Our Impact

83% of Americans favor funding for arts education, yet access to arts education has been declining for the past three decades. We’ve been on a mission to ensure all children receive an arts-rich education since 1999, and with the help of generous supporters like you, we’re getting closer every day.

Read Our FY23 Impact Report

1,850

students served through our Creative Schools Program

5,651.5

hours our arts-integrated instruction

361

teachers served through our Professional Development

The Joy Journal

See the latest ways we’re making an impact

The Joy Journal
Building Community through Arts-Integration and Creative Dramatics (Sample Lesson)
Arts Integration 101, Creative Schools
ISL Westbank
Building Community through Arts-Integration and Creative Dramatics (Sample Lesson)
Arts Integration 101, Creative Schools
ISL Westbank

Building community within a learning environment is an invaluable experience that will engage, surprise, and inspire students. Utilizing drama/theatre strategies (pantomime and improvisation) strengthen your classroom community and is an excellent catalyst for demonstrating collaboration, effective communication, and joyful learning. The basic structure of this lesson consists of a warm up, main activity, and closing reflection.

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Arts Integration 101, Creative Schools
ISL Westbank
Teaching Teachers to Color Outside of Lines: Utilizing Illustration in Arts-Integrated Instruction
ISL Dixon
Teaching Teachers to Color Outside of Lines: Utilizing Illustration in Arts-Integrated Instruction
ISL Dixon

This year, I led my first Professional Development (AXIS) small learning group series titled “Illumination Through Illustration”. The series focuses on teachers learning different ways to utilize illustration in arts-integrated lessons for their classrooms. 

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ISL Dixon
Art that Moves: Expression and Problem Solving through Kinetic Sculptures
Creative Schools, Arts Integration 101
Esperanza
Art that Moves: Expression and Problem Solving through Kinetic Sculptures
Creative Schools, Arts Integration 101
Esperanza

The process of creating our Kinetic Sculptures showed what can happen when you get art moving: artistic expression and problem solving at its finest!

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Creative Schools, Arts Integration 101
Esperanza
Celebrating 25 Shimmering Years of KID smART:  Cocktails for KID smART 2024
Events & Workshops
Celebrating 25 Shimmering Years of KID smART:  Cocktails for KID smART 2024
Events & Workshops

Cocktails for KID smART, got a whole lot more… sparkly!

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Events & Workshops
The Systems that Make Us: Integrating Art into Science
Creative Schools, Arts Integration 101
Moton
The Systems that Make Us: Integrating Art into Science
Creative Schools, Arts Integration 101
Moton

Science lessons were presented to the students over the course of two months, during which we implemented varying methods of Arts-Integration into Mrs. Auzout’s lesson plan. Through teaching highly complex bodies work at a first-grade level. They were then able to recall the previous body parts that help the brain function and called upon the various creative and social emotional skills they learned along the way through Arts-Integration!

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Creative Schools, Arts Integration 101
Moton
Arts-Integration in Action: Debunking the Myth of “Those Who Can’t Do, Teach.”
Arts-Integration in Action: Debunking the Myth of “Those Who Can’t Do, Teach.”

There's a colloquialized pessimism that shrouds artists, musicians and performers “who are not working out in the big city”. They say if you can't do it, then teach. Well, I argue that it's those who can, teach- and do so with a high level of skill and passion. 

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