Spotlight On

Mission:
The Center for Arts Education is committed to restoring, stimulating, and sustaining quality arts education as an essential part of every child’s education. We identify, fund, and support exemplary partnerships and programs that demonstrate how the arts contribute to learning and student achievement. The Center for Arts Education is dedicated to influencing educational and fiscal policies that will support arts education in all of the City’s public schools.

History:
The Center for Arts Education (CAE) was established in 1996 to restore arts education in New York City's schools after two decades of cutbacks for classroom arts programs. Since its founding, CAE has created partnerships between schools and the City's cultural institutions; funded sustainable arts programs in hundreds of schools; provided professional development to teachers, artists and administrators; opened doors for high school students exploring arts careers; and published guides for educators to replicate the successes of their peers.

Prior to 1975, the New York City school system boasted a citywide arts curriculum in which students had opportunities to take part in dance, theater, music, visual and literary arts at every stage of their education. The fiscal budget crisis of the 1970s brought on the gradual abandonment of the arts as an essential element of students' academic development.

In 1993, Ambassador Walter H. Annenberg announced the single largest gift ever made to American public education: the Annenberg Challenge, a half-billion dollar, five-year challenge grant designed to support promising efforts at school reform. When Annenberg suggested that the time was right to establish New York City as an "arts education challenge site", the New York City Board of Education and Department of Cultural Affairs set forth a five-year plan for the Annenberg Arts and Education Initiative. This plan proposed a model for collaboration among teachers, artists, cultural institutions, community organizations and colleges. When the Annenberg Foundation responded favorably to the proposal, the Center for Arts Education was born.

In March of 1996, an initiative to establish New York City as an "arts education challenge site" was kick-started by a two-to-one $12 million challenge grant from the Annenberg Foundation, to be matched by a $12 million investment each from the public and private sectors, for a total $36 million. This plan proposed a model for collaboration among teachers, artists, cultural institutions, community organizations and colleges. The Center for Arts Education was created to administer this initiative, serve as a liaison, and oversee the distribution of these funds to the City's schools. The Annenberg Foundation provided another $12 million to CAE to continue revitalizing arts education in 2001. In 2002, CAE was the recipient of the Governor's Arts Award, for outstanding contributions to the cultural well-being of the State of New York.

Current Programs:
With the collaboration of the New York City Departments of Education and Cultural Affairs and the United Federation of Teachers, the Center for Arts Education provides funding for programs in the five boroughs of New York City:

Partnership grants support multi-year arts partnerships between schools and performing and visual arts companies, museums, and arts education organizations.

The Parents As Arts Partners grant program funds schools and cultural organizationsworking to increase parent support and teach families the value of arts in education.

Leadership in Practice Grants support a select group of former Partnership schools in documenting and developing successful arts education curriculum, products, and processes that can be adapted by other schools and arts organizations.

The Career Development Program helps develop connections among high schools, the arts, and related industries. The program supports student internships at businesses and cultural institutions.

Funding Needs:
Funding from individuals and institutions is needed to support for the efforts of the Center for Arts Education to restore and sustain high-quality arts education in New York City’s public school. Learn more.




Every month, the "Spotlight On" highlights the activities of a different 501(c)3 nonprofit organization located in the tri-state region (NY, NJ, or CT). The selection of organizations for the "Spotlight On" is based on criteria such as programmatic interests, geographic focus, and size, to ensure the broadest possible representation of the region's nonprofit sector.

If you'd like to see your NPO in the "Spotlight," please use this submission form to send us a profile of your organization. Or e-mail a description of your organization, following the above format, to nyweb@foundationcenter.org, with "Spotlight Submission" in the subject line.