Creative Economy" for the business community was held in Fairfax in 2007, drawing such popular economic speakers as Richard Florida and Thomas Friedman.

Now at long last, the original city built on creativity has our own report. Otis has headed a study tying actual numbers to the financial engine that creativity-based jobs generate in the Los Angeles region. If there's any doubt about this importance, putting dollar figures to it brings clarity. That an art college has taken the lead to identify this for the city made me proud. I was very surprised that it hadn't been generated by the Chamber of Commerce or the Mayor's office.

There's plenty of good news to report. But of course, as a long-time art educator, I wring my hands over the lack of substantial school art programs. That was brought up as recommendation in need of overhaul. It just astounds me that Texas not only has maintained their programs, but in the districts where I worked, they wouldn't have thought of building a new elementary school without an art room. In the last district where I was, they always build two art and two music rooms in each elementary school!! And that's not only in the richest part of town, but in every neighborhood. Folks, we can do this here! We've got a magnificent creative economy to maintain.

Okay, enough of the soap box. Let me share some of the items that jumped out at me during the two hour presentation.

Creativity in the Age of Accountability

2008-09-30T10:19:00.000-07:00

Here's a link to a published article I wrote that parents and educators should find helpful. If you're interested in ways to increase the teaching of creativity in school, I included several that aren't expensive or difficult to do. We just need to redefine exactly what a balanced education looks like!

http://www.caisca.org

When you get to the site, click on Publications. Go to Faculty. My article is found in the Late Spring 2008 edition. Look for "Creativity in the Age of Accountability," which begins on page 6. As it's in a PDF file, you can't download just my article alone. But there's wonderfully creative applications written by other educators as well. This is a publication authored by teachers who gave workshops for their peers.

If this link isn't working when you click on it directly, copy and paste it into the browser above. I can't access the publications through Firefox. However, I can read them in Explorer.

If you'd like me to send you the publication directly, please email me at twcheney@gmail. com.

A Test That Makes A Difference: Simple Art Assessments

2008-09-29T19:35:00.001-07:00

I've long-advocated that kindergartens be given a simple drawing assessment when registering for school. And once in awhile I get teachers to take me up on this. It's actually easy to read these. They provide an immediate visual insight as to where the child is age-wise in his/her development stage.

If a child is drawing like a three-year-old, he's clearly not ready for kindergarten curriculum. He'll be behind before he even begins. This child needs plenty of art practice before he's ready to form or recognize letters. Assessing the drawings would help the teacher group children appropriately and provide insight as to how to plan for maximum learning from day one.

I've done this in first and second grade classes, too. Teachers are expected to meet the learning needs of a wide variety of learners in their classrooms. We've found it helpful to lay the drawings side by side, or pin them up with clothespins. I group them by developmental age as the children's drawings indicate. We look at the class drawings in order from the "youngest" to those drawing at grade level, and beyond. It helps explain visually to the teacher why certain kids are falling behind or can't handle certain aspects of the curriculum. Then hopefully the best intervention will be put in place.

The groundbreaking work on deciphering children's developmental age based on their artwork was pioneered in the 1940s - 1950s. Viktor Lowenfeld's identification of the stages of cognitive development were quite remarkable. In his book "Creative and Mental Growth," he included charts and samples of children's artwork. His work has been expanded, and long-time art educators such as Betty Edwards have added their insights in how to read children's visual work.

I find all this fascinating -- and so easy to do. And cheap! A fortune of education dollars is forced to be spent on extensive, laborious testing. Educators can learn a lot from simple crayons and paper and letting kids draw. This test prep is easy and fun.

This great site compares Lowenfeld's and Edwards' description of each stage of cognitive, visual development. You can see for yourself:
http://www.learningdesign.com/Portfolio/DrawDev/kiddrawing.html

Want Better Test Scores in Low-Performing Schools? Double the Art-Making

2008-09-28T08:37:00.000-07:00

I want to continue sharing my insights into kindergarten-age students from my last post.

When children enter kindergarten, they should have had two or three years of drawing experience already (progressing from scribbling to being able to make a representational person). That doesn't mean filling in coloring books that are adult-drawn! Kids are naturally inclined to start making marks between age two and three. You can't teach them to draw better. Just providing paper and crayon for making big movements, and lots of opportunity to create their own imagery, promotes the natural development of large and small motor skills. Kids draw first, then read, then write. That's the progression.

However, the schools are filled with kids coming to school without any practice. Too many homes don't have basic art supplies like paper, crayons, and scissors. Parents don't realize the value of providing this practice to help their children be school-ready, and this applies to affluent families as well as low income. So the kids simply aren't ready. But the kindergarten curriculum now starts at the point where this development should have taken place. There is no time provided in many kindergarten classes to make up for this lack.

