ArtsOhio Blog

2020 Governor’s Awards for the Arts Winners Announced

Thu, 06 May 2021 21:28:00 GMT

Nine winners have been selected to receive Governor’s Awards for the Arts in Ohio.

A tradition since 1971, the Governor's Awards showcase and celebrate exceptional Ohio artists, arts organizations, arts leaders and patrons, and business support of the arts. Award recipients are presented with the only arts award in the state that is conferred by the governor.

In recognition of their impactful and visionary leadership in Ohio’s creative sector and sustained dedication to promoting artistic excellence, awardees will be honored during a virtual celebration premiering online on May 10, 2021, at noon.

“Ohio is lucky to have individuals and organizations who are committed to transforming communities and touching lives through creative leadership, artistic accomplishments, and enthusiastic support of the arts in our great state,” said Ohio Arts Council Executive Director Donna S. Collins. “The Governor’s Awards are a special opportunity to celebrate Ohioans who exemplify what it means to make a difference through the power of the arts. On behalf of the Ohio Arts Council, I congratulate this year’s award recipients and thank them for the great work they do for the arts and culture in Ohio each and every day.”

The 2020 Governor’s Awards for the Arts in Ohio will be presented as a virtual celebration premiering on May 10, 2021, at noon. The pre-recorded broadcast will feature video segments highlighting each of the nine award winners, along with remarks from Governor Mike DeWine, legislative leadership, Ohio Arts Council Executive Director Donna S. Collins, and more. The OAC is partnering with the Ohio Channel to offer several opportunities to celebrate the impactful contributions of our 2020 award recipients, including the online premiere on Facebook and YouTube, and a televised rebroadcast on the Ohio Channel on Saturday, May 15 at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Each of the winners will receive an original work of art by Cleveland-based artist Barry Underwood.

For more information about the Governor’s Awards, visit oac.ohio.gov/governorsawards.

The 2020 award recipients and categories follow:

ARTS ADMINISTRATION
Lora Snow, Executive Director at the Ariel-Ann Carson Dater Performing Arts Centre, Home of the Ohio Valley Symphony
Gallipolis (Gallia)

Lora Lynn Snow is the founder and executive director of the Ariel-Ann Carson Dater Performing Arts Centre in Gallipolis, home of the Ohio Valley Symphony. Lora, an oboist, was inspired in 1987 to form a professional orchestra in Gallia County and recognized the amazing acoustics in the long-neglected 1895 Ariel Opera House that had been abandoned for 25 years. Lora spearheaded the restoration and set about to organize the community toward the grand reopening of the historic Ariel in 1990 with a performance of the Ohio Valley Symphony. Mrs. Ann Carson Dater gifted the Ariel as a permanent home to the Ohio Valley Symphony (OVS) in 2005, which added an additional theatre, conference room, and banquet rooms. The OVS, now in its 30th season as the only professional orchestra in the Ohio River Valley, recently premiered Songs of Rural America on PBS nationwide with folk singer Michael Johnathon.

Having a holistic view of the arts, Lora also established a music education program, a double reed festival, a community theatre troupe, and OVS woodwind and dance programs at the Ariel. An active recitalist, clinician, and consultant with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music performance and education from the Ohio State University, Lora has taught at several universities and public schools covering kindergarten through graduate level inclusive. She is principal oboist for the Ohio Valley Symphony and OVS Woodwind Quintet, a member of the West Virginia Symphony, and a freelance musician.

ARTS EDUCATION
Nigel Burgoine, Artistic Director at the Ballet Theatre of Toledo
Holland (Lucas)

Nigel Burgoine, artistic director of the Ballet Theatre of Toledo, is a classical ballet instructor and choreographer. A graduate of the Royal Ballet School and former principal dancer with the London Festival Ballet, Nigel has danced around the world, performing in Australia, Brazil, Africa, and throughout Europe in principal roles in ballets such as Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Nutcracker, and Romeo & Juliet. Fueled by his passion for sharing the magic of ballet with the next generation of dancers, Nigel has used his experience and training to teach ballet to diverse audiences. A founding member of the London Festival Ballet Education Team, Nigel has implemented educational programs for dancers and communities in cities in Norway, Spain, England, and throughout the United States.

Prior to founding the Ballet Theatre of Toledo in 2005, Nigel served as artistic director at several other Ohio companies, including the Cincinnati Ballet and the Toledo Ballet, where his full-length productions and educational programs were designed to inspire young dancers by confronting stereotypes surrounding ballet. Nigel continues to serve as an ambassador for Ohio arts, recently working as a guest teacher and choreographer in Japan and Canada and constantly seeking opportunities to connect international artists and organizations with Ohio dancers and their communities.

ARTS EDUCATION
Marshall C. Kimball, Marietta College
Marietta (Washington)

Marshall C. Kimball completed a 47-year teaching career upon retirement from Marietta College after 14 years of service. At Marietta College he was the chairman of the department of music, professor of music, and director of bands and instrumental activities. He holds a Bachelor of Music in music education and a Master of Music in music education from Ohio University.

While teaching at Marietta College, Marshall received the Freshman Advising Award, the Innovative Teaching Award, The Douglas Putnam Outstanding Service Award, and the Harness Outstanding Educator Award. In April 2019 he received the Lifetime Achievement in Music Award from the Ohio University School of Music.

Marshall began his teaching career in Starr-Washington Local Schools (Union Furnace, Ohio), then proceeded to Trimble Local Schools (Glouster, Ohio), and finished his 30 years in the Ohio public schools with 26 years at Marietta City Schools. During his time in Marietta City Schools, the high school band program was recognized as a standard of excellence regionally, statewide, and nationally.

Following retirement from Marietta City Schools in 2001, Marshall took on adjunct work at Washington State Community College and Marietta College. The adjunct professor position at Marietta College eventually led to a full-time position in 2006, where he achieved full professor rank and became the chair of the music department. He currently is an adjunct professor/music consultant for the music department, working 10 hours per week and deals with administrative and accreditation issues.

ARTS PATRON
The Charles H. Dater Foundation
Cincinnati (Hamilton)

The Charles H. Dater Foundation was founded in 1985 to make grants to organizations in the Greater Cincinnati area that carry out projects benefiting young people in the areas of arts and culture, education, healthcare, social services, and other community needs. Since then, the foundation—one of the largest private foundations in Greater Cincinnati—has awarded more than 3,100 grants totaling $51 million to approximately 400 private, nonprofit organizations and public agencies for an array of programs and projects. Named after its founder, Charles Hixson Dater (1912-1993), a Cincinnati native and U.S. Army officer in World War II, the foundation preserves the memory of Dater and his ancestors, whose hard work and business acumen over four generations provided them with the opportunity to share their success with others in their community. Run entirely by officers and directors with no full-time staff, the foundation upholds the Dater family’s philanthropic commitment to enriching young lives by supporting community programming and services that have a positive and lasting impact on children.

BUSINESS SUPPORT OF THE ARTS
Nicolettecinemagraphics
Columbus (Franklin)

Nicolettecinemagraphics is a two-person digital media business based in Columbus that has supported the arts in myriad ways since it was founded by filmmakers Nicolette and Matt Swift in 2006. From donating their time and resources for use by arts-based nonprofits, to conducting teaching artist residencies exploring the art of filmmaking and video production, Nicolettecinemagraphics has worked closely with organizations such as VSA Ohio, Bridgeway Academy, Food for Good Thought, the Vanderelli Room, the Greater Columbus Arts Council, the Ohio State University Film Studies Program, and more. Through visual storytelling, the company supports and celebrates communities by creating digital content that showcases Ohio’s artists and arts organizations.

