ArtsErie News

Erie, Pa.—Congresswoman Dahlkemper (PA-3) today announced Arts Erie has been awarded $1,122,733 in federal funding for their new project, Art in Action, to strengthen arts experiences in local elementary schools. The funds will support Art in Action for four years, serving about 900 local students annually by incorporating the arts into their classroom curricula. The program will also create local teaching opportunities for artists and educators.

“Incorporating the arts into the classroom helps keep students engaged in learning, can improve their performance in school and cultivates a lifelong appreciation for the arts. ArtsErie is providing a wonderful service to our local students, encouraging their creativity and enhancing their experience in the classroom. The Art in Action program will also create local jobs for Erie’s art and education community. I applaud ArtsErie for their work in developing this exceptional new program,” said Rep. Dahlkemper.

The funding was awarded through the Department of Education’s Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination grant program (AEMDD). Of 200 applicants from throughout the United States for the AEMDD grant program, only 33 were chosen to receive funds, including ArtsErie.

ArtsErie will partner with Union City Elementary School, Second District Elementary School in Meadville, Cambridge Springs Elementary School, and Edinboro University of Pennsylvania for Art in Action over the next four years. Resident artists will be assigned to up to forty-eight classrooms of students in grades PK-6 each year. For nine weeks, these artists will infuse arts-based instruction into the classroom to improve student achievement and engagement.

“ArtsErie is thrilled that the Department of Education has recognized the value of the work we’ve been doing for many years. I’m excited to be able to bring this wonderful opportunity to these students and to witness the positive changes that will surely take place because of Art in Action,” said M. Holly Nowak, Project Director for Art in Action and Program Manager of Arts in Education for ArtsErie.

In addition to the advantages for the students, more than 60 elementary school teachers will benefit from ongoing training and professional development to help enhance their teaching skills through the arts, including an opportunity for a three-credit graduate course at Edinboro University. Art in Action will undergo an ongoing evaluation process to measure the program’s effectiveness for the students. The evaluation results will be made available to the education community to share the successes and lessons of the program with other schools.

ArtsErie’s Art in Action project is also creating jobs and business opportunities in the area. In addition to the resident artists in the classroom, art specialists will help facilitate teacher training and retired teachers will observe classrooms as part of the program evaluation, which is being managed by KeyStone Research Corporation in Erie.

The AEMDD grant program stipulates projects must serve at least one elementary or middle school in which 35 percent or more of the children enrolled are from low-income families. One hundred percent of the total costs of the program or project will be financed with federal money.

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