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Illinois School Board Journal
March/April 2003
Ideas to make your arts program priceless
by Jennifer Bialobok
Jennifer Bialobok is Community Relations Coordinator at Lyons Township High School, Lyons THSD 204 in LaGrange, Illinois.
The marching band has been cancelled due to lack of funds, leaving its members with no options to practice or play.
A district’s only art teacher is overburdened with hundreds of students and few supplies.
A high school senior hoping to pursue art in college is informed his art history class is cancelled due to lack of enrollment.
The above scenarios are all too common in districts across the country. The arts are often viewed as luxuries students can live without and become the first classes cut come budget time.
An effective arts program can reach far beyond the walls and hallways of a school. The arts can help create an image for a school and increase pride throughout the community.
Here are several ways districts have increased visibility of their arts programs and infused art, music, drama and dance into their curriculum:
Traveling shows: Display student artwork in high traffic, public places, like libraries, train stations, shopping malls, storefronts, hospitals, park districts, school hallways and village halls. Your exhibits should provide background information and explain objectives, rationales and methods. Identify the school and students, include both written work and works of art, and present it all in a professional manner.
Share: Learn from one another and invite elementary and junior high musicians and artists to work, learn, and play alongside high school students. Encourage partnerships between student artists and a local senior citizens group, or participate in art exchange programs with schools in other parts of the country.
Publish: Compile a list of all fine art activities in the district, publish them in an annual calendar, and distribute to all parents, community groups and civic organizations. Mail quarterly postcards to parents reminding them of various events and activities. Or, if your budget is tight, collaborate with other local calendars and add your events.
Attendance: Encourage attendance at your art shows, plays, musical concerts, dance performances and film festivals by offering free or reduced admission to students and senior citizens.
Just say yes: Agree to perform at grand openings, dedications, public events and festivals. Showcase your student talents.
Arts week: Set aside one week each year to highlight the arts. Invite local professional artists, actors, poets, playwrights, dancers and musicians to demonstrate and share their talent. Invite the community to join your students.
In-house expertise: Encourage faculty and staff, who may be accomplished artists in their own right, to share their work with students. Encourage them to serve as contest judges, guest conductors and accompanists, and make space for them to showcase their work.
Recognition: Enter student work into contests and competitions. Recognition from outside sources validates student work and may come with scholarship monies or donations.
Summer camps: Offer classes or camps in the arts. These may provide a training ground for future artists who wish to pursue careers in the arts and entertainment industries. Plan a special exhibition of work produced in class to bring the program to a successful close.
Combine disciplines: Consider interdisciplinary work between core subjects and the arts. For example, Spanish students can teach Spanish to art students, while art students help the foreign language students make Mexican pottery.
Ante up: Tap into likely and unlikely resources for funds and supplies. Apply for grants, explore partnerships with local businesses that might be willing to donate supplies, charge lab fees for expendables, charge admission to events and recitals, and ask school boosters for donations.
Educate: Hold in-service sessions to educate faculty on the benefits of an arts education and leave time for interdisciplinary work.
Commit: Adopt written policies that value the arts as equal to other school subjects, and treat arts education equally with other subjects when budget cuts are required.