Art Education in Schools Gets a Boost From New Scholarship Program

Oct. 10, 2011 - PRLog -- Art in Action, a leading nonprofit art education organization, today announced that more than 5,000 students in 85 schools are participating in the Art in Action Visual Arts Scholarship Program for the school year 2011-12. This program is part of Art in Action’s mission to bring a quality art education to more students and was launched at a time when many art programs are being discontinued due to budget constraints in schools.

“A comprehensive, standards-based arts education is the right of every child. Arts education encourages critical thinking, creativity, tolerance and positive self-esteem," says Sandra Sterrenberg, visual arts specialist at scholarship recipient Burnt Ranch Elementary School in Burnt Ranch, CA.

Burnt Ranch is a rural town in Northern California with a population of 281 and with 96 students in the elementary school. Rural schools are increasingly important to the success of the nation’s educational goals, according the Rural School and Community Trust, a national nonprofit organization based in Washington DC. The rural share of the nation’s students account for 24 percent, according to the Department of Education.

"Allowing children to visually express ideas supports academic learning by giving meaning and understanding to a mathematical, scientific, historical or story concept that they may not previously have grasped,” says Pamela Collinsworth, principal at scholarship recipient Stanislaus Elementary, Arts and Technology Academy in Modesto, CA.

“The President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities recognizes that arts education is an effective tool in school-wide reform and in fixing some of our biggest educational challenges,” says Betsy Halaby, program director at Art in Action. “We are delighted that so many educators see it the same way and have chosen Art in Action.”

Hot Topic Foundation and SanDisk Giving Foundation have contributed to the funding of the scholarship program.

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. 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.

More information at http://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.