May 6 will go down as a landmark in the history of Arts Education.
On this day the President's Committee on The Arts and Humanities released a report at the Art Education Partnership (AEP) Conference, called "Reinvesting in Arts Education: Winning America's Future Through Creative Schools."
It unveiled the President's thinking about the important connection between art and culture and creativity and innovation, and promised an agenda for reinventing education in America. It is a landmark in new thinking that should set the stage for meaningful debate, discussion and hopefully, reform.
No doubt Obama was the first candidate for election to the Presidency to have an art and humanities plank. Early on he championed the idea that, "To remain competitive in the global economy, America needs to reinvigorate the kind of creativity and innovation that has made this country great. To do so, we must nourish our children's creative skills. In addition to giving our children the science and math skills they need to compete in the new global context, we should also encourage the ability to think creatively that comes from a meaningful arts education."
As President, he filled cabinet level positions with people who saw the arts as he did, and he appointed some of the best and brightest to his high level art and humanities committee.
But the fruits of these appointments and the President's long held view of the arts and America's economic prosperity interests are now becoming apparent in this report, the culmination of 18 months of research, meetings with stakeholders, and site visits all over the country. The report represents an in-depth review of the current condition of arts education, including an update of the current research base about arts education outcomes, and an analysis of the challenges and opportunities in the field that have emerged over the past decade.
Continue at this link at the Huffington Post
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