Seattle Art Museum: Teaching Artists and the Future of Education

Art education leaders, teaching artists, K�12 educators, funders, and policy makers are invited to enjoy a sneak peak report on results from the first national study on teaching artists - the Teaching Artist Research Project (TARP).

Nick Rabkin, a senior research scientist at the University of Chicago, will present research findings and policy implications from TARP.

With data from 3,500 artists and 750 program managers, TARP explored the sphere of teaching artists and found provocative and sometimes inspiring reasons to be hopeful about the future of education. Over the past thirty years, teaching artists have played growing roles in a wide range of venues�from public school classrooms to neighborhood storefronts and jails, to symphony orchestras, museums and youth theater companies. Often swimming against the tide of standardized testing and narrowed curriculum, teaching artists have helped to keep the arts alive in our schools and communities. Their work addresses profound questions about how the arts can contribute to the future of education and our nation.

The Teaching Artist Research Project (TARP) will be completed in early 2011 and the results will be published soon after. The Seattle/Tacoma area was one of a dozen study sites in the first national study of teaching artists. TARP funders: 4Culture, Greater Tacoma Community Foundation, Harvest Foundation, Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, Raynier Foundation, Seattle Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, Tacoma Arts Commission, and the Washington State Arts Commission.

This event is part of the Art Goes to School: Building a Community of Thinkers project. Building a Community of Thinkers is a professional learning community for educational leaders and direct service providers at arts, cultural and community based organizations in the Puget Sound area. The project taps national, regional and local experts to share best practices and critical strategies centered on the role of the arts in student learning. It also raises awareness of the importance of creative learning in the general community by examining arts education partnerships with cultural and community based organizations during K�12 school hours, after school and in the summer.

For more information or to join our mailing list email cot@seattleartmuseum.org.

The Seattle Art Museum (SAM) is the lead organization for the Building a Community of Thinkers project. Advisory Committee Members: Arts Corps, Arts Impact, ArtsEd Washington, Seattle Arts and Lectures, Seattle Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, Seattle Public Schools, Visual Thinking Strategies, Washington State Arts Commission.

Art Goes to School: Building a Community of Thinkers is made possible by a grant from The Clowes Fund, Inc.