Nicolettecinemagraphics’ community involvement extends to initiatives such as the Columbus iteration of ReelAbilities Film Festival, a festival dedicated to presenting award-winning films by and about people with disabilities, and the Columbus Moving Image Art Review, a free quarterly screening event that provides local filmmakers, animators, and video artists with a dedicated space in which to share their work. By approaching film projects through the lens of accessibility, Nicolettecinemagraphics uses Nicolette and Matt’s expertise and knowledge to support creative projects that inspire and engage all audiences.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT & PARTICIPATION
Jorma Kaukonen's Fur Peace Ranch
Pomeroy (Meigs)

Jorma Kaukonen’s Fur Peace Ranch was initially built in 1989 as “a ranch that grows guitar players,” but it has since transformed into so much more. Founded by Jorma and Vanessa Kaukonen, the former of whom performed with Jefferson Airplane and still performs regularly with Hot Tuna, Fur Peace Ranch is an immersive music camp, conference center, concert venue, and art gallery located in Meigs County. Designed as a place where musicians can come together and draw inspiration from their creative surroundings, the ranch hosts students who stay in cabins, participate in group jam sessions, and attend music classes. Beyond the connections created over the course of music-filled weekends, Fur Peace Ranch also unites the broader community with outreach and engagement efforts taking place throughout Southeast Ohio.

Guided by the belief in the power of music to promote peace and change lives for the better, Fur Peace Ranch supports local artists, farmers, and businesses; brings national recording artists to local audiences through a recurring concert series that is simulcast on WOUB’s “Live from Jorma Kaukonen’s Fur Peace Ranch” every Friday; and promotes the reach of the arts throughout Southeast Ohio and beyond.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT & PARTICIPATION
Joan Perch, Program and Outreach Coordinator at the Campana Center for Ideation & Invention at Lorain County Community College
Elyria (Lorain)

Joan Perch began her career as an arts educator and owner of several successful art galleries in downtown Cleveland. Recognizing the opportunity to combine and implement cutting-edge approaches to the fields of art, technology, business, and civic and economic development, Joan has pioneered programs that embraced innovation to further the impact of the arts. Drawing from her experience in STEAM education, entrepreneurship, creative placemaking, and the intersection of arts and technology, Joan has contributed to the development of programs such as Cleveland’s Sparx in the City; the Ingenuity Festivals of Art and Technology; and the FireFish STEAM Maker Teen Academy, a year-round apprentice program for culturally at-risk urban teens developed in partnership with the FireFish Festival in Lorain, Ohio.

A staunch advocate for artists in communities, Joan also founded RED Dot Project, a social enterprise that utilized web-based technologies to market the art of Northeast Ohio artists; and the Future Artist Lab at Lorain County Community College’s Campana Center for Ideation and Invention, where she is currently the program developer and outreach coordinator at Lorain County Community College’s Patsie C. and Delores Jené Campana Center for Ideation and Invention.

INDIVIDUAL ARTIST
Jesse Ayers, DMA, Composer and Professor Emeritus of Music at Malone University
Canton (Stark)

Jesse Ayers, DMA, is an award-winning composer and a professor emeritus of music at Malone University in Canton, Ohio. Born in Knoxville, Tennessee, Jesse began composing in his early teens, and at age 17 was invited by the legendary WJ Julian to conduct the University of Tennessee's top concert band in a performance of his first work for band. In 2011, Jesse was awarded the inaugural American Prize for Orchestral Composition and was named an “Honored Artist” of the American Prize in 2014. His music has been performed throughout the world in countries including Japan, South Africa, Poland, Slovenia, Hungary, and Portugal, as well as in more than 100 U.S. cities.

Best known for his orchestral and symphonic band "surround-sound" concert stories that explore the intersection of the spiritual and natural worlds and the redemptive intervention of God in the affairs of the human race, Jesse has been honored with several Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Awards and was most recently named 2019 Ohio Music Teachers Association Composer of the Year. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music from the University of Tennessee and his doctorate in music composition from the University of Kentucky.

INDIVIDUAL ARTIST
Andy Snow, Photographer
Dayton (Montgomery)

Andy Snow has worked as a professional photographer for more than 40 years after becoming fascinated with photography while finishing his philosophy degree at Princeton University. There, under the guidance of documentary photographer Sol Libsohn and photography historian Peter Bunnell, Andy learned the practice and art of illuminating narrative with photography. In 1993, he chronicled his work for TIME, BusinessWeek, Newsweek, The New York Times, Forbes, and Fortune magazines in his book titled Location Photography Secrets. Following post-graduate studies at Ohio University and Antioch University, Andy expanded further into sound, film, video, and all things digital. He completed a self-designed master’s degree program at Antioch in digital media in 2005.

A documentarian at heart, Andy is mindful of revealing essence through light, shadow, and color while remaining receptive to any surprising interventions that might be chaos or perhaps synchronicity. His historic project, “Watershed, Then&Now,” commemorating the Great Flood of 1913 in the Miami Valley of Western Ohio, was honored as one of 20 “Best Projects of 2013” by the American Society of Media Photographers. He has worked with a variety of clients ranging from General Electric and Procter & Gamble to the City of Dayton and the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company.

ABOUT THE OHIO ARTS COUNCIL
The Ohio Arts Council is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally, and economically. Connect with the OAC on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or visit our website at oac.ohio.gov.

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Article by Amanda Etchison, Communications Strategist
Featured Image: Design by Alan Jazak, Formation Studio. Artwork: "Euclid Beach" by Barry Underwood
Editor's Note: This story was updated to include details about the 2020 Governor's Awards for the Arts Virtual Celebration on May 10, 2021, at noon | Originally published: Jan. 9, 2020

ArtsChat Ohio: FY 2022 Arts Learning Grants

Thu, 17 Dec 2020 00:27:09 GMT

Introducing ArtsChat Ohio, an audio blog bringing you the latest news and updates from Ohio Arts Council staff members. These conversations are recorded to be enjoyed using the audio player below. A transcript and show notes are also included.

Ohio Arts Council · ArtsChat Ohio: FY 2022 Arts Learning Grants

Transcript
Audio transcript edited for clarity.

LET'S GET STARTED (Begins at 0:00)

CHIQUITA: Hello everyone, and welcome to our discussion today. I’m Chiquita Mullins Lee, arts learning coordinator with the Ohio Arts Council, and I’m here with my esteemed colleague, Jarred Small, who is my counterpart at the OAC. We’re glad you’re listening, and we’re happy to talk about the OAC’s Arts Learning Department, especially with two big deadlines approaching in February and March 2021. The TeachArtsOhio deadline is February 1, and the Arts Partnership deadline is March 1.

The unprecedented times we are facing have challenged our creativity to an even higher degree, yet we have seen our constituents meet the challenges in powerful ways. Today, Jarred and I will discuss our programs to give you food for thought as you prepare applications for the upcoming deadlines. We also want to support you in considering options for responding to the impact of COVID-19 on your work. We hope that as you listen to our discussion, you will feel empowered to pursue and achieve your arts learning goals.

JARRED: Thanks, Chiquita, for a great introduction. As with much of our world, a lot has happened at the Ohio Arts Council since March 2020. We have been living through volatile, challenging, and difficult situations across Ohio and our nation related to a trifecta of crises that include the coronavirus, its economic fallout, and a year of great social unrest and reckoning. Indeed, one need not look very far beyond Ohio’s schools and school districts to see these effects play out. We’ve seen forced school closures, transitions to hybrid and fully remote learning models, and an acute focus on work and curricula surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion for all our children.

Here at the OAC, all staff have been working tirelessly to continue serving the needs of our constituency, which has included—among many other things—working with individual grantees on a case-by-case basis to provide the resources and flexibility needed for grant-supported projects to continue and successfully conclude.

Regrettably, one of the bigger OAC headlines since March surrounds state budget reductions across almost all state agencies in Ohio, made necessary by the coronavirus pandemic. Things looked pretty down in the spring before taking a positive turn this fall.

The OAC’s state appropriations for the biennium were reduced to just more than $32 million, a cutback of $2.1 million. In response, agency staff have worked to mitigate cuts to grantees, in part by taking on administrative cuts. The OAC has pursued administrative savings through pay cuts, a hiring and travel freeze, a freeze on new contracts, and an agency-wide cost-savings analysis that eliminated or lowered many expenses and ended various non-essential services.

