Putting Ideas into Practice: Advancing Arts Education in Chicago

Tuesday, October 19, 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Organized by Frank Baiocchi, program officer, Polk Bros. Foundation.

Presented by Suzanne Connor, senior program officer, The Chicago Community Trust; Sandra Guthman, board chair and chief executive officer, Polk Bros. Foundation; Terri Milsap, principal and chief academic officer, Chicago High School for the Arts; Jose Ochoa, executive and artistic director, Chicago High School for the Arts.

Chicago grantmakers have collaborated to initiate a number of projects designed to build a more cohesive and meaningful arts education community, while addressing issues of access, effectiveness, and coordination. Examples include the launch of the Chicago High School for the Arts, which offers a college-preparatory and pre-professional arts-training program; the publication of The Chicago Guide for Teaching and Learning in the Arts, a PreK-12 curricular map of the major arts disciplines that allows schools and arts partners to align programs with system-wide standards to measure success; and the Chicago Arts Learning Initiative (CALI), a planning group comprising 300 arts education stakeholders convened to address concerns and ensure increased access to arts learning opportunities for youth across the district.


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