City, district form Arts Education Partnership Initiative

As we documented in a 2005 survey, Seattle's arts community provides arts education opportunities for thousands of Seattle's young people in and out of school. The Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs not only supports arts training for youth, we advocate for arts for all students in Seattle Public Schools.

We have established an arts education partnership with the Seattle school district. Our shared vision is a comprehensive and equitable arts education program that fosters every child's creative capacities. In 2007, we assisted in the hiring of a new district manager of visual and performing arts to provide innovative leadership and strengthen arts education district wide.

This heralded a capacity-building initiative between our office and the district to increase equity of access to arts in schools and integrate arts into district strategies for increasing student success. The Mayor and City Council approved $100,000 in the 2008 city budget to seed this initiative, and are continuing annual funding of $100,000 in 2009 and 2010.