Crucially, the agency has also so far been able to avoid staff layoffs, employing a mission-critical staff of 18. To further lessen cuts to grantees, the OAC also reinvested the entirety of its $517,200 in Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act dollars from the National Endowment for the Arts into grants for Ohio arts organizations.

Then, on October 26, the Ohio Controlling Board approved an additional $20 million in economic relief from the CARES Act for the arts and culture sector to be distributed through the OAC. This funding was initially announced October 23 by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted, and legislative leaders of the Ohio General Assembly. Subsequently, the OAC regranted the entirety of the $20 million from the federal CARES Act without retaining any for overhead or administrative expenses. Pursuant to federal law, the OAC expended its CARES Act funds before December 30 and actually completed this monumental work on November 30, ensuring needed funds were in the hands of arts organizations as quickly as possible.

This marked the most significant arts economic relief package ever earned and administered by the OAC. It also represents the second-largest single investment of CARES Act dollars to date of any U.S. state or territory dedicated exclusively to the arts.

Of course, with this good news comes the acknowledgement that there are many financial needs in the arts community beyond that which the Ohio Arts Council and the State of Ohio could ever fully provide. However, the OAC—including its arts learning office—stands ready to steward additional dollars from state, federal, and private sources to invest in Ohio’s future through the arts should they become available.

And so, the OAC’s work continues to move forward, and we’re looking ahead to all that 2021 has to offer. While we await the arrival of a mass-produced COVID-19 vaccine, the OAC is still working hard to continue offering grant programs focused on arts education that will support the work of schools, arts organizations, and teaching artists and invest in future creative endeavors for the benefit of Ohio’s PK-12 students.

With that in mind, today, Chiquita and I wanted to highlight some important arts-learning-focused grant programs offered by the OAC that are available now for schools and arts organizations to apply to. We’ll also discuss how applicants might shape their proposals considering the current, evolving situation surrounding the pandemic. And we’ll do this through a question-and-answer-style format between the two of us.

GRANT APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN FOR FY 2022-23 (Begins at 6:31)

CHIQUITA: Before that, however, we want to mention that grant applications are open now for programs supporting arts education activities occurring next school year—that’s school year 2021-22. You can view all of the OAC’s grant programs on our website at oac.ohio.gov and click on the “Grants” tab to review each program’s Guidelines, a crucial step before beginning your application. Within these Guidelines, you can view things like eligibility requirements, how the grant programs work, how to apply, and even a detailed breakdown of the review criteria by which all applications will be reviewed and scored.

I’ll also note that all applications are submitted through the OAC’s online grants management system, ARTIE. Before you begin your application, you’ll need your own ARTIE profile. If you’re a school that’s new to the OAC, you must reach out to the OAC to get yourself registered, but if you’re a nonprofit arts organization, you can create an ARTIE profile for yourself by searching for your organization in the provided IRS database. To begin your ARTIE journey, go to ohioartscouncil.smartsimple.com.

BIG YELLOW SCHOOL BUS (Begins at 8:03)

JARRED: With that business out of the way, I think we’re ready to dive into the meat and potatoes of our discussion today about OAC arts learning grant programs.

Chiquita, can you start us off by telling us a little about the Big Yellow School Bus program?

CHIQUITA: The Big Yellow School Bus program is one of our most popular programs. It’s highly accessible, and it provides field trips to arts and cultural events within Ohio. The maximum grant amount is $500, with no match required. There is a rolling deadline, so schools can apply anytime throughout the school year, as long as they apply up to eight weeks in advance of their planned field trip.

It’s important to note that the grant activities funded through Big Yellow School Bus are not for student participation in arts events—they won’t be the ones on stage singing or playing instruments. The program instead funds opportunities for students to gain exposure to the arts by observing from the audience or by visiting a gallery.

JARRED: I would assume that the pandemic has probably impacted the kinds of arts experiences funded through this program. As of this recording in early December 2020, what is the status of the Big Yellow School Bus program?

CHIQUITA: The Big Yellow School Bus program is on hiatus until further notice. It has been on hiatus since March 2020 because of the high-contact components of field trips. But it is only a hiatus and not an elimination of the program.

JARRED: So, with that in mind, how can teachers stay connected to the program?

CHIQUITA: Just continue to contact the OAC for updates. They can reach out to me at chiquita.mullinslee@oac.ohio.gov or call me at 614-728-4455.

Teachers can also make note of prospective field trips they are interested in taking so that when we open the program back up again, they will be ready to apply.

JARRED: Throughout the pandemic, we’ve seen almost everything go virtual and online. Do you know of any organizations that are offering virtual learning opportunities, or do you have any tips when it comes to virtual programming for arts education needs?

CHIQUITA: I would suggest that teachers visit the website of any organization that they are interested in and find out what kinds of virtual programming they offer. One example is the Cleveland International Film Festival, one of our most popular destinations for this specific grant program. Because people are currently unable to travel to the theatres in Cleveland, they can go to the Cleveland International Film Festival website, which offers online programming. It’s been great to see how such a popular site for field trips has been able to adjust their operations to address the challenges of the coronavirus. We encourage that continued curiosity and interest in the program.

TEACHARTSOHIO (Begins at 11:20)

CHIQUITA: So now, let’s pivot to another one of our flagship arts learning programs, the TeachArtsOhio program. Jarred, can you give us a quick historical overview of the TeachArtsOhio program and how it’s evolved over the years?

JARRED: It has been an evolution, and that’s a good place to start. TeachArtsOhio (TAO) has evolved from the OAC’s former Artist in Residence program. So, essentially, TAO is a school-based, collaborative opportunity for schools to work with professional artists who are experienced in working with students in grades PK – 12. The pilot phase for TAO began in 2015, and the program was formally launched in 2017.

TeachArtsOhio maintains some elements of the Artist in Residence program, especially in the exposure of students to artmaking opportunities led by professional artists. But TAO revamps some other aspects of the former program, namely, encouraging more flexibility in the structure and length of artist residencies. Schools now have the opportunity to work with artists from a time period as short as one week (five days) to as long as a whole school year (about 120 days).

One of the core tenants of TAO is the longer-term, deeper engagement of students with professional artists. This is great for schools that desire to introduce a spark of innovation or creativity into their curriculum. This is the program for them.

CHIQUITA: It’s a great program. For many folks considering applying to TeachArtsOhio, this becomes their first time ever applying for support through the OAC’s grantmaking process. I know that oftentimes, school districts have dedicated personnel whose full-time job includes managing state and federal grants. But with TeachArtsOhio, many of the primary contacts who apply are teachers or administrators. What can those folks expect when they open the TeachArtsOhio application for the first time?

JARRED: I think you really hit on an important point there in that many schools that apply to the OAC’s TeachArtsOhio program are first-time applicants, potentially navigating the grant application process by themselves for the first time. We at the OAC want to lower the barrier to entry to applying for grant funding as much as possible, and we do pride ourselves on staff accessibility and trying to make the application simple yet comprehensive.

I think the one thing that folks should think about first and foremost is that time is a crucial element when crafting a grant application. So, give yourself time. It’s probably good habit to open the application sooner rather than later, and when you do, become familiar with some key tabs on the application itself. The narrative tab is designed to guide you through the answers we are looking for through a series of bulleted points, so pay close attention to those under each narrative question. If you address each of those bullets, you are setting yourself up pretty well for success.

The budget tab essentially asks you to tell us not only how much funding you are seeking from the OAC, but also if there are other funds being brought in from outside sources, whether that’s the school or a local business, as well as in-kind contributions like the time teachers or administrators spend on aspects of the project.

Finally, the support materials tab in nutshell is everything beyond the written text that applicants wish to include as part of their application. These materials help to amplify the proposed project, and they can include support letters, previous examples of lessons or curriculum, or artwork produced as part of a similar residency. You’ll also want to include at least a couple of documents that really showcase the qualifications of the artist(s) with whom you’d like to work.

