Indiana and Idaho: Partnerships for Expanding Arts Education

The arts and arts education play an important role in supporting both students and educators in school environments, with research showing that the arts can bolster student achievement, support effective instruction, and improve school culture and community engagement (learn more). Recognizing the power that arts education holds for all in the education ecosystem, the Indiana Arts Commission (IAC) and the Idaho Commission on the Arts (ICA) are partnering with their state departments of education to provide greater access to arts education programming. IAC is offering professional arts integration development for instructors, while ICA is providing funds to support arts education curricula in rural schools.

Indiana Arts Commission

A group of young students in a gymnasium celebrate with raised hands.

Elementary students celebrate after finishing the IAC PACE arts education program. Photo courtesy Indiana Arts Commission

The Indiana Arts Commission is offering a new training workshop for classroom educators and teaching artists who are seeking to refine their arts education skills and better integrate arts into the classroom. The Arts Integration Learning Lab draws from a half-decade of research from the IAC’s own arts integration program, Partnering Arts, Communities and Education. The Learning Lab will feature curricula designed to assist classroom educators in activating the arts and help teaching artists to design arts integration residencies. The workshop also will facilitate networking and collaborative learning between classroom educators and teaching artists.

The workshops can fulfill professional growth plan requirements for teachers, and classroom educators will be eligible for an arts integration artist residency grant of up to $3,000 after completing the workshop. For more information, contact IAC Arts Education and Accessibility Manager Stephanie Haines.

Idaho Commission on the Arts

Text describing the Expanding Arts Access in Rural Public Schools grant superimposed over a group of students.

Image courtesy Idaho Commission on the Arts

The Idaho Commission on the Arts created a new, one-time grant—Expanding Arts Access in Rural Public Schools—to increase access to fine arts, performing arts and design courses in rural public school districts and rural charter schools. $1 million in state funding supported grants up to $15,000 each and came from ICA’s partnership with the Idaho State Board of Education (State Board). Funds did not require a match and supported the purchase of equipment, supplies, and curricular material for cocurricular or extracurricular arts programming. Both ICA and the State Board were committed to rapid deployment of these funds, given the limited resources available in rural areas and the arts learning loss experienced during the pandemic. Together in partnership, the two agencies collaborated to design a process that was quick and efficient to administer, so that schools would receive funding decisions in time to inform their planning for the fall semester.

Applicant communities had to fit the state legislature’s definition of rural. To apply, school districts and charter schools had to describe their arts curriculum needs, the student populations to be served and how the funds would be used. Applicants also needed to provide plans to sustain the programs supported by this grant. Grant applications were rapidly reviewed by an external, advisory review panel of experts and forwarded to the State Board for final approval. The arts curriculum capital needs of 71 rural Idaho school districts and charter schools were supported through this opportunity. The program was conceived in late fall 2021 and legislatively approved and launched in March 2022. Grant checks were distributed in May, and ICA will manage final reporting for the State Board in spring 2023. For more information, contact Idaho Commission on the Arts Executive Director Michael Faison.