Engaging Communities for Equitable Access to High-Quality Arts Education
Sunday, October 29, 2:00pm – 3:15pm
Organized and moderated by Michelle Boss Barba, Program Officer for Arts & Culture, The Oregon Community Foundation
Presented by Madeline Baars, Researcher, The Oregon Community Foundation; Nick Lupo, Principal, Taft Elementary; and Christine Tell, Studio to School Project Lead, Siletz Bay Music Festival.
The Oregon Community Foundation (OCF) is in year four of its five-year Studio to School initiative, exploring how community organizations and public schools can work together to create and sustain high-quality arts education for underserved youth, especially at the middle school level. Working with eighteen rural, suburban, and urban project sites, OCF is utilizing grantmaking, convening, and a robust evaluation program to surface principles and case studies that could be widely applicable to communities across the state. In strategizing next steps, the foundation is grappling with a variety of questions: How can philanthropy best impact arts education, especially when equity is the goal? As the primary convener and driver of this work, how does OCF meaningfully engage other stakeholders to share in future visioning and implementation? How can learning from the data collected so far best serve the field? In this session, OCF will share their experimental approach with Studio to School, hear from grantees, review the draft principles developed through evaluation work, and give other funders an opportunity to share their experiences and ideas.