And I mentioned the teaching artists before. The final element I think applicants would really want to pay attention to is the question in one of the first few tabs that asks you to name a teaching artist. Applicants to TeachArtsOhio don’t need to have a teaching artist in mind when they apply, and for those who might not have a specific artist in mind, the OAC’s Ohio Teaching Artist Roster is a useful resource for folks applying for a TAO grant. So, if you don’t have an artist in mind, but the idea of working with an artist seems really attractive to you, visit our website. The roster has about 54 artists from around the state who can lead high-quality creative opportunities for students, including in-person and virtual performances, workshops, and longer-term artist residencies. If you have any questions, definitely reach out to us. You can email me at jarred.small@oac.ohio.gov or call 614-728-4481. Part of my job is to help make those matches a reality.

CHIQUITA: That’s great, Jarred. All of those details really help, and I hope that teachers will really take advantage of this wonderful opportunity. It’s really exciting.

The 2021-22 school year remains a mystery for many schools and school districts, especially the learning models and adaptations schools will employ compared to the current school year. What would you recommend to schools who are considering applying but aren’t even sure whether there will be meaningful progress on the COVID-19 front?

JARRED: It’s like looking into a crystal ball, isn’t it? Especially when we’re asking folks to apply for a February or March deadline for activities that are for next school year. I would say to apply anyway! Have a go at it and know that we are flexible. As an agency, and especially within our grant programs, we certainly know that school districts and schools across the state probably don’t have answers right now as to what the fall is going to look like.

But we would encourage schools to envision what next year could look like with a professional artist, whether in-person or hybrid or all virtual. We know that each school district is different and distinct in their plans. We have seen that play out this past fall. Everyone is tackling learning in their own unique way, what works best for them, which is great.

The biggest tip that I would offer is to assume—make assumptions based on how your school is treating this year, the 2020-21 school year, and roll with that. If you’re school is all in-person right now, maybe make that assumption that instruction will be taking place in-person next school year and that resident artists will be allowed in the building. And it might behoove you to include plans for your school will adapt to COVID-19 in its programming via a contingency document that can be included in the support materials tab. It doesn’t have to be all that in-depth, it doesn’t need to be this huge document. It might be a good idea to demonstrate to a panel that, ‘yes, we want this to happen in person, that’s the plan, but here are some plans we might utilize to shift to remote learning if it ever had to happen.’

So, apply, make some assumptions and make those assumptions clear, and then make a contingency plan.

CHIQUITA: That’s good to know, Jarred. Do you have any stand-out examples of TeachArtsOhio residencies that were successful considering the pandemic, perhaps one that impressed you in its ability to pivot to virtual programming?

JARRED: Yes, I’ve got to tell you, Chiquita, I’ve been really impressed with how schools and education personnel and nonprofit education directors shifted so quickly and so successfully to hybrid and remote learning. There are a lot of examples out there, and it’s difficult to pick one or two. But there are a couple that come to my mind, and a couple of different models.

One is a TeachArtsOhio grantee for the current school year. They have accomplished a flamenco residency—so they were doing a dance residency focused on the flamenco art form—and it was a hybrid model. They had the flamenco artist actually teaching flamenco to the kids on the school’s tennis courts back in early fall, when the weather was still pretty nice. They were socially distanced and masks were worn, and the weather was conducive to teaching dance. That part was great. That was very much like a hands-on artmaking activity. The flip side of that was the hybrid model, when they brought in virtual programming. The flamenco artist worked with numerous Spanish language classes at the school, and they managed to integrate the flamenco artist into these Spanish classes virtually. It really gave a jolt to the Spanish curriculum. And it essentially integrated flamenco into the Spanish-speaking language components of that class. That was a really interesting element because it didn’t really involve teaching flamenco, per se, but it opened the eyes of a lot of Spanish students to the art of flamenco that they wouldn’t have had otherwise. So, it went from a more in-person dance element to a more integrative application of the flamenco culture and history and what that means for the Spanish language.

The other one that shifted to full-remote was a music residency at a high school. And, actually, the teaching artist provided me with a quote a little while back when he shifted to remote learning. So, of course, the idea was to do a music residency in person, the pandemic happened, and they shifted to remote.

Here’s what the teaching artist had to say: “Transitioning to musical remote learning had us thinking in new ways to interact, connect, and teach students. New programs and applications, such as Google Classroom, have been used to create assignments for creative lyric writing, listening and analyzing songs, and posting reference documents, while newer apps such as Soundtrap and Flipgrid were used to record/film a student singing along to a track or writing a new song."

So, essentially, this was actually a songwriting-based residency, and they leaned really heavily on the music technology that is out there to continue the collaboration between students at home with a professional singer-songwriter who is based in Cleveland. That has worked really well. Technology has really been a saving grace for some of these things.

CHIQUITA: What a wonderful way to amplify learning in the arts in your classrooms. It’s just amazing to me what people can do.

JARRED: It really is. And, of course, credit goes out to all the hardworking educators and teaching artists out there who so successfully responded to shifting times in education and really provided a creative outlet for kids when it was—and still is—needed. Hats off to all of our grantees for doing that.

ARTS PARTNERSHIP (Begins at 26:45)

JARRED: I want to dive into a bit about Arts Partnership, which is another one of our major OAC grant programs. And, of course, Chiquita is the lead on that program. Chiquita, will you describe what Arts Partnership is all about?

CHIQUITA: The Arts Partnership program provides funding for community-based arts education projects. So, in this regard, grants are offered to arts and cultural organizations, supporting projects in various disciplines. Arts Partnership grants support in-depth, intensive sequential study of an arts discipline along with hands-on artmaking. So, it is studying art but then also making, actually getting your hands into the paint or into the clay or whatever the discipline might be.

The grants support the engagement of professional artists working with project leaders and participants. So, again, these are artists who have a lot of experience in their given field. Arts Partnership also serves participants from preschoolers through older adults, so this is truly intergenerational. We talk about lifelong learning, and Arts Partnership supports that to a major degree.

Project leaders for Arts Partnership grants work intensively to plan a project that serves specific community needs. The partnership can take different forms. For example, a theatre could partner with an elementary school to allow students to work with theatre professionals and learn all aspects of theatre production. An art center could partner with a senior center to offer painting classes to an older adult audience. A museum could partner with a high school and technology center to help students learn to create and later display digital art projects. So there are a lot of variations, and it is just a matter of applicants using their imagination and thinking about what they’d like to bring to their communities in the area of arts learning.

Arts Partnership offers two-year funding for nonprofit applicants. The maximum grant amount is $25,000, and a cash match is required. Project partners often contribute funds to support the cash match. The partnership aspect of Arts Partnership is critical.

JARRED: So, I spoke a little bit about how COVID-19 has affected TeachArtsOhio. How should applicants to Arts Partnership address their intentions to respond to COVID-19, if necessary?

CHIQUITA: When applicants are completing their application in ARTIE, they can do a couple of things. There are a couple of options. They can include a brief statement in their grant application narrative, but we want to remind folks that they need to be mindful of the word count because ARTIE will limit your word count.

On the other hand, applicants could also include a separate statement in their support materials. That gives them more freedom or flexibility to elaborate as much as they might need to.

JARRED: Yes, that’s good! Use that support materials section if you’re running out of words. That’s a good tip. So, I’m curious to see if you have any strong examples of Arts Partnership projects that pivoted to virtual programming.

CHIQUITA: There are a couple of projects that come to mind. For example, the Columbus Museum of Art offered what is called “Studio in a Box.” The museum is committed to providing virtual experiences to support arts learning at home for students and for families. So, they provided funding to provide stipends to engage local artists to work in partnership with museum staff to create blog posts. But in addition to blog posts, the museum was able to provide up to 300 “Studio in a Box” kits at no cost to Central Ohio families. They worked with a network of teachers and schools to identify families and students who were at-risk. So, they got arts materials, were able to follow instructions and create art at home and not be completely cut off from the arts experience. So, the Columbus Museum of Art was really great at pivoting to deal with this current emergency.

