With a Challenge America Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Arkansas Arts Council is again offering K-12 schools an opportunity to participate in the Arts in Education (AIE) Mini-Residency grant program. This year, the grant program will be expanded to include community-based or governmental organizations and institutions that provide facilities and guidance during non-school hours. The grant program will provide funding to allow professional artists on the AIE Artist Roster to present one to five-day curriculum-based mini-residencies in the classroom or at the organization site. Applicants may receive a maximum of $1,000 using established AIE program rates for artist fees, travel, meals, lodging and supplies. Applicants must show a 1:1 match of cash and/or in-kind contributions.
Schools and youth programs that incorporate the arts such as music, visual art, drama, dance or creative writing into basic curriculum have found that the arts may have a significant effect on overall student success. Because the arts are closely associated with important ideas and events in history, students with a background in the arts are likely to have a richer source of information and insight to draw upon, compared to students without this background. Math and reading scores increase, truancy decreases and over all morale improves whenever the impact of arts education programming has been measured in national studies.
The mini-residency program will ensure that all Arkansas schools and community organizations have an opportunity to apply for the residencies. Schools and organizations in rural and underserved communities without access to one of the Art Council's AIE programs are especially encouraged to apply.
Applications will be available in September 2003 for residencies occurring between October 2003 and August 2004. For more information, contact Cynthia Haas, Arts in Education program manager, at 501-324-9769 or cynthia@arkansasheritage.org, or visit the web site www.arkansasarts.com.