If we recognize this and want to improve test scores, kindergarten -- as well as the early elementary grades -- needs to provide double the amount of time spent on art and creativity, not reduce it. The remedial work must be done through art. That's where the gap begins. Kids will then be more ready to take on the accelerated curriculum. Yet at schools where the students score low, the tendency is to cut out the art and"play" to concentrate on writing. Educators, who are trained in child development, are in such a bind. They know they can't leapfrog children's development, no matter how much the state regulators think it can be done.

Kids move through predictable stages of development. It's like learning to walk -- kids spend a lot of time crawling first, figuring it out on their own. It doesn't matter what the adult wants. Children develop on their own timetable to progress to the next level. If the state wants kindergartners to perform beyond their readiness, everybody's time, effort, and money is being wasted. Talk about a creative disconnect! School becomes an endless frustrating fog for these kids. On the other hand, engaging the kids in lots of art to address their developmental needs will do more to improve their abilities faster than giving them piles of worksheets to fill out.

I once received some state grant money to tutor very low kindergartners who were not school-ready. I knew from their backgrounds that they had not had regular access to crayons and paper. Our tutoring sessions involved art-making, not trying to make them to write sentences or sound out words. Scribbling, coloring, and painting worked towards fluidity of movement, teaching their fingers to grasp a pencil as they gained some control to make shapes. Cutting and playing with clay built up strength; gluing helped them focus. They were better able to process their own ideas. When children haven't built up the motor skills schools take for granted, and depend on for success, it's pretty difficult to prod them forward.

Providing art education would transform the kindergarten struggle into a more positive, forward-moving experience. We cannot leapfrog kids over their developmental stages, no matter how dire their test scores. Of course, the panic over scores results in a consequence to the principal who bears the brunt of low scores. It explains the unrelenting push to get kids to perform on subjects that aren't of natural interest to them .

One of the things making me the angriest is that these kids will struggle all through school. Lots of resources and interventions will miss the mark. We have to address the first lack -- no art-making. It only compounds as they get older and the curriculum gets harder. Schools have inadvertently become so one-sided -- lop-sided -- because they must teach only the left-brain type of thinking. The right-brain subjects need to be instructed, too. That's where kids are taught how to problem-solve and work with ambiguity.

Low-income schools with the best principals and fantastically dedicated teachers still can't get the results until we teach the whole mind. Business will continue to experience the "creativity gap" because workers coming from our schools have been taught there's one right answer instead of being able to think expansively. That's what extreme testing and accountability has produced.

The Next Art-Free Zone: Kindergarten

2008-09-27T21:06:00.000-07:00

It used to be that when art programs were slashed in the elementary schools, at least kindergarten was the last bastion of painting, drawing, and weekly, if not daily, art projects. Who couldn't imagine that five-year-olds would at least be the lucky ones still getting to enjoy their right-brain creativity exercises. One expects to find creativity still lurking around the corners of the kinder classroom.

But alas, anything that resembles art has been banished in some kindergarten classrooms. I'll never forget the day a kindergarten teacher ran into the art room on Valentine's Day, stunned that the principal had just made an upsetting proclamation. The little kids were coloring pictures related to the holiday. When the principal had come into the room, she acted as if the teacher was doing something wrong with her class. The principal announced that there would be no more coloring in kindergarten! They had to spend all the time getting in their academics.

Unfortunately, this true story illustrates the preposterous stress schools face. Second, we've lost all perspective about kindergarten age children. Third, art is "academic," regardless of the wild misinformation out there.

Where to begin sorting this out?

Since education was commandereed by the accountability movement (not necessarily an all bad thing), schools are ranked on test scores. We all know this. Meeting this expensive demand means less money has been available for what used to be considered normal components of education and the school day. Just to arm students with never-ending practice worksheets preparing for the tests has gobbled up school budgets nationwide (and mowed down our forests).

School administrators are in a bind: they have to carefully mind their budgets, even while their staffs copy increasing blizzards of worksheets. Copy paper is their most expensive item, often breaking the bank. Having taught in three states, I can attest to this universal response to test-prep. Art supplies can seem expensive. If a principal doesn't grasp the importance that art brings to the school experience, not only does the expense look frivilous, but the time spent engaged in a right-brain, authentic, hands-on activity once a week does, too. Employing an art specialist? A school could get two aides instead to tutor low-performing kids in reading or math. It's a trade off. It's not balanced, but the bottom line is panic over test scores. Period.