Another one was the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s PROJECT38. They have an annual theatre festival, but, of course, theatres were shut down. So, what did they do? They pivoted to an online festival. So, the PROJECT38 virtual festival for 2020 featured virtual content from each play in Shakespeare’s canon through the PROJECT38 Facebook page. Many students had already completed projects, which they were able to film or photograph prior to schools closing. So, they were still able to have their virtual experience on stage. A lot of schools did have to withdraw from the festival due to the circumstances, but there were still projects from the last five years of the festival that PROJECT38 was able to highlight. Plus, they included content from the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company. Many of the resident actors also joined in to create their own contributions. So, they did a really great job of pivoting. And, for anyone who may have been unaware of it, if you go onto their Facebook page, you can watch what the students were doing in the Cincinnati area during May and June of last year and learn a little bit about Shakespeare.

JARRED: I love that. Two really wonderful examples of great pivots to virtual programming. What about in general, though? For Arts Partnership, can you give us one or two examples of really strong Arts Partnership proposals or projects?

CHIQUITA: Sure. One example would be the Wexner Center for the Arts, their Pages program. This is a year-long program that includes arts experiences at the Wexner Center. There are classroom sessions led by Wexner Center educators, as well as local artists. The project encourages writing and artmaking all year long by students. And all of this culminates in an open-mic reception and a professionally designed and published anthology of the students’ work. It’s a great literary and interdisciplinary arts program.

Secondly, WYSO in Yellow Springs is sponsoring the Dayton Youth Radio Project. This project offers in-school training in radio production. It provides an introduction to radio journalism and audio and interviewing techniques, and it includes field trips to WYSO. The project supports the creation of radio documentaries and feature stories for broadcast on WYSO.

FINAL THOUGHTS (Begins at 34:10)

JARRED: Innovation at its finest with all of the folks that you mentioned. They are certainly changing the game with arts education.

I think we can leave things there for now. We hope this has been helpful to folks out there listening and considering applying to an OAC arts learning grant program. Of course, this doesn’t need to be the end of the conversation for you, our audience.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss any matters you heard today more in-depth, both Chiquita and I pride ourselves on our openness and availability. Should you like to get in touch with either or both of us, just head on over to our website at oac.ohio.gov, hover over the “About” tab, and click “Staff Directory,” where you’ll find a listing of all OAC staff members and ways you can get in touch.

So, that does it for now! We really hope you and your loved ones have a bright holiday season, however you plan to celebrate or connect. From all of us at the Ohio Arts Council, we wish you a safe and happy 2021.

CHIQUITA: Safe and happy! Good talking to you, Jarred!

JARRED: You as well, Chiquita! Take care, folks!

CHIQUITA: Goodbye!

Show Notes

ArtsChat Ohio Audio File: soundcloud.com/ohio-arts-council/artschat-ep1-arts-learning-grants

Ohio Arts Council Grants Page: oac.ohio.gov/grants

ARTIE: ohioartscouncil.smartsimple.com

Big Yellow School Bus Guidelines: oac.ohio.gov/Portals/0/grants/Guidelines/Big-Yellow-School-Bus.pdf

Cleveland International Film Festival: clevelandfilm.org

TeachArtsOhio Guidelines: oac.ohio.gov/Portals/0/grants/Guidelines/TeachArtsOhio.pdf

Ohio Teaching Artist Roster: oac.ohio.gov/Resources/Ohio-Teaching-Artist-Roster

Arts Partnership Guidelines: oac.ohio.gov/Portals/0/grants/Guidelines/Arts-Partnership.pdf

Columbus Museum of Art "Studio in a Box" Program: columbusmuseum.org/blog/2020/06/24/studio-in-a-box/

PROJECT38 Facebook Page: facebook.com/PROJECT38

Wexner Center for the Arts Pages Program: wexarts.org/education/pages

WYSO Dayton Youth Radio Program: wyso.org/podcast/dayton-youth-radio

Ohio Arts Council Staff Directory: oac.ohio.gov/About/Staff-Directory

Chiquita Mullins Lee: chiquita.mullinslee@oac.ohio.gov | 614-728-4455

Jarred Small: jarred.small@oac.ohio.gov | 614-728-4481

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Ohio Teaching Artist Roster Welcomes 10 New Artists in Second Year

Mon, 14 Dec 2020 16:33:36 GMT

Ten new teaching artists with expertise ranging from music and dance, to creative writing and visual arts, have been added to the Ohio Teaching Artist Roster, an online tool that helps connect communities with well-qualified Ohio teaching artists.

Launched in 2019, the Ohio Teaching Artist Roster is presented by the Ohio Arts Council (OAC) in partnership with Art Possible Ohio, Center for Arts-Inspired Learning, Ohio Alliance for Arts Education, and OhioDance. The roster is designed for use by the community, particularly educators, to assist in identifying teaching artists who can lead high-quality creative opportunities for students, including in-person and virtual performances, workshops, and longer-term artist residencies.

The Ohio Teaching Artist Roster is available as a resource for applicants to OAC grant programs, including TeachArtsOhio and Arts Partnership, who wish to work with a high-quality teaching artist. Deadlines to apply to TeachArtsOhio and Arts Partnership are February 1, 2021, and March 1, 2021, respectively.

Inclusion on the roster indicates an artist’s artistic excellence; ability to integrate academic content; effective classroom management and student engagement; and strong communication with education, arts, and cultural partners. Artist profiles are reviewed and approved by the Ohio Teaching Artist Roster’s partner organizations.

The 10 new teaching artists approved for inclusion on the roster are:

Utpola Borah, music, Columbus
Susan Byrnes, visual arts, Cincinnati
Diana Chittester, music, Lakewood
Jennifer Hambrick, creative writing, Worthington
Andrea McCormick, dance, Cleveland
Klaire Smith, visual arts, Wheelersburg
Fariha Tayyab, multidisciplinary, Columbus
Lara Troyer, music, Cleveland Heights
Hans Utter, music, Columbus
Kerri Wilde, dance, Napoleon

The 2020 cohort of new artists joins the 44 teaching artists who were accepted for the roster’s launch last year and who will remain on the roster through the end of the 2020-21 school year.

One of those artists, Columbus-based poet Nancy Kangas, explained how her experiences working with students has influenced her professional artistic practice.

“Being a guest artist in schools gives me the chance to learn and practice all the good stuff: how to listen, what sorts of questions engage students, which poems help launch our own, how to roll with the unexpected, and how to collaborate with other educators,” she said. “It’s the kind of hard work you yearn for.”

Teaching artists commit to receiving ongoing professional development related to their placement on the Ohio Teaching Artist Roster on matters critical to success in collaborating with schools, educators, and learners of diverse abilities and backgrounds. Professional development is planned and implemented in concert with the roster’s five partner organizations.

“Through the Ohio Teaching Artist Roster, I have been able to meet and partner with other amazing creatives, experience networking events, and create programs that previously I never could have imagined,” said Terry Boyarsky, a roster artist and performing musician from Cleveland Heights. “There is nothing standard about being an artist-in-residence—it calls me to be my best, on every level and challenges me to be flexible in my teaching.”

Teaching artists interested in applying to join the Ohio Teaching Artist Roster can do so in the spring of 2021, when applications will again be accepted. The roster is open to working artists living in Ohio.

To access the online Ohio Teaching Artist Roster or to learn more, visit oac.ohio.gov/Resources/Ohio-Teaching-Artist-Roster or contact OAC Arts Learning Coordinator Jarred Small at jarred.small@oac.ohio.gov.

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Article by Amanda Etchison, Communications Strategist
Featured image courtesy of Countess Winfrey and Dayton Contemporary Dance Company.

National Arts in Education Month Is Here!

Wed, 26 Feb 2020 19:31:38 GMT

March is one of my favorite months of the year—it’s National Arts in Education Month—or, as we call it more colloquially, Arts in the Schools Month! Join the Ohio Arts Council (OAC) and Ohio Department of Education in celebrating the arts in schools all month long.

