North Texas Business Council for the Arts (North Texas BCA) recently launched the inaugural Collin County class of the Leadership Arts Institute, a program designed to develop the next successful generation of business leaders for the arts.

“We want to help businesses and arts organizations learn how to start a dialogue about the importance of arts in everyday life,” said Katherine Wagner, CEO of North Texas BCA.

"Speed Killed My Cousin" is a brutally honest work on PTSD and the difficulties military personnel feel when returning to civilian life.  An intense one act play, “Speed Killed My Cousin” is the story of a young, African American woman veteran of the Iraq War and her struggle with moral injury and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). A third generation soldier, the central character courts death by vehicular suicide.

SAY Sí (San Antonio Youth, YES) has long been known as San Antonio’s premier out-of-school time creative youth development organization. Since its inception in 1994, its growing success rates have garnered national attention and recognition. But for the first time in its 21-year history – SAY Sí’s tuition-free programs will go global. SAY Sí is the receipient of the 2013 Leadership in Arts Education Award from Americans for the Arts.

ArtsFund, a united arts fund in Seattle, was recently featured in a Seattle Times article about the charitable donations of Microsoft employees, fostered and encouraged by the company for which they work. In 2015 the company’s employees gave $62 million to groups in Washington State, a 7 percent increase from the previous year.

The National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (NCCAS) has completed the selection of schools and teachers for the High School Model Cornerstone Assessment Pilot Project. The project is partially funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Model Cornerstone Assessments (MCAs), a component of the 2014 National Core Arts Standards, were created at the benchmark grades of 2, 5, 8 and the three high school levels (proficient, accomplished, advanced) to demonstrate the type of standards-based evidence needed to show student achievement.

More than 340 guests joined the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) and RACC’s Business Committee for the Arts at the Portland Art Museum on February 24, 2016 for the annual Arts Breakfast of Champions.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced the launch of the Arts Activation Fund, which is a $200,000 grant program that will support the work of local artists producing public art projects and cultural events in their neighborhoods.

In California State Senator Ben Allen (D – Santa Monica)—the chair of the Joint Committee on the Arts—introduced Senate Bill 916 on January 27 to establish single-subject teaching credentials for dance and theatre. Also known as the Theatre and Dance Act, the bill was proposed in response to concerns raised at a hearing of the Joint Committee on the Arts held last fall about the lack of stand-alone credentials for dance and theatre. Sen.

Colorado Business Committee for the Arts (CBCA) recently announced that Jane Chu, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), will deliver the keynote event at the organization’s annual Business for the Arts Awards luncheon. The event, which will be held on March 9 at the Denver Performing Arts Center, will feature musical, dance, and theatrical performances in addition to the announcements of the awardees.

The Los Angeles Youth Orchestra will be included in the half-time show of this year’s Super Bowl.  Music Director, Gustavo Dudamel of the Los Angeles Philharmonic will conduct a group of students from this El Sistema inspired program.

Former astronaut, Alvin Drew, spoke about adding the arts and humanities to STEM – science, technology, engineering and math education – at a recent White House convening.

We Connect The Dots – a STEAM education program – joined with the Microsoft Corporation today to ring the opening bell of the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York City.

The ceremony celebrated the success of We Connect the Dots, its partnership with Microsoft and their collective work to close the opportunity divide in technology, education and STEAM education.

Stark County’s About magazine named its county arts council’s CEO, Robb Hankins, Person of the Year for 2015. In the decade since he has been in his position at ArtsinStark, Hankins has championed local artists and helped transform Canton, Ohio’s downtown into a vibrant hub through the arts. He has also expanded the council’s in-school arts program, SmArts, to all of the local public school districts and Catholic elementary and middle schools.  

Fund for the Arts, one of the nation’s oldest United Arts Funds raising money for the arts community in Louisville, KY, recently revealed a new logo, the first step in unveiling a new brand and identity for the over 60-year-old organization.

The 296 Project, an Art Therapy based Veterans Service Organization based in Alexandria, VA was the recipient of the prestigious ‘Veterans Award’ for 2015, presented by Mission Complete. The ‘Veterans Awards’ or "Vettys", honor those organizations that have dedicated their work to creating an America where our nation’s heroes are able to live the lives they deserve and access the assistance that is promised to them.