One of the consequences of the accountability push is that kindergarten has become the most pressured grade of all, in my opinion! In Texas, and I'm sure in other states as well, some of what had been the second grade curriculum has been shoved clear down into kindergarten. Five-year-olds are expected now to write sentences before they can even hold a pencil. Their day too is filled with worksheets. Some kids with a lot of experience under their belt can do this if their parents or progressive preschool provided it. But this push comes at the time when more and more kids are not getting the normal early childhood preparation that might enable them to do this. It's especially true in many low income homes.

A rather narrow, anemic view of "academic" has developed. Teachers are expected to cover a big amount of material. It ends up looking like worksheets and textbooks. It feels entirely left-brain. It's analytical, not creative. There is no time in the school day for teaching innovative thinking. But somehow, the adults making these curriculum decisions believe children will be able to do this without instruction or time spent cultivating it. They'd never do that with spelling or math. Let's face it, we have gotten stupid with all this testing. We've lost sight of the children and how they develop.

Who Will Fund Future Innovation Training in Schools?

2008-09-26T20:48:00.001-07:00

There's an interesting block of voters emerging that link the issue of US innovation, creativity, and arts funding for the schools. They've been nicknamed "Imagine Nation." A survey of 1000 voters was taken in December 2007. It uncovered a preference towards candidates that support funding for the arts in education. The school reform they're pushing for is one that meets the demand for creative thinkers able to compete in the 21st century global economy. It gave me hope to read that "73% of voters believe that education in and through the arts is just as important as the so-called "basics." Only 19% of respondents feel the US is ahead in innovation. Check out the website http://www.imaginenation.com/

If you'd like to know how your states' legislators have voted in the past on bills related to the arts, there's a score card maintained at www.artsactionfund.org/pdf/specialreports/2006/congressional_report_card.pdf. It's behind the times, but you can see the trends.

What stands out starkly nationally is the huge number of Republicans scoring a "D" or "F." I must note an A+ for one Republican in NY, who voted 100% for the arts. He must be a maverick! Nearly every Democrat earned an "A" or "B," with many voting 100%. It's clear that Republicans have gutted attempts to bridge the widening "creativity gap" our economy is experiencing going up against other nations. If this is an issue that would determine your support for a candidate or party, take a look at that website. If you don't like what's become of American education, or the state of our creative economy, there's something to consider in these voting records.

In CA, here's the shakedown of our legislators:
Democrat / Republican
A+ (100%) 9 ----A+ 0
A 15 ------------ A 1
B 9 --------------B 2
C 2 --------------C 3
D 0 --------------D 6
F 0 --------------F 6

Girls Need Drawing to Express Themselves

2008-09-25T21:35:00.000-07:00

In the last post, I talked about why boys need to have at least some of their school subjects presented in hands-on, authentic, creative ways. Well, girls need this too, of course. But their needs are quite different.

Letting kids draw during the school day activates their entire thinking process. Drawing is the way children think. They naturally draw as small children. Little kids are happy drawing. They don't make judgements about the quality.

But around age ten - twelve, all kids need instruction to help them do what they want to do -- draw more realistically to express their maturing ideas. Drawing becomes a struggle for some because they compare themselves to competent peers or adults. This seems to be a human development stage. Kids need help getting over the hurdle. How this was handled in your case probably still reverberates deep down. I've found this to be especially true for women decades later. A negative experience in art has lasting power because it hits the core.

Girls need art instruction because they don't tend to draw the things that boys do. They get stuck drawing such symbols as hearts, rainbows, and flowers. Ask any 4th or 5th grade teacher. It's universal. I was really struck by this when my daughter -- who always had lots of art opportunity in her experience -- started drawing those same cliches. They looked just like the ones I was doodling in sixth grade.

Around that time, a lot of girls start closing down -- either covering up their drawings or not drawing at all unless forced to do so like making a poster or report. They can see that their work doesn't measure up. This is especially hard on girls who have the rest of school mastered. They feel inadequate. The solution is not to cut out art. Duh! Girls need systematic instruction and encouragement.

Here's an article I wrote with simple art and teaching creativity ideas for teachers and parents. The publication is from Arts in Education Aid Council (AEAC). Look for "Welcome Back to the New School Year":

http://www.chatsworthchamber.com/attachments/f59/30d1221871470-2008-aeac-fall-volume-9-issue-1-aeac_vol9-issue1_r4_final.pdf

Boys' Trouble in School: Maybe They Need More Art

2008-09-24T20:51:00.000-07:00

Last week, there was an article on Newsweek.com that caught my eye about the struggle school-age boys are having. There were numerous reasons sited, and possible solutions given. As a long-time educator, I've experienced the upheavals in society, parent-rearing, and the education system. But as an art educator, I've gained some unique insights that the author of the article and many experts miss.