We know that a quality education that includes the arts provides skills and knowledge that every student needs to be successful in and out of school. Ohio’s arts education data tells a story of success for Ohio’s children. We have nearly 3,400 schools in Ohio with enrollment of about 1.7 million students. Only 44,027 of our schoolchildren are not enrolled in any arts courses. Our success rate is pretty good—unless your child is one of the 44,027. [1]

To this end, the Ohio Arts Council, in partnership with the Ohio Alliance for Arts Education and Ohio Department of Education, have produced the Ohio Arts Education Data Dashboard. Our data is strong, our stories are compelling, and our children are the reason for this important work that allows us to advocate for strong arts education programs in dance, drama/theatre, music, visual art, and media arts across the state. I encourage you to check out the Ohio Arts Education Data Dashboard—you can see statewide, district, and school-level data. (For a brief primer on how to navigate the dashboard, watch this short video tutorial)

Arts education is critical and fundamental to achieving the OAC’s mission. It has been—and remains—a historic priority of the agency with dedicated grant programs and funding. Simply put, the arts strengthen education and are an essential curriculum component. The arts prepare students to succeed in an economy driven by innovation and creativity. Ongoing research confirms a positive relationship between arts education and improved academics—from better math and reading skills, to higher standardized test scores and graduation rates. An education that includes the arts helps to train our workforce and produce creative, critical thinkers and problem-solvers whose skills are attractive to employers across industries.

In FY 2019, OAC staff estimates arts education grant spending was $3.16 million, as calculated via final reports from grantees. This investment translated into a total of more than 6.4 million in-person arts experiences for children and youth, again, as measured via self-reported data from grantees in FY 2019.

Through strategic grantmaking efforts in 2019, the OAC supported the professional development efforts of a variety of statewide arts education organizations in order to ensure the sustainability of these crucial service providers. The OAC has supported additional educational service providers at the local level through grantmaking efforts covering a diverse array of demographic constituencies. For example, in 2019, the OAC worked with several Educational Service Centers to offer unique and engaging arts-focused professional development opportunities for their member school districts and their educators, thereby allowing their students to garner more enriching classroom experiences in and through the arts.

We project all OAC grants impacting arts education will total $3.68 million in each year of the FY 2020-21 biennium, which represents 23 percent of the agency’s grantmaking budget, or $7.36 million on a biennial basis. This is an increase over the previous biennium and can be primarily attributed to the popularity, demand, growth, and success of the agency’s recently restructured teaching artist residency program, TeachArtsOhio. Similarly, we estimate that OAC grants will support roughly 13 million in-person arts experiences for children and youth in the current biennium.

New in 2019 was the creation and dissemination of the Ohio Teaching Artist Roster, an online resource that comprises Ohio artists who have demonstrated artistic excellence; the ability to integrate academic content; effective classroom management and student engagement; and strong communication with education, arts, and cultural partners. The roster is designed for use by the public, particularly educators, to assist in identifying teaching artists who can lead high-quality, arts-integrated creative opportunities that are aligned with academic content standards. Teaching artists on this roster have been vetted by an application and observation process and participate in ongoing professional development to provide the highest-quality arts education experiences and grow their teaching artist knowledge and skills. The Ohio Teaching Artist Roster is a partnership effort together with four other Ohio arts education organizations (the Center for Arts-Inspired Learning, the Ohio Alliance for Arts Education, OhioDance, and Art Possible Ohio).

The Ohio Arts Council also provides opportunities to showcase student artwork. Similar to the Congressional Art Competition at the federal level, the Ohio House of Representatives Student Art Exhibition features exemplary visual art created by high school students from each of the 99 House districts. The yearlong exhibition recognizes the talent, creativity, and innovative visions of students who receive high-quality arts instruction as a part of their academic experience. Artwork is displayed in the underground hallway that connects the Vern Riffe Center for Government and the Arts to the Statehouse Parking Garage and, ultimately, the Ohio Statehouse. The exhibition is presented by the OAC in conjunction with the Ohio House of Representatives and the Ohio Art Education Association, with additional support from the Ohio Department of Administrative Services.

The Ohio Civil Rights Youth Art Exhibition is a partnership between the OAC and the Ohio Civil Rights Commission (OCRC). The yearlong exhibition features the photography of young Ohioans who participate in the Cleveland Print Room’s Project Snapshot and Manifest Drawing Center’s Envision Project, based in Cincinnati. OCRC displays the students’ artwork at its headquarters in the Rhodes State Office Tower in Columbus.

The OAC is proud of its long, rich history in supporting arts education; its successes in 2019; and its work going forward in the FY 2020-21 biennium. Celebrate with me the arts education opportunities available in our state and help me thank Governor DeWine and the Ohio Legislature for recognizing the importance of the arts and arts education for all Ohioans through public funding through your Ohio Arts Council!

Happy Arts in Our Schools Month! Look for us to highlight arts education throughout the month of March through social media, the crowning of a new Poetry Out Loud state champion, and the work of our partners in arts education.

Until next time,

Donna S. Collins
Executive Director

Featured image: TeachArtsOhio teaching artist Candace Mazur Darman and students from Indianola Informal School during the Fancy Dress exhibition at Whetstone Library. Photo by Donna S. Collins.

[1] Ohio Arts Education Data Project, 2018 school data

New Statewide Teaching Artist Roster Launches

Thu, 24 Oct 2019 18:29:56 GMT

A new online tool that helps connect communities with well-qualified Ohio teaching artists is now available on the Ohio Arts Council’s (OAC) website.

The Ohio Teaching Artist Roster is designed for use by the public, particularly educators, to assist in identifying teaching artists who can lead high-quality, arts-integrated creative opportunities that are aligned with academic content standards.

The roster is searchable by art form and focus, geography, and other key criteria. Educators can currently browse 44 profiles of individuals or organizations specializing in a variety of arts disciplines—ranging from comic and graphic novels to film and media.

Teaching artists are community members who partner with schools and other educational providers to supplement and build on existing arts and non-arts curricula.

Those listed on the roster underwent an extensive application review and approval process before being accepted. Applicants were asked to provide sample lesson plans, their teaching artist philosophies, examples of specific arts-related teaching experiences, and a portfolio of past artistic accomplishments, among other materials. To maintain their status on the roster, teaching artists commit to participating in ongoing professional development to sharpen their skills necessary to collaborate with schools, educators, and learners of diverse abilities and backgrounds.

The roster will be updated annually to ensure that returning artists’ information remains current and to give more artists the opportunity to apply.

OAC Executive Director Donna S. Collins said the roster presents exciting possibilities for further collaboration between teaching artists and communities.

“The Ohio Teaching Artist Roster offers Ohioans the opportunity to engage with high-quality teaching artists who are experts at creating innovative, impactful arts learning opportunities together with educators and administrators,” she said. “All of us at the Ohio Arts Council, in partnership with roster partner organizations, look forward to supporting our students, teachers, artists, and communities through the use of this new resource. Students can benefit from performances, workshops, artmaking, and so much more through teaching artist residencies.”

The Ohio Teaching Artist Roster is a partnership between the Ohio Arts Council, Ohio Alliance for Arts Education, OhioDance, Center for Arts-Inspired Learning, and VSA Ohio. These partner organizations share administrative maintenance responsibilities and manage the roster and related professional development opportunities.

Teaching artists interested in applying to join the Ohio Teaching Artist Roster can do so in the spring of 2020, when applications will again be accepted. The roster is open to working artists living in Ohio.

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Article by Jarred Small, Arts Learning Coordinator
Featured photo: Teaching artist Aaron Anslow conducts a community arts event in ceramics with Switzerland of Ohio Local School District. Photo courtesy of Diane Burkhart, Switzerland of Ohio Local School District.

Jarrod Hartzler Discusses His New Role as Ohio Alliance for Arts Education Executive Director

Fri, 11 Oct 2019 18:50:02 GMT

Jarrod Hartzler fondly remembers the best history class skit he and his peers ever put together. After assembling their set—a 2D façade of a ship cut out from poster board—Hartzler and his crew proceeded to perform a riveting reenactment of the Boston Tea Party, complete with props such as empty Lipton tea boxes that the students threw overboard.

“It was so historically accurate,” Hartzler said with a laugh. “They had Lipton back then, I’m sure.”

