New York State Alliance for Arts Education
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Empire State Plaza |
Jeremy Johannesen |
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Tel.: 518-473-0823 |
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Full-time Staff: 2 |
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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 its constituents. NYSAAE convenes 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:
Big Brothers Big Sisters (various agencies across New York State); State University of New York at New Paltz; the BOCES Arts in Education Coordinators Network; the ARC of New York State; and the New York State School Music Association; New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA); New York State Department of Education; John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
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 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.
New this year, NYSAAE has begun the Arts-2-Gether program in partnership with several Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) agencies. The program will provide an intensive emersion experience to small groups (six pairs, consisting of a student with special needs and an adult mentor) under the guidance of a teaching artist. Program participants will be recruited from among existing BBBS ‘matches’, specifically from matches with students with special needs. The first three weeks will be dedicated to technique; during the following three weeks, each child / adult pairing will work together to produce a finished artwork. A sample of the artworks from the program will be displayed in a show mounted in Albany during April 2010. Selections from this show will tour New York State during the summer of 2010.
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.
Cultural Access and Inclusive Arts Services
Cultural Access Learning Communities
NYSAAE has undertaken a new initiative to bring together members of the museum and gallery communities from across New York State. By facilitating these conversations NYSAAE intends to foster a learning community focused on best practices using technology to provide accessibility to all patrons, as well as ADA compliance and Universal Design Principles.
Public Awareness and Outreach
Web site
NYSAAE will continue developing and promoting www.vsartsnys.org, a Web site devoted to VSA 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.
Presentations and Exhibitions
NYSAAE is expanding awareness of disabilities through direct presentations to parents, teachers, and educators involved in arts in education. These populations will gain increased awareness of disabilities and inclusive practices.
NYSAAE will also be partnering with VSA 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