Here's the deal: we've always heard that girls develop/mature linguistically faster than boys. We accept that to various degrees, almost as a put-down to boys. But what are boys doing at the same time? They are developing their spatial intelligence. This is crucial to know. Watch what they do -- they build, practice drawing realistic subjects like cars and rockets and robots, play with Legos, actively do things with others, and study the details on bugs.... It's always intrigued me that this spatial intelligence is expressed in the type of work many men are drawn to -- architecture, engineering, art, and being able to estimate the amount of boxes needed to pack up a house of furniture. They are good at these types of visual puzzles. However, school rarely addresses the style of learning that many boys crave, little yet acknowledging their spatial intelligence.

School is geared to the subjects that can be easily measured. These are "left-brain" skills. Reading, math, spelling, grammar, etc. are subjects that follow patterns, require one right answer, are logical, and taught methodically. It's possible to teach specific strategies to improve in these areas fairly quickly -- which school does well. However, with the extreme push being forced upon children and teachers alike to excel in these subjects, the "right-brain" activities that actually nourish kids, and boys in particular, have been shunted aside. They require lots of think-time and doing, and school doesn't have that kind of time anymore under the current regime.

There's little left in the school day that honors the way boys learn best.

I thought when I got my masters this would be the topic I'd study for my thesis. But I ended up doing a project involving intervention models for at-risk middle school kids. Had I gone for my PhD, maybe then I'd have been able to set up a formal study just to prove officially what I already know. But I think working with thousands of elementary age children in the art room has given me plenty of insight that I didn't get in the regular classroom teaching one grade level. I've had the advantage of working with K-6 grade students on a daily basis.

There are certain things that have held true over the decades because they relate to child development. They've held true working in three states, in numerous school districts rural, suburban or urban, in schools serving the well-off, the economically disadvantaged, the homeless, and new immigrants. Kids are kids. They pass through very predictable stages of visual, creative thinking development. When this is ignored by adults, it's not the child's fault. Not teaching to this intelligence strips boys of their ability to process the typical subjects in a meaningful way.

My first real inkling of this was when I was asked to serve on a committee for the alternative high school in one community in the 1990's. They were struggling with their dropout rate and wondered if putting in an art strand might help. I spent time in the classes, chatting with students. What I couldn't help noticing was the predominant number of boys in the school. And how many of them doodled really well. It struck me that traditional teaching had failed them; they'd really fallen through the cracks far earlier in their school career. That set me to looking at what we were doing in elementary and middle school. Oh by the way, they instituted that art strand -- including glass blowing -- and had 99% attendance rate.

By the way, I'm not a fan of the "left-brain/right-brain" lingo. However, they've become acceptable mainstream models to explain complex thinking processes. They were actually coined twenty-five years ago by art teacher Betty Edwards. Her book, "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain," has spawned numerous new approaches to old topics such as spelling, even if we don't get to practice them.

You can read the full article "Struggling School Age Boys" from September 8, 2008 at http://www.newsweek.com/id/157898

A Return to Los Angeles

2008-09-23T17:50:00.000-07:00

We left Los Angeles twenty years ago. Not that we really wanted to, but for us educators not making enough to buy even a studio-sized condo in the toughest section of the city, we had a toddler and wanted a real home. In the late 80's, it was a middle class/professional migration out in search of housing. Coming back, it's like returning to a time-warp, only everything that needed fixing back then is worse. Housing prices?! Even with the downturn, we're back to renting a condo.

Having raised our daughter in far more affordable circumstances, we wanted to come back to the city that values creativity -- or does it? We'll be examining that question and what we can do about it in this blog. As an art educator, it's downright dismal. For the city, not tending to creative education has had a detrimental effect. But the business community nationally is starting to sound the alarm. And because of that, I have great hope. It was the business community that rightfully sounded the alarm twenty-five years ago when they were having to spend too much on basic remedial education for workers. The schools responded.

Now the business community is seeing the result of ignoring a key part of education -- teaching students how to think. In the rush to beef up measurable scores -- left-brain subjects as some would say -- the unmeasurable, right-brain subjects were discarded. As fluff. As expendable. As something only for those who could afford to get it on their own, or "deserved" it. All of the arts educators who've been sidelined for a quarter century (since the publication of "Nation at Risk" in 1983) have been screaming about this, along with frustrated parents. Now, finally, the business community is raising its voice. Could it be that we'll be gaining some balance? Soon?