Anachronisms aside, this story shows the importance of the arts in education, Hartzler said. The experience of creatively acting out this historic event stuck with him longer than the accompanying paragraph in the textbook did. Now, as executive director of the Ohio Alliance for Art Education (OAAE), Hartzler is eager to use his passion for the arts in education to ensure students have similar opportunities to learn through arts integration and arts learning. New technologies, resources, and partnerships make for a bright future for arts education in Ohio, and, as he shares in this Q&A, Hartzler can’t wait to get started.

You recently joined the Ohio Alliance for Arts Education as the organization’s new executive director. What led you to this position?
It all stems from years of community arts education work. I’ve served on the OAAE board for eight years, and before that, I previously worked as a project coordinator for the Alliance. I was the education coordinator for the Wayne Center for the Arts in Wooster, Ohio, and the programs director for the Arts Castle in Delaware, Ohio. I also worked a lot with the Kennedy Center’s Partners in Education programs and was part of the team in Wooster and Wayne County.

While I was the executive and artistic director at Tuesday Musical, we probably quadrupled our education work with projects like the Escher String Quartet residency that served nearly 2,000 students a year in and out of schools. We also provided art education resources through our scholarship program and the ongoing Kennedy Center
partnership, which we brought to Akron. For this, we were working with K-12 teachers, providing arts integration strategies and all of those things.

So, somehow the past 19 years—it’s crazy that it’s been that many—have led me to this point where I am the person leading the cause for the Alliance.

Your background working in various arts education programming seems to have prepared you well for leading a statewide arts education service organization. Looking ahead to some of the Alliance’s upcoming programs or initiatives, what’s in store for OAAE?
Ohio has some of the best arts education practices in the country, and that is not by accident. It’s because of the work of the Alliance and the partners that we work with. Making sure that we are continually advocating and pushing for qualified arts teachers in schools and student access to art education.

Some of the things that I hope to see us do in the future are outside of the policy work here in Columbus. We have some afterschool programs that we would like to try to replicate in other communities around the state. I want to see if we can figure out how to have those programs in Akron or Athens or Toledo and sort of make a template to help other communities figure out how to do that.

What do you envision those programs or other outreach efforts looking like in practice?
One of the programs that I was so pleased with at Tuesday Musical was the Escher Quartet residency. We were able to impact communities that don’t always have access to that kind of high-quality music with the educational components of the residency, which included working with music educators in the schools.

We recently had a perfect pilot example with a Fund Every County grant through the Ohio Arts Council. We were in Holmes County for three days, and the quartet musicians worked with every elementary school and every high school band, and then had public performances for the community. At the end of our three days there, we’d reached around 3,000 people.

At the same time, the Holmes Center for the Arts was also working with the Fund Every County program, and within six months of that Escher residency, they started a string program. Before, there was nothing—no string program, not in the schools, not in the community—and so, you can see the long-lasting impact.

You recently shared in an interview your belief that “the arts are education.” Do you see a creative approach to instruction becoming more widely used to integrate the arts into other subject areas?
Arts integration strategies amaze me. The first visit I ever made to the Kennedy Center was when I was in the Partners in Education team, and I went to a three-hour workshop with a dance artist incorporating dance into social studies. I realized 20 minutes into the lesson that I had had teachers who used arts integration strategies whether they knew it or not. And I could remember every single lesson that had been taught that way.

I think we’re learning the skills we need students to have once they finish school. We keep hearing, “What does the workforce want?” and we keep talking about the things that can’t be automated, that technology can’t take over.

And that is creative thinking, problem solving, all of those skills that are not just “yes” or “no” datapoint answers. Those skills are learned through the arts.

In what ways can readers expect to interact with the Alliance in the future? What are some resources that you offer?

The Ohio Arts Education Data Dashboard is one of the most important things. It is a partnership between the Alliance and the Ohio Arts Council and the Ohio Department of Education. We are one of the first states in the country where all of the Education Management Information System data from the Department of Education is downloaded into a searchable dashboard.

If you’re a parent and you’re looking for where you’d like to send your children to school, you can see what art opportunities are offered, how many students participate, when they are offered, and what other schools offer in comparison. Then this information can help inform your decision.

It’s just something that you never would have had access to before this dashboard came to be.

Looking at the arts education data available on the dashboard now, what is Ohio doing well? Where can we improve?
Music is doing well for itself, and it always has. Almost every high school has a band program. But almost no high schools have dance programs or drama. So, I think these data show where those shortfalls or inequities in arts disciplines are.

Everyone always says, “show us the data.” Years ago, it was, “Show us that the arts help learning.” So, everyone did studies. And we continually showed that yes, students learn faster and learn more, students retain knowledge better because of the arts. So, we’ve proven all of that, but now we have to prove the next thing.

Tell me about your most meaningful arts education experience.
There have been a lot that have been impactful, but one that I always tell because it was such a great example is one of our Kennedy Center teaching artists in Wayne County. She had taught the water cycle to a class full of students through dance. So, the students danced the water cycle—they came down as rain, they evaporated, they did all of the steps.

The teacher had one student who had never scored above average on an exam, but she watched this student get up during the exam, stand next to the desk, dance the water cycle, and get 100 percent on the test.

The teacher cried. She’s told this story over and over because she realized that she had been trying and trying to reach this student, and she’d been failing the student. But here’s this resource that really works.

There have just been so many examples like that. We give teachers tools and we hear them report back about how useful the instructional strategies have been in their classrooms.

What do the arts mean to you?
The arts to me mean everything. They mean quality of life, pleasure, education, economic development. There’s not a facet of life that isn’t enhanced or made more impactful by the arts.

ABOUT THE OHIO ARTS COUNCIL
The Ohio Arts Council is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally, and economically. Connect with the OAC on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or visit our website at oac.ohio.gov.

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Interview by Amanda Etchison, Communications Strategist

Governor's Awards 2019: Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati, Arts Education Award Winner

Fri, 31 May 2019 13:38:33 GMT

Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati (ETC) was founded in 1986 on a belief that the arts make neighborhoods thrive. For more than 30 years, ETC has built a reputation for exceptional artistic leadership and engaging community-centered programming. ETC presents some of the most exciting new plays in its region, and as a pillar in Cincinnati’s arts community, it continues to play an essential role in leading Over-the-Rhine’s thriving urban arts district.

ETC’s artistic focus is to premiere socially conscious plays that drive important community conversations and to hire professional artists who want to call Cincinnati home (for the long run). It provides theatre education programs that enrich young minds and prioritize inclusivity, diversity, and access, creating pathways to successful professional careers for the next generation of artists while growing the local talent pool.

ABOUT THE GOVERNOR’S AWARDS FOR THE ARTS IN OHIO
Since its beginning in 1971, the Governor’s Awards for the Arts in Ohio has recognized individuals and organizations who have been vital to the growth and development of Ohio’s cultural resources. Each year, the public is invited to nominate individuals and organizations in eight award categories. The program is presented by the Ohio Arts Council and the Ohio Citizens for the Arts Foundation, a nonprofit arts organization.

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Video by the Ohio Channel

Ohio Arts Education Data Project Launches

Mon, 10 Sep 2018 16:57:00 GMT

A partnership of the Ohio Arts Council (OAC), Ohio Alliance for Arts Education (OAAE), Ohio Department of Education, and New Jersey-based research firm Quadrant Research announced today the launch of an online database showing arts education access and enrollment in Ohio schools.

Since 1989, the three Ohio statewide agencies have worked together periodically to gather data and report on the status of arts education in Ohio’s schools. Now more comprehensive information is available through advanced technologies, and arts education data from preK-12 schools throughout the state is available online.

“Ohio is proud to be among the first few states in the nation to provide an online arts education data system available to the public,” said OAC Executive Director Donna S. Collins. “We are grateful for the partnership and hard work of the Ohio Department of Education in this endeavor.”

Users may review school-level, district, county, and statewide data. The interactive, color-coded dashboard displays arts access and enrollment data for Ohio’s preK-12 schools as reported annually via the state’s Education Management Information System (EMIS). Data from ensuing school years will be added annually, allowing the project to show the status of arts education over time. Demographic data is from the National Center for Education Statistics.

