Teaching through the arts cultivates creativity, confidence and critical thinking skills.
The Laird Norton Family Foundation is committed to increasing arts education and improving PreK-12 student learning through the arts. Our vision is to transform children's lives and enhance their learning through arts education. We support quality arts instruction in the classroom as pathway to our larger goal: helping PreK-12 public schools develop arts-infused curricula and using the arts as a tool to teach other subjects. Our funding is directed toward programs that seek to enhance students' educational outcomes rather than increasing participation in or appreciation for the arts.
We focus our Arts in Education grantmaking in three areas:
There is clear evidence to suggest that arts-integrated curricula and/or arts-rich environments are beneficial to student learning. Programs are most successful when: they have the support of an entire district and in-school leadership; teacher professional development is included in the program; partnerships with high-quality arts organizations are created and nourished; arts lessons are aligned with other student learning goals; and, student progress is effectively monitored. With those lessons in mind, we have established the following guiding principles:
We focus our Arts in Education grantmaking in three areas:
- Encourage the adoption and/or growth of arts integration within a public school or school district. We prioritize programs that utilize the arts in the teaching of diverse curriculum content areas over arts enrichment or direct arts instruction programs.
- Advocate systemic change within schools, districts, or at the state level to encourage arts in education; and,
- Utilize the arts as a tool to reduce the educational achievement gap.
There is clear evidence to suggest that arts-integrated curricula and/or arts-rich environments are beneficial to student learning. Programs are most successful when: they have the support of an entire district and in-school leadership; teacher professional development is included in the program; partnerships with high-quality arts organizations are created and nourished; arts lessons are aligned with other student learning goals; and, student progress is effectively monitored. With those lessons in mind, we have established the following guiding principles:
- K-12 public schools (or pre-K programs that receive public funding) must already have traction in arts programs (i.e. some arts education has already been established in the school, policies are in place to support arts in education, principals want a more robust arts program, and schools have support from parent groups (PTAs) to strengthen their arts programs).
- Programs must focus on positively impacting students’ learning.
- Programs must focus on students “doing” art as opposed to observing art. Programs should enhance comprehensive, sequential delivery of arts instruction and can include all arts: performing, music, visual, theater, literary (poetry & writing), folk, media, and emerging art fields.
- Programs must be designed and managed with an understanding of cultural competencies appropriate to their student demographic.
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In 2012, LNFF's Arts in Education committee decided to commission a series of videos about the impact of arts in education, working with students from School of the Arts in Tacoma, WA. Combined, these videos tell the story of how arts in education benefits individual students, their schools, and the communities in which they live. Please take a few minutes to watch each of the three videos: The Whole Child, at left, How Arts Eduction Prepared Me to Be, and Community. We are thrilled to help tell the story of the importance of arts in a complete education.
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2017 Arts in Education Grants
- American Conservatory Theatre (CA) $15,000 to support the Back to the Source educator workshop, a week-long intensive workshop for teachers to learn to use theatrical techniques in the classroom.
- Arts Corps (WA) $30,000 general operating support. Arts Corps’ mission is to provide quality arts education programs to children who would not ordinarily have those opportunities. Arts Corps serves more than 2,400 children and youth at 40 sites throughout the greater Seattle community.
- Arts for the Schools (CA) $30,000 to support professional development and the Visual Arts Artists in Residence program providing arts education in the Truckee Tahoe Unified School District. Through this program, Arts for the Schools provides arts education to more than 1,200 students.
- Arts Impact (Puget Sound Educational Service District) (WA) $30,000 general operating support. Arts Impact provides two-year teacher training programs that give teachers the skills they need to infuse arts into their curricula.
- Creative Advantage (The Seattle Foundation) (WA) $25,000 to support a Dance & Quality Physical Education program for teachers in the Seattle Public Schools South-Southeast and Southwest Arts Pathways by partnering with Pacific Northwest Ballet. The Creative Advantage will reinvest in Seattle's students and our community's economic and creative future by addressing current inequities in access and restoring arts education to all Seattle classrooms.
- Exploring the Arts (NY) $25,000 to increase student engagement through arts integration and to increase the rigor in both arts and academic classes within each school in its core initiative, the 4-Year Plan. Exploring the Arts' mission is to transform the lives of young people through arts education.
- Kennedy Center Changing Education Through the Arts (DC) $33,000 to support work in D.C.-area schools, professional learning opportunities for teachers, an annual Arts Integration conference, and ongoing assessment and evaluation for consistent school-wide program development. CETA is dedicated to improving student learning through arts integrated instruction.
- Museum of Children's Art (MOCHA) (CA) $20,000 to support teaching artist residencies programs in Oakland area public schools. Teaching Artists collaborate with classroom teachers for the school year to develop lesson plans that integrate the arts into other academic subjects as well as promote access to the arts by providing weekly arts education opportunities in the classroom.
- The Right Brain Initiative (OR) $30,000 to support the next phase of their 'push-in' professional development services for classroom teachers in 70 Portland, Oregon area K-8 schools. The Initiative offers multi-district and school-based workshops, professional learning communities and in-classroom coaching as well as program evaluation to improve the quality of arts-integrated learning.
- Turnaround Arts (DC) $42,000 to support the Summer Leadership Retreat, a keystone national event that kicks off the next school year's work with 50 of the nation's most struggling schools. Turnaround Arts uses arts education as a tool to help turn around the lowest-performing elementary and middle schools from across the country.
- Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning in the Arts (VA) $18,000 to support Creativity Connects (in partnership with a grant from the NEA) early arts Integration symposiums and teaching artist residencies in two new launch cities. Wolf Trap is a national leader in integrating the performing arts into early childhood classroom lesson plans.