Every Idea Has To Start Somewhere!

The August 23rd public unveiling of Arts Partners provided the opportunity to introduce the Visioning Committee. Members of this committee participated in the first conversations about the regional project and bring the perspective of key stakeholders to the initial planning.

• Big Thought, Dallas, TX: Gigi Antoni, Gina Thorsen
• BodyVox: Una Loughran
• City of Portland: Jesse Beason
• Hillsboro School District: Suzanne Cusick
• MetroArts Inc: Niel DePonte
• North Clackamas School District: Ron Naso
• NW/Business for Culture & the Arts: Paul King, Max Miller
• Oregon Children’s Theatre: Marta Mellinger, Deb Vaughn
• Oregon Symphony: Michael Kosmala
• PGE Foundation: Carole Morse
• Portland Public Schools: John Branam, Jeff Gilpin, David Wynde
• Regional Arts & Culture Council: Eloise Damrosch, Cindy Knapp, Carol Smith
• Young Audiences of Oregon & SW Washington: Gail Hayes Davis, Brenda MacRoberts, Jane Reid, Jan Robertson

Arts Partners Unveiled

Today, more than 150 advocates for arts education assembled in the Gerding Theatre to learn about Arts Partners, a new vision for bringing arts education to every student in the Portland metropolitan region. Special guests included Gigi Antoni and Gina Thorsen from Big Thought -- a very successful model for integrated arts education in Dallas, TX.

The local initiative, still in the planning phases, is a growing partnership among RACC, NW/BCA, local school districts, arts organizations, Young Audiences, the City of Portland, Multnomah & Clackamas Counties,Oregon Arts Commission and a variety of other government, business, and foundation partners.

The following resources are available to help illustrate the successs of Arts Partners in Dallas:

• Download the BigThought ArtsPartners presentation (PDF, 1mb)
• Visit the Dallas Big Thought website

Unveiling Arts Partners

On Thursday, August 23, the Regional Arts & Culture Council will join Young Audiences of Oregon and SW Washington, Northwest Business for Culture & the Arts, and a variety of public and private partners to present information on the formation of Arts Partners, a new plan for bringing arts education to every student in the Portland metropolitan area. This program is based on a successful model that has accomplished a similar objective in Dallas, Texas.

All events will take place at the Gerding Theatre at the Armory, 128 NW 11th Avenue in Portland’s Pearl District.

7:15 A.M. to 7:45 A.M. – Continental Breakfast in the lobby

7:45 A.M. to 8:45 A.M. – Arts Partners Presentation on the Main Stage – What is it, why is it

For more information, read this media advisory (pdf).

Introducing Arts Partners

RACC and our key partners, Young Audiences and NW Business for Culture and the Arts, are poised to launch an important planning effort, designed to benefit every K-8 student in the tri-county region. Arts Partners is about a collaborative approach for arts learning, based on a proven model of success. The vision: arts resources for every school and integration of arts and culture into every classroom.

We know that kids need the arts to develop their full potential. We know that the arts have been largely stripped from schools and that only certain schools can buy them back. We have talked for years about how to fix this problem that affects not only our kids, but also future arts audiences, a creative and innovative workforce, and a community where people thrive and which visitors flock to experience.

Arts Partners is a consortium of arts education service providers, educators, public and private funders, business and community leaders, and advocates. Using Dallas Texas's highly successful "Big Thought" as a model and benefiting from being the only region to be directly mentored this year by this program's top leadership, we are about to start exploring our own program.

Arts Partners is not designed to usurp regional school districts' responsibilities to provide arts specialists, but it can strengthen the arts as core curriculum, improve student academic performance, and provide teachers with new instructional tools. Students will have direct access to artists' residencies, performances, field trips, and master classes. Arts Partners will provide professional development to educators and to arts organizations which provide services to schools.

This program will take time to plan and develop, and initial funding for this effort has been secured from The City of Portland, Multnomah County, Clackamas County, and the Oregon Arts Commission -- thank you! RACC is serving as fiscal agent during the planning process, and is helping coordinate the first steps in exploring this big vision. You will hear much more soon, including how you can help.