Vermont Alliance for Arts Education

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A Member of the KENNEDY CENTER ALLIANCE FOR ARTS EDUCATION NETWORK

August 24, 2010 • 2:20 pm Comments Off

VAAE Seeks Part Time Interim Director

The Vermont Alliance for Arts Education (VAAE) seeks a qualified, part-time Interim Director to lead a statewide coalition of arts educators and their allies. The VAAE advances student learning through the arts. To accomplish our mission, VAAE: Advocates for arts education programs for all students; Promotes professional development by sharing information, ideas, and resources among people dedicated to arts education; Encourages innovative collaboration among artists, individuals, cultural, and educational organizations; Recognizes notable achievements by individuals and organizations in arts education; and Partners with local, state, and national organizations concerned with arts and education. VAAE aims to meet these goals with the help of its supporters, partners and clients.

The new director will rebuild the Alliance’s capacity as a service organization to Vermont arts educators and teaching artists, working closely with four discipline-specific arts education associations, the Vermont Arts Council, and Department of Education. The Interim Director will work as a 20-30% FTE depending on experience and salary for an 18-month contract commencing November, 2010. With success, the Interim may be considered for appointment as Executive Director with increasing responsibilities and compensation after the interim period.

The successful candidate will be a skilled collaborator who can find consensus and build coalitions. She or he will be a good listener and communicate well. The best candidate will have arts education knowledge and experience that is credible to Vermont arts educators and funders and experience with, or understanding of, nonprofit management. The Alliance seeks a fiscally responsible person of integrity who would welcome the challenge of rebuilding a strong voice for arts education in Vermont.

The Interim Director reports to the VAAE board of directors and must be motivated, set priorities, and manage multiple tasks. Continuation of the position after the interim period will depend upon the director’s successful grants writing and supporting the board in fundraising.

The Interim Director may work from home and must have capacity to set up an office in Vermont and work independently. The Alliance welcomes applications from retired, part-time, or emerging educators and arts managers. VAAE is an equal opportunity employer and women, people of color, and people with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

Specific responsibilities include: serve as hub and primary contact for the Alliance, communicate with arts educators and allies through newsletters, electronic communications, and orally; write grants and support board fundraising; collaborate with partner agencies; plan and oversee delivery of continuing professional education (which has and may again include courses, institutes, and conferences); work with board to set the budget and monitor finances; report regularly to the board and at quarterly board meetings; and supervise volunteers and contracted teaching artists who help carry out the work of the Alliance.

Interested applicants will please submit their resume and three references electronically to info@vaae.org by September 23, 2010.

Filed under: Advocacy, All Disciplines, Business, Resources

February 1, 2010 • 7:27 pm 0

Excellence in Arts Education Award Nominations

Do you know a music teacher who is an “unsung hero”? Do you know a visual art teacher who has gone above and beyond, yet people haven’t acknowledged the “true colors” of his/her work? Or do your school/district arts teachers have amazing support from a curriculum coordinator, principal or superintendent that makes them want to “dance for joy and shout from the stage”? Anyone, including teachers, may submit nominations.

This is your opportunity! The Board of Directors of the Vermont Alliance for Arts Education seeks nominations for Excellence in Arts Education at the teacher, principal and superintendent level. Nominees will have demonstrated leadership and dedication to the teaching of music, visual art, theatre and dance to Vermont students.

Awards will be presented at a dinner celebration at ArtSpa – The VAAE Spring Conference – on Thursday March 11, 2010 at Vermont College of Fine Arts in Montpelier. Deadline for nominations is Friday, February 26, 2010.

Submit your nomination on-line! Three easy steps to nominate:

  1. A requirement of the nomination is that your submission is supported by the principal or superintendent of the person being nominated. Please make sure the administrator endorses your nomination before you complete the form.
  2. Go to the Excellence in Arts Education Nomination Form. Complete the form and click “Submit”.
  3. Follow up your nomination with a 200 word or less statement of why your nominee should receive the 2009-2010 Excellence in Arts Education Award. Send this statement in a separate email attachment to conference@vaae.org by Friday, February 26, 2010.

The VAAE Award Committee will choose up to 10 nominees to receive the award. Awards will be announced by March 5, 2010.

Questions? Email these to conference@vaae.org or call (802) 828-6560.

Filed under: Ephemera

January 22, 2010 • 4:19 pm Comments Off

Register for our 2010 Spring Arts Education Conference Now!

Join us!

Vermont College of Fine Art

It’s official. Our ArtSpa brochure is getting mailed out presently and you should be seeing it land in your mailbox early next week! Keep a look out for it, but in the meantime, head on over to the registration website to register and see all of the workshop offerings.

“ArtSpa “
A Conference to Renew Your Arts Education Spirit
Thursday evening and Friday, March 11-12, 2010
at the Vermont College for Fine Arts
with support from the Vermont Arts Council

Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Conference, Education ,

October 7, 2009 • 10:52 pm 0

We Have a New Date!

Our Spring Conference will be held on Friday, March 12, at the Vermont College for the Fine Arts in Montpelier, and we will start the conference with a night of networking on Thursday evening, March 11.  More details to follow, but please SAVE THE DATE!

Filed under: Conference

• 2:55 pm 0

Teaching Philosophy and Arts Advocacy

Frank Curkovic is an art teacher who lives in Japan and posts to his blog, Learning IT.  I found it this morning via a post on Facebook, and have added his blog to our links page.  He has also posted this video on YouTube, and it is a cogent and clean explanation of why the teaching of the arts in schools is not only beneficial, but necessary.

Filed under: Advocacy, All Disciplines, Education

• 2:40 pm 0

How Nonsense Sharpens the Intellect

Another interesting article from the NY Times from October 5.

