New York State Alliance for Arts Education
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Empire State Plaza |
Jeremy Johannesen |
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Tel.: (518) 476-0823 |
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Full-time Staff: 3 |
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Organizational Profile:
Founded in 1973 and headquartered in the Cultural Education Center in Albany, New York, the New York State Alliance for Arts Education (NYSAAE) is a statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring that the arts are an integral part of every person’s education in the state of New York.
NYSAAE provides professional development programming to teaching artists, sequential arts educators, classroom teachers and school administrators delivering information and strategies to infuse the arts throughout all curriculum areas. NYSAAE serves as a key information resource about model programs, funding, and standards of excellence to our constituents. NYSAAE serves as a convener of arts education advocates, aiding efforts to deliver the message on the benefits of arts education to lawmakers at the local and statewide level.
Programming Partners and Other Funders:
New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA); New York State Department of Education; Dana Foundation; John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; Time Warner Cable; membership and private donations
Educational Programs and Artist Residencies
Artist Residency Programs
NYSAAE’s Artist Residency programs are intended to demonstrate methods to improve access to arts learning for the participating students, in keeping with the conviction that arts education benefits every individual by fostering self-expression, communication skills, self-esteem, and teamwork while addressing the basic human impulse toward creativity.
This school year NYSAAE will facilitate a Side by Side program. The program will pair a teaching artist with a student with special needs for a six week residency program. The first three weeks will be dedicated to technique; during the second three weeks, the pair will complete a collaborative piece of artwork. A sample of the students’ work, a sample of the teaching artists’ work, and their collaborative piece will be displayed together in conjunction with the work from each of the pairs in a single show. The show will travel and be displayed around New York.
Rensselaer Academy
This program will work with Rensselaer Academy (RA) to engage its students with learning disabilities, ages 6–16, in learning through the performing arts. World music drumming will be the vehicle for building teamwork, social skills, literacy, and cultural understanding within this population, as well as with the wider student community that surrounds this special education school within a school. The program will take place between November and March of the 2008–2009 school year at the RA located in Rensselaer, New York.
Professional Development and Technical Assistance
Professional Development for Educators and Teaching Artists
The professional development initiative will be directed toward a broad constituency of individuals who work with youth with disabilities in school and community settings, including teachers, teaching artists, and professional and paraprofessional staff. This initiative will provide specialized disability awareness in addition to providing a broad understanding of issues and methods of teaching the arts in an inclusive setting.
Each workshop will examine key issues such as increasing awareness of disability, kinds of disabilities, the importance of “people-first” language, strategies for using the arts in an inclusive setting, differentiated instruction, possible modifications in various arts disciplines, finding resources, maintaining the integrity of the art forms while providing quality experiences for all students, hands-on practice in creating accommodations, and take-away resources and materials.
Public Awareness and Outreach
NYSAAE will continue developing and promoting www.vsartsnys.org, a Web site devoted to VSA arts programs, opportunities, and issues in the state of New York. The site is broadly inclusive, serving as an information source for students with disabilities, parents, and other family members; educators; artists; and the general public. It includes resources such as links to programs and resources; opportunities to subscribe and participate in electronic mailing lists and online communities devoted to disability issues, arts education practices, opportunities, and other related topics.
In addition, NYSAAE is expanding awareness of disabilities through direct presentations to parents, teachers, and educators involved in arts in education; the populations will gain increased awareness of disabilities and inclusive practices. NYSAAE will also be partnering with VSA arts of New York City to mount an exhibition of work created by student artists with special needs. This show is designed to raise the general public’s awareness of and appreciation for the work of artists with disabilities.
(F) 202-429-0868