ArtsKC - Regional Arts Council, the 5-county arts council serving the Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas areas, announced its new President and Chief Executive Officer Bruce W. Davis.  Davis will transition into a position currently held by Susan Stanton, who has served as interim President and CEO since July.

“Ashley joins us at a pivotal time for our future work in arts education and education reform in general," said Ken May, S.C. Arts Commission executive director. “We are focused on responding to the findings of our 2014 Arts Education Task Force, which recommended new approaches to provide high quality arts education to students in high poverty areas. The House Education Task Force is focused on responding to the Abbeville school equity lawsuit and built into its recommendations a piece that relates to arts education. We have been involved in those discussions and anticipate having a role in carrying out any resulting legislation.”

Americans for the Arts mourns the passing of visual arts pioneer Ellsworth Kelly at age 92. Mr. Kelly was a groundbreaking artist whose work defied categorization. Mr. Kelly, who shaped his distinctive style of American painting in the years after World War II, showed influences of Picasso and Byzantine mosaics. Mr Kelly proudly served the nation during World War II as a member of the "Ghost Army," a group of artists whose job it was to create disinformation with the goal of fooling the enemy.

During the week of December 14, 2015, the New York City Department of Education released the Annual Arts in Schools Report for the 2014-2015 school year. The report reflected the first year of data that was available since the city implemented its $23 million annual arts education funding initiative.

In a study released on December 16, 2015, Metro Schools’ collaborative Music Makes Us initiative is credited with increasing musical participation among Nashville students, as well as supplying them with the soft skills and character traits that will set them up for success in academics and life. The study shows growth in music programs at every level, particularly in the important middle school years, and 100 percent music participation at the elementary level.

Earlier this year, Texans for the Arts successfully executed the legislative strategy that secured a new appropriation of $5 million from the 84th Texas Legislative Session for the Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA), with support from and in partnership with the Texas Cultural Trust. The new funding was dedicated to TCA’s Cultural and Fine Arts Districts program, Arts Respond Cultural District Project, for the 2016-2017 biennium.

The Every Student Succeeds Act, signed into law last Thursday, includes the arts alongside math and language arts in its definition of a "well-rounded education." That ensures that arts education programs and teachers are eligible to receive federal funds through provisions such as Title I, which supports disadvantaged students, and Title II, which supports teachers. 

On Wednesday, December 9, the Senate passed the Every Student Succeeds Act 85-12, on the heels of its passage in the House last week.

The bill — which the president is scheduled to sign Thursday, 12/9 — would "dump the current law’s intense focus on test scores and the well-intentioned but impossible goal of having all students reading and calculating at grade level." We're one step closer to saying a permanent farewell to the widely unpopular No Child Left Behind Act. 

After Missouri’s annual Capitol Christmas tree decorating ceremony on December 8, Missouri Citizens for the Arts delivered 1,006 letters to Governor Jay Nixon asking for increased budget consideration for the Missouri Arts Council (MAC). The organization's initial goal was to drop off 500 letters but quickly surpassed its target as letters poured in from across the state in support of the arts.

The Little Rock Board of Directors unanimously passed on December 1 a two cent tax increase on hotels, motels, bed-and-breakfasts, and short-term vacation rentals to help fund cultural projects. While the hotel tax increase will not require voter approval, voters will decide on February 9 how the money will be allocated for improvements to MacArthur Park, the Arkansas Arts Center, and the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History. 

Indiana State Board of Education unanimously rejected a proposal from the Indiana Career Council in early November, which would have limited arts education for Indiana students.

The proposal was intended to provide high school graduation requirements for all students beginning with the class of 2022. It would have increased the amount of mathematics courses required, financial literacy and others. However, the proposed requirements would have limited school flexibility and removed the arts, allowing for wavers from arts courses for any honors students.

The National Endowment for the Arts and the U.S. Department of Education have selected the Education Commission of the States (ECS) to serve as the new host organization for the Arts Education Partnership.