NASAA News and Current Information

South Carolina‘s Janae Claxton Is Poetry Out Loud National Champion

Left to right: NEA Senior Deputy Chairman Mary Anne Carter; NASAA President and CEO Pam Breaux; 2018 Poetry Out Loud runner-up Nicholas Amador; 2018 Poetry Out Loud third-place finalist Hope Stratman; 2018 Poetry Out Loud National Champion Janae Claxton, 2018 Poetry Out Loud judges Virgil Suárez, Dawn Lundy Martin, Robin Coste Lewis, Lavina Jadhwani, and Robert Casper; and Poetry Foundation Program Director Stephen Young. Photo by James Kegley

Rising to the top of a field of 300,000 students from 2,300 schools across the country, South Carolina high school senior Janae Claxton was named 2018 Poetry Out Loud National Champion in April. The title earned Claxton, who attends First Baptist School of Charleston, a $20,000 prize. Second and third place went to seniors Nicholas Amador from the Punahou School in Hawaiʻi and Hope Stratman of V.J. and Angela Skutt Catholic High School in Nebraska, respectively. Now in its 13th year, Poetry Out Loud is a national initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Poetry Foundation and the state arts agencies, which manage the program with additional funds and a variety of partners. Since 2005, more than 3.6 million students from across the country have participated in Poetry Out Loud. Learn more and check out more photos and videos.

Stay Tuned: Nominations for NASAA Leadership Awards

A call for nominations for NASAA’s 2018 Leadership Awards will be announced later this month. NASAA’s national awards recognize the exemplary leadership of state arts agencies and regional arts organizations. Be on the lookout for the chance to nominate your state’s or region’s outstanding leaders!

Support NASAA—Help Your Community

No one knows better than you how the arts elevate communities and enrich lives. Your work makes that possible! At NASAA, we’ve got you covered so you can keep nurturing the artists and organizations that count on you. NASAA’s spring campaign starts this month—when you support NASAA, you ignite a powerful ripple effect that helps sustain your agency and the work you do to improve lives through the arts. You can give on-line or learn more about supporting NASAA. And keep your eye out for letters and e-mails in the coming weeks. Thank you!

Creative Placemaking and Environmental Progress

ArtPlace America —a collaboration of 16 foundations, 8 federal agencies and 6 banks—has published the latest in its series of field scans focused on the intersections between various sectors and creative placemaking. The new field scan, Farther, Faster Together: How Arts and Culture Can Accelerate Environmental Progress, considers how creative placemaking strategies and practices can support projects focused on issues related to energy, water, land, waste, toxic pollution, and climate adaptation and resilience. The report is based on a literature review, an analysis of cultural projects addressing environmental issues and interviews with practitioners. It features nine case studies and offers a framework for replicating the successful efforts described.

New Creative Aging Resource Clearinghouse

There is a new on-line resource designed to support creative aging programs and practitioners. engAGED: The National Resource Center for Engaging Older Adults—created with funding from the U.S. Administration for Aging, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services—identifies and promotes the most up-to-date tools and strategies for engaging older adults in creativity. It is a clearinghouse for trends, resources and best practices. The initiative, which also is developing a database of innovative programs and a related national awareness strategy, is being realized through a partnership of the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, National Center for Creative Aging, National Resource Center for Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes at Northwestern University and other stakeholders.

Ballet and Creative Aging

New research from the Queensland Ballet in Australia adds to the body of evidence of the myriad benefits of creative aging. Ballet Moves for Adult Creative Health is based on a study of the firsthand experiences of older participants in the organization’s dance classes. The research included participant focus groups as well as direct observations of the classes. It found that older adults taking a class report increases in physical, cognitive and emotional well-being and as well as a general sense of achievement.

Benefits of Music Education

In a recent blog post, the National Endowment for the Arts highlights two research articles that explore the long-term benefits of music training. Published in the journals Neuron and Frontiers in Neuroscience, the articles find that music education not only strengthens creativity but also improves brain functions related to language development, attention, visuospatial perception, planning and other executive functions, and short-term and working memory.