The Community's Arts Educator

The dramatic decline in public school mandated arts programs over the last two decades is an often discussed theme at Industry conferences and conventions. As a national management consulting firm, our work has afforded us the opportunity to witness this decline and its effects upon arts organizations around the country. What we see are more and more arts organizations – among them museums, performing arts companies, community cultural facilities and performing arts centers – responding to this decline by introducing extensive education programs that target both school groups and families.  Supporting this trend has come a significant increase in private and public funding for arts education programs developed and managed by these organizations.

To better understand the origins and potential directions of this trend, we recently spoke with Darrell M. Ayers, Vice President of Education at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Darrell shared with us his view that ''the proliferation of performing arts centers in the U.S. during the last 20 years has been amazing." "Arts education coming from these centers," he told us, "is a natural outgrowth. In many ways these performing arts centers have become community centers where people come together to share common experiences; the organizations and their buildings have become social outlets/environments for communities.  It is important that a center connect with its community and what better way than to provide opportunities for children and young people.''

While arts organizations have always seen education as part of their mission and a natural result of their programs, the development of significant arts center-based education programs could signify a long-term shift in the role of arts centers, as well as the community's expectation of who will provide for their children's arts education.

One often cited impetus for this shift is the changing nature of school-based education. The ''No Child Left Behind Act'' of 2001 focuses on math, reading and science disciplines in measuring student achievement, and we've heard from many of our clients their view that with the increased emphasis on testing in these subjects, little or no time is left to explore the lessons inherent in arts experiences.

"I don't believe there has been a conscious shift of responsibility from schools to performing arts centers regarding arts education," Darrell Ayers told us, "but with the increased pressure of testing, some schools and districts have decreased arts classes." "Arts organizations and performing arts centers," he continued, "have seized this opportunity to initiate or expand their educational efforts.''  One of our clients, the San Jose Museum of Art, shared that San Jose schools prefer the Museum's arts education programs to those available elsewhere because they view them as more 'cost effective.'

Arts education programs have altered the programming balance at many arts centers and organizations, and have had a dramatic effect upon institutional finances as well. The Bushnell Center for the Arts in Hartford, Connecticut, now attracts a significant amount of funding specifically for arts education initiatives, and receives grants from local, state and national sources for its nationally recognized PARTNERS (Partners in Arts and Education Revitalizing Schools) program.

And many Centers see expanded educational programming as a vital cultivation tool for future audiences, which helps fulfill their mission of providing services to the community. Darrell told us that he views education as ''an opportunity for the long-term development of future participants and audiences,'' and said the Kennedy Center utilizes its education programs to orient and educate new audiences about the arts and theater-going experience. 

We're interested in your view of how education programs are changing the role and impacting the operation of arts organizations. Are programmatic efforts by arts organizations the correct answer to providing arts education in public schools?  Are arts organizations best suited to disperse arts education experiences into our schools?  Who is ultimately responsible for providing our youth with an adequate education in the arts?  Please e-mail your thoughts to us at insights@ams-online.com. We'll share your responses and those of others in the Industry in an upcoming issue of Insights.

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