The AʀᴛsEᴅɢᴇ Blog arts. education. inspiration.

One of the things we love about sharing the story of ARTSEDGE is that it's different every time we tell it.

On one level, it’s straightforward: we create free, media-rich resources for arts learning. Yet, by its very design, our programming needs to continually evolve and adapt. We work at the convergence of instructional design, media-supported learning and participatory culture—all with a unique lens on the arts. These are ever-changing variables that keep us on our toes—which makes our work equal parts exciting, challenging and fascinating.

The question became: how can we effectively forge a strategic plan in in the context of this constantly changing ecosystem in which we operate? How do we ensure that we continue to effectively engage learners and educators -- as their processes and routines shift?

What we arrived at wasn’t really a plan at all, but rather a framework. A strategic compass that serves to guide all of what we do--that enables us to prioritize and pivot as needed, alongside changing needs and advancing technologies.

It starts with our over-arching goal: to increase literacies across the arts—dance, music, theater, visual arts, and now media arts. To that end, we took an approach rooted in human curiosity. We strive to inspire, elicit and address questions: What am I looking at or listening to? How is that made? Who made it? What’s going on in [this] story? How do I know what's “good”? Why do we (still) care about that?

From here, we identified three main Impact Areas—areas we know there is need for resources, guidance and inspiration. We create content aligned to these Impact Areas: digital learning media, toolkits, guides and much more.

Arts + Innovation. A unique spin on STEAM or STEM learning. We focus on two main areas:

The connection between invention & the arts. What do people need to make in order to “make art”? And how does this innovation influence art in return?

Bio-mechanics of art. What happens to our bodies when we participate in the arts, whether as a performer or as an audience participant?

Creative Careers. Demystifying the path to an arts-centric college experience and career for either:

Committed artists. How do we help young people (and their families) who are “aiming for the stage” aspire towards careers in the arts?

Potential creatives. How do we bring awareness of arts training or creative careers to young people who may not have had much exposure? We want to make those careers visible.

Creative Change. How the arts can bring true impact.

Through civic or personal action, young people, like many creative thinkers before them, can change the world through their creative voices.

"Challenge” series. We invite young people to explore a given idea and respond to it artistically. We work with contemporary artists, often through the lens of pop culture and “maker” culture, to engage youth, younger teachers and parents in relevant ways.

School’s well underway, faces are becoming more familiar, Back-to-School nights are (mostly) over, and routines are settling in. October is here, and the school year has begun in earnest. Apart from a change of season in many places across the U.S., October also brings Arts & Humanities month: “a coast-to-coast collective recognition of the importance of culture in America”.   Here at AʀᴛsEᴅɢᴇ, the digital learning arm of the John F. Kennedy Center, we spent some time thinking about what this really means to us, as a team working at the intersection of digital learning, the arts, and emerging pedagogy. And we realized that in many ways, it’s a month where we all—teachers, artists, media producers, technologists—band together, collectively, to revel in, dream about and advocate for the arts in education.   So, we’re using Arts & Humanities Month as a creative prod, a kickstarter to re-imagine the ways we produce and deliver arts learning content. Throughout the month, you’ll see new resources pop up on our web site and on a range of new platforms—a digital celebration of art, art-makers, education and community. In the next days, we’ll kick off a bunch of boards on Pinterest, take you backstage at the Kennedy Center on Instagram, and roll out updated and expanded videos in our YouTube channel. Then, we’ll fill the month with a variety of: 

Thought-provoking quotes, useful factoids, and links to tons of resources, shared on Pinterest,

Behind-the-scenes pics from the Center shared on Instagram,

Daily tweets of “just-in-time” content—daily ‘Art Days’ factoids, and relevant arts, culture, and education news as it unfolds,

Facebook and Google+ posts that showcase new & noteworthy releases channels (and more!)

Playlists on various music-sharing channels,

Digital learning podcasts on iTunes.

Oh, and this blog. It's a new platform for us, so we will be doing some experimentation to get it right. Throughout the month, we’ll post updates that connect to a different area of Arts in Education. We’ll also dedicate posts to sharing the AʀᴛsEᴅɢᴇ Strategic Framework, a living roadmap that guides where we are going in this constantly changing space. We'll also be inviting guest bloggers to share their expertise in specific areas of arts learning.