“With a shared commitment to making Ohio’s arts education data visible and useful to all stakeholders, we will gain a better sense of where we are and where we need to go for Ohio’s students,” said Tim Katz, executive director of the OAAE.

The National Arts Education Data Project was originally a partnership between the State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education and Quadrant Research. The nationwide project coordinates with participating state departments of education to collect and report arts education data from State Longitudinal Data Systems and other state department of education data sets on an annual basis.

Original funding for the project was generously provided by The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, NAMM Foundation, OAC, Educational Theatre Association, and National Association for Music Education. California, North Carolina, New Jersey, Wisconsin and now Ohio have online arts education dashboards in place.

ABOUT THE OHIO ARTS COUNCIL
The Ohio Arts Council (OAC) is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally, and economically. The OAC provides leadership and voice for the arts to transform people and communities. With funds from the Ohio Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts, the OAC provides various grant funding programs that support artists and make arts activities available to a broad segment of Ohio’s public; and provides services that help to enhance the growth of the arts. Connect with the OAC on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or visit our website at oac.ohio.gov.

ABOUT THE OHIO ALLIANCE FOR ARTS EDUCATION
It is the mission of the Ohio Alliance for Arts Education (OAAE) to ensure that the arts are an integral part of the education of every Ohioan. A statewide arts education service organization and nationally recognized leader in arts education, OAAE works to include arts learning in Ohio as part of a comprehensive preK-12 curriculum, to utilize the arts to improve student achievement, and to develop strong advocates who can speak about the importance of arts education.

ABOUT THE OHIO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
The Ohio Department of Education oversees the state’s public education system, which includes public school districts, joint vocational school districts and charter schools. The Department also monitors educational service centers, other regional education providers, early learning and child care programs, and private schools. The Department is governed by the State Board of Education with administration of the Department the responsibility of the superintendent of public instruction.

ABOUT QUADRANT RESEARCH
Quadrant Research is a national leader in arts education research, analysis, and market intelligence serving the fields of culture, commerce, government and education. The company was founded by Robert Morrison, one of the nation’s leading researchers and advocates in the field of arts education. Mr. Morrison is nationally recognized for his pioneering work in measuring the statewide status and condition of arts education and has served as an advisor to several major arts and arts education organizations. Quadrant Research clients include numerous state agencies, associations, corporations and non-profits.

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Governor's Awards 2018: Center for Arts-Inspired Learning, Arts Education Award Winner

Thu, 23 Aug 2018 14:25:00 GMT

Founded in 1953, the Center for Arts-Inspired Learning (CAL) creates innovative learning experiences that close learning gaps, teach creative thinking and problem solving, and help students succeed in school, in their first jobs, and beyond. CAL annually provides close to 7,000 arts-in-education programs for 200,000 young people from 150 schools across Northeast Ohio. CAL’s vision extends beyond schools through ArtWorks, a year-round arts-based college and career readiness program for teens, which has provided more than 2,300 high school students with jobs that teach important life skills since its beginning in 2005. CAL continues to be the leading provider of arts education in Northeast Ohio. In 2017, CAL moved to University Circle to provide onsite arts education programming for underserved neighborhoods.

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Video by the Ohio Channel

Guest Post: Cleveland Print Room Widens Photographic Opportunities in Northeast Ohio

Fri, 26 Aug 2016 18:58:00 GMT

Sure, there is something alluring about the darkroom—something meaningful about working with your hands in developer and fixer that seldom exists anymore. Darkrooms have been deconstructed and the film industry seems to be working hard making themselves obsolete. But it’s about more than romanticism for me when it comes to the Cleveland Print Room. It’s about existence. A picture of a hand, an X-ray, a shot of the family home, to some extent, prove humanity. For me, it’s the whole issue of existence. Photography proves that we exist.

Photography also speaks to my very core. Raised in Lakewood by a father who constantly walked around with a camera around his neck and film in his pocket I have always loved photography.

So, in 2005, when I noticed a troubling trend of art centers, high schools, and universities shutting down their darkroom facilities, I started buying up the photography equipment and darkroom supplies they were selling off. I wasn’t sure why. Perhaps it just didn’t seem right to be thrown out.

By 2011, I started my own business as a dealer in vernacular photography. Then in 2012, after a conversation with one of the founders of Cleveland’s Zygote Press, Liz Maugans, I learned that Zygote Press was looking for someone in Cleveland to take over its darkroom. After researching the gap in services and the need in the northeast Ohio area, along with recognizing the resurgence in 20th-century emulsion-based photography, it was an easy decision. And so the Cleveland Print Room (CPR) was born as a haven for old-school photographers.

What originally began as a photography cooperative has changed over time, yet CPR still has 450 members, who for a fee are able to use the studio to work on various projects. An advisory board of eight photographers provides additional guidance and wisdom. Photography seeps out of every corner of the space, which is at ground level of the ArtCraft Building on Superior Avenue on the outskirts of downtown Cleveland. An old-school photobooth greets visitors near the doorway with strands of self-portraits cascading down its side and a wide variety of vintage cameras lines the walls’ high ledges highlighting the history of the camera. A loud, creaky red revolving door leads to the darkroom. However, most notably, exhibitions showcasing the true art of photography often adorn Cleveland Print Room’s gallery walls.

Cleveland Print Room isn’t only about observing. It’s also about experience and education. We offer workshops on photographic arts with a focus on alternative processing, analog methods, and access to a darkroom with eight individual workstations. It’s a space where aspiring artists can hone their skills and perfect their craft. My goal is to keep access to film processing in northeast Ohio.

Also an artist, I often hold classes outside of the Cleveland Print Room in art centers, schools, and community centers in greater Cleveland. A devotee of found photos, I run a workshop that could be called, “Deface This.” It’s a class that provides participants with cabinet cards form the late 1800s – early 1900s that feature a portrait. The cards, often found at antique and thrift stores become mini mixed media pieces that both children and adults love to create.

Pictured right: A transformed cabinet card made by 6th grader, Libby, in a workshop at BAYarts in Bay Village, Ohio.

UPDATE

Shari brought her "Deface This" workshop to central Ohio in the Riffe Gallery on August 25. Participants transformed photos and used the current photography exhibition on display, Earthy Delights, as inspiration. Check out the creative results:

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Article by Shari Wilkins, artist and Cleveland Print Room founder

Register for Free Riffe Gallery Workshops!

Thu, 03 Dec 2015 21:35:00 GMT

ABOUT

Whenever an exhibition is up in the Ohio Arts Council's Riffe Gallery, be sure to check out concurrent events. The OAC's Arts Learning Office and Riffe Gallery present engaging and fun opportunities for families and adults seeking unique learning experiences. Each workshop is taught by a professional Ohio artist or educator. The workshop leader develops a unique theme pertaining to their own professional work, and often ties into the current exhibition. Check out what's next, and we'll see you soon!

WHAT'S NEXT

Writing Real: Create Compelling Characters in Theatre Thursday, December 10, 5:30–8:30 p.m. In order for a character to come alive on the stage, a character must have a driving need. Playwright, theatre director, and OAC Artist in Residence Tony Dallas will help writers explore the forces that compel a character through monologues and dialogue. It is suggested to read Oedipus the King by Sophocles in preparation for the workshop.

Reduce, Reuse, RECREATE! Saturday, December 12, 2-4 p.m. OAC Artist in Residence Eric Marlow will lead a family workshop based on re-purposing functional objects such as plastic bottles into works of art, handmade games, and wearable fashion. The workshop is geared toward children ages 6 and up. All children must be accompanied by a registered adult.

PAST WORKSHOPS

Check out what we've done in the past, and get inspired for what's yet to come! Leah Wong's collaborative family workshop installation created in October in conjunction with: Flashback to Now: OAC Support for Individual Artists.

ABOUT THE RIFFE GALLERY
The Ohio Arts Council’s Riffe Gallery showcases the work of Ohio's artists and the collections of the state's museums and galleries. The Riffe Gallery is located in the Vern Riffe Center for Government and the Arts, across from the Statehouse on High Street in Downtown Columbus. Like the Riffe Gallery on Facebook and follow us on Instagram.

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