A study published in Psychological Science by Dr. Travis Proulx of the University of California, Santa Barbara and Prof. Stephen Heine of the University of British Columbia, suggests that, paradoxically, a sensation of absurdity or nonsense derived from artwork, literature or even every day life, may prime the brain to sense patterns it would otherwise miss — in mathematical equations, in language, in the world at large.

Proulx and Heine argue that the brain evolved to predict, and it does so by identifying patterns. When those patterns break down. . .the brain gropes for something, anything that makes sense. It may retreat to a familiar ritual. . .but it may also turn its attention outward, the researchers argue, and notice, say, a pattern in animal tracks that was previously hidden. The urge to find a coherent pattern makes it more likely that the brain will find one.

This theory of using absurdity or nonsense (think Jabberwocky) to realign pattern-oriented thinking “supports what many experimental artists . . . have always insisted: at least some of the time, disorientation begets creative thinking.”

Filed under: Education, The Brain

• 2:14 pm 0

Public Schools Incorporate Art as a Building Block of Education

via Learning IT…

An October 1, 2009 NY Times article discusses the incorporation of art not in the classroom, but in new schools being built across the country, from New Haven, CT to Los Angeles.  The artwork is built into the design of the schools, or room is left both in the building and the budget to provide artwork throughout the school, in order to provide students and teachers opportunities to learn while walking the halls.  In New Haven:

The Columbus school incorporates sculpture and other art into nearly every corner of its year-old building with the hope that it will inspire students in this working-class Hispanic neighborhood to learn. It is one of a growing number of newly built or renovated public schools across the country that look more like cultural centers than the austere, utilitarian houses of learning of the past, displaying museum-worthy pieces commissioned from artists alongside more traditional finger paintings and statues of school mascots.

The schools can be expensive to build, but they are replacing buildings that are 40 to 50 years old, some older, and the artwork being installed is a mere pittance compared to the rest of the budget.

Administrators are happy with the response, as are teachers, parents and children. By surrounding students with “Art”, art begins to lose its feeling of separation from the other core subjects, and it is used to enhance and support that learning.

This article is a pleasant report about the power of arts in education.

Filed under: All Disciplines, Education

October 6, 2009 • 6:24 pm 0

National Symphony Orchestra Announces 2010 Summer Music Institute

Every summer, approximately 70 students (ages 15-20) from all over the nation meet in Washington, D.C., to attend the National Symphony Orchestra’s Summer Music Institute (SMI). The Institute offers four weeks of private lessons, rehearsals, coaching by National Symphony Orchestra members, classes, and lectures to prepare aspiring musicians for their futures in music. VAAE is happy to partner with the NSO in distributing applications and to recruit talented and deserving students.

Several of the students are graduates or current participants of the NSO Youth Fellowship Program, an orchestral training program for talented young musicians. Also included are students participating in the Young Artists of Color National Training Initiative of the Kennedy Center. In addition to their many lessons and training sessions, the students also perform a series of free Kennedy Center Millennium Stage concerts that are open to the public.

The Summer Music Institute is coordinated by the National Symphony Orchestra Education Program, which is a component of the Kennedy Center Education Department. Young people, teachers, and families take part in innovative and effective education programs initiated by the Center, including performances, lectures, demonstrations, open rehearsals, dance and music residencies, master classes, competitions for young actors and musicians, backstage tours, and workshops. These programs have become models for communities across the country, as educators and government leaders recognize what the Center has known for years: that the arts can unlock the door to learning for young people, fostering creativity, teaching discipline, improving self-esteem, and challenging students to think in new ways, as well as offering them experiences in the joy of the performing arts.

An application will be available the week of 10/12

Filed under: Grant Opportunity, Kennedy Center, Music

September 25, 2009 • 3:16 am 0

How Arts Training Improves Attention and Cognition

It is not difficult for arts educators to claim that the utilization of the arts in a school’s curriculum benefits learning across the spectrum, for it is an intuitive truth.  It is encouraging to know that studies continue to show this truth to have tangible, scientific proofs that will, we all hope, lead to greater support within the K-12 academic world or, more specifically, by the school boards that fund it.

The Dana Foundation, which sponsors research on the brain and how it’s ability to learn better through art, and which is a great supporter of arts education, has published an article on its website well worth reading: How Arts Training Improves Attention and Cognition by Michael I. Posner, Ph.D., and Brenda Patoine.

Michael Posner argues that when children find an art form that sustains their interest, the subsequent strengthening of their brains’ attention networks can improve cognition more broadly.

This is the kind of work that provides hope that we can find the appropriate balance between the teaching of the arts and the other disciplines in order to help form better students.

Filed under: All Disciplines, Resources

• 3:03 am 0

New Interim Board Slate Chosen

At a board meeting on September 14, the VAAE Board voted to reconfigure its board makeup by accepting changes to its by-laws.  This is in line with the results of our sustainability study.  Our foray into a potential merger passed without one offered, and our next choice was to reinvigorate the board.  By changing its by-laws, the VAAE Board of Directors was able to stabilize its current board and allows it to build a new foundation for the immediate future.

All titles are considered interim for the time being.

Wendy Cohen and Walter Judge, Co-Presidents

Gary Moreau, Treasurer

Stacy Raphael, Secretary

Joe Clifford, our past president, has resigned from the board. Joe led us during a very difficult year.  He has received a promotion at the Hopkins Center and we are grateful for his service.

The make up of the rest of the board is: Gail Kilkelly, Dept. of Education; Allyson Ledoux, VMEA; and awaiting approval, Rebecca McGregor, VT State Dance Festival; Dee Christie, VATA; and Cathy Archer, VT Drama Festival.

Filed under: Business

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