Scholarship Program to Strengthen Art Education in Elementary Schools

May 23, 2011 - PRLog -- Art in Action, a leading nonprofit art education organization, today announced the launch of an arts scholarship program for elementary schools throughout the United States. The intent of the program is to bring a quality art education program to more students at a time when schools are struggling to keep art programs from being discontinued due to budget constraints. The scholarship program fully subsidizes the art materials from Art in Action, while the school pays only the license fee to access the Art in Action online curriculum, including teacher instructions.

"The arts are important because they provide students with skills such as critical thinking, creativity and cultural understanding, all required in the 21st century global economy,” says Judy Sleeth, Executive Director of Art in Action. “Grants and donations make it possible for Art in Action to support art education in schools through this scholarship program. It will help many students who otherwise would not have an art program in their school," says Sleeth.

Corporate funders Hot Topic Foundation and SanDisk Giving Foundation underwrote an earlier scholarship program by Art in Action for Title I schools in California, with 37 schools having accepted the scholarship. The extension of the scholarship program to schools throughout the nation is expected to appeal to several hundred schools and reach over 10,000 students.

Schools can apply online for the Art in Action Visual Arts Scholarship at www.artinaction.org/w/scholarshipus. Application deadline is May 31, 2011.

Art in Action was founded in 1982 and is a nonprofit organization, which fosters the educational development and creativity of children through innovative visual arts programs. The Art in Action curriculum is consistently praised for empowering teachers and parents to teach art, by providing detailed, easy-to-follow directions for guiding successful discussions and projects. The lessons enhance student creativity and innovative thinking, and appeal to different learning styles. The curriculum meets national and state academic standards and integrates with language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. The use of innovative multimedia technology in the online curriculum provides educators with new opportunities to effectively teach art education.

More information at www.artinaction.org.

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K-12 visual arts education programs: Academic content standards-aligned curriculum for schools and homeschools, lesson-specific art supplies, training of teachers and parent volunteers, school support.