On May 20, Michelle Obama - honorary chair of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities - welcomed student performers from across the country as they took part in the first-ever White House Turnaround Arts talent show.

The event was held as part of a larger administration effort to leverage art, artists, and significant Department of Education resources to turnaround the nation's worst performing schools through Turnaround Arts, a public-private partnership that utilizes the arts to help narrow the achievement gap. 

Musician and arts advocate John Legend delivered the commencement speech at the University of Pennsylvania on May 19^th, where he discussed the link between art and social justice. He also elaborated on the role the arts played in his childhood, particularly as a way to cope after his parents’ divorce.

“If I didn't fall in love, no one could ever betray me like that again,” said Legend. “The only thing I allowed myself to really love without reservation was music.”

Kerry Washington, actress and arts education advocate, wrote to the Huffington Post on May 20 about the real-life story of Kechelle from Anacostia in Washington, DC and the story of many other students like her whose lives were transformed in Turnaround Arts schools across the country. 

Rhode Island School of Design launched an innovative mapping tool to visualize STEAM activity worldwide during a STEAM Industry briefing held on Capitol Hill, May 7, 2014 in cooperation with U.S. House STEAM Caucus Co-Chairs Suzanne Bonamici (OR) and Aaron Schock (IL).

To help inform the work of the STEAM Caucus, Americans for the Arts would like to invite you to add your organization (or yourself) to the Map to reveal the growing STEAM network, share what’s working, and show decision makers where STEAM is happening.

Americans for the Arts, a leading partner in The National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (NCCAS), will launch in partnership with NCCAS the 2014 National Core Arts Standards in a streaming webinar on Wednesday, June 4, 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. Join arts education leaders from around the country to learn more about the new standards. The event will feature interviews with a broad spectrum of arts education providers, including certified educators, teaching artists, administrators, national/state policy makers, and arts education advocates.

Americans for the Arts Annual Convention kicked off unofficially on June 12^th with the preconferences and their related field trips. The Public Art Preconference included a tour of repurposed artist studios and enclaves in Nashville, Tennessee. The tour, “Reclamation as Transition - From Factories to Churches: Creating Artist Spaces and Places,” illustrated ways cities can engage the creative class for a more vibrant community.

Americans for the Arts, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education, announced the recipients of the 2014 Americans for the Arts Annual Local Arts Leadership Awards.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Americans for the Arts, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education, announced the recipients of the 2014 Americans for the Arts Annual Local Arts Leadership Awards. Presented each year, these awards recognize the achievements of individuals, organizations or programs committed to enriching their communities through the arts

The Tennessee Arts Commission is offering grants to Tennessee-based arts organizations and individuals for Americans for the Arts' Annual Convention in Nashville, Tennessee this June 12 - 15.

In March 2014, the Nonprofit Finance Fund (NFF) published its annual State of the Nonprofit Sector. Our VP of Research, Randy Cohen, breaks down the findings for us on ARTSBlog. 

Marty Walsh, the newly elected Mayor of Boston, stepped into office and immediately went to work restructuring his cabinet and the Boston government. Walsh decided on cutting 14 city cabinets down to 12 and including 17 people in his cabinet instead of 20 with hope that the reorganization will better support city services.  A large change in the new cabinet is the promotion of Arts and Culture as a cabinet-level position.

Learning in the arts enables every individual to develop the critical thinking, collaborative, and creative skills necessary to succeed in today’s ever-changing world. Americans for the Arts, and it’s national charity partner, Vans Custom Culture, envision a country where every child has access to—and takes part in–high quality learning experiences in the arts, both in school and in the community.

At the end of last year, Dean Mary Schmidt Campbell of the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University retired. She has been the face of arts and culture in New York for over 23 years. Prior to her role as Dean at Tisch School, she was the chairwoman of the New York State Council on the Arts, commissioner of New York City’s Cultural Affairs Department, and Executive Director of the Studio Museum in Harlem.

So what is on this arts and culture leader's agenda for the New Year?

On Jan. 8, 2014, Americans for the Arts, along with twelve other arts and educational advocacy organizations release A Shared Endeavor: Arts Education for America’s Students.  This document articulates the purpose and value of arts education in the balanced curriculum of all students, asserting its place as a core academic subject area, and detailing how sequential arts learning can be supported by rigorous national standards and assessments.

A new report was released today, profiling the state of the arts in one of the country’s largest school system – Chicago Public Schools. Ingenuity, an arts advocacy organization in Chicago, works closely with the school system to reinstate arts education in every school for every student. The report, is the first of its kind in Chicago, and will be the first in a set of longitudinal reports by Ingenuity which will track student access to the arts in schools.

Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) has been elected to the position of Ranking Member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, which has jurisdiction over education issues including reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Sen.

Now that it's back-to-school time and upcoming National Arts Education Week is right around the corner (September 14 - 18), WorldWideLearn's May article on the 15 most inspiring cities for young arts professionals and arts students piques our interest yet again.

The Right Brain initiative is a sustainable partnership between public schools, local government, foundations, businesses and the cultural community to teach to children using the arts, creativity innovation, and whole-brain thinking.

Education leaders in Congress have begun another attempt to reauthorize the Elementary & Secondary Education Act, now years past its authorized timeframe. In the Senate, education committee chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) and ranking member Lamar Alexander (R-TN) have both introduced separate pieces of legislation that pursue divergent solutions to approaching Title I funding for disadvantaged students, teacher evaluation, student assessment and

As a part of the College, Career, and Citizenship Readiness Coalition, Americans for the Arts has signed onto a letter to Senators Harkin (D-IA) and Alexander (R-TN) in support of the language in the Strengthening America’s Schools Act (S.1094), which supports a well-rounded education.

As a Vans Custom Culture national charity partner, Americans for the Arts is proud to work closely with the brand to reinforce the importance of arts education in schools across the country.

Looking for those great nuggets from Yo-Yo Ma's invigorating speech? The speech as written is now available for download.

As a Vans Custom Culture national charity partner, Americans for the Arts is proud to work closely with the brand to reinforce the importance of arts education in schools across the country.

Americans for the Arts has joined the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (NCCAS) leadership team revising the national voluntary learning standards for dance, music, theatre, visual arts and media arts for grades preK-12. The new standards will be released in March, 2014.

It's election season here at Americans for the Arts! Nominate yourself or a colleague to become a member of one of our four Network Councils: Arts Education, Emerging Leaders, Private Sector, and Public Art Network.