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OUR CAUSE

Approximately thirty years ago Congress mandated that the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts provide cutting edge arts education at a local level across the United States. The U.S. Department of Education gave the Kennedy Center funds to acheive this goal and the Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education Network was formed.

There are currently 46 state alliances that make up the network. The Arizona Alliance for Arts Education was formed in 1974. It is a coalition of organizations and individuals that work in partnership to support polices and practices that strenthen and protect arts education in Arizona.


AAAE HISTORY

  • 1974-1975: AAAE board begins, representing three universities, four arts education associations, Arizona Commission on the Arts and the Department of Education

  • 1978: Helps form Arizonans for Cultural Development (Currently Arizona Citizens for the Arts/Arizona Action for the Arts), a statewide organization that advocates for the arts

  • 1979: Adds new organizational representatives to the board including the PTA, Arizona School Board Association and Arizona School Administrators Association

  • 1980: Lobbies for music and visual arts mandates and Essential Skills documents for dance, music, theater and visual arts

  • 1989: Holds Oak Creek Accord to start lobbying process for high school arts graduation requirement, arts assessment at the high school level, an arts requirement for admission to the universities, nine hours required arts courses for elementary school teacher certification, K-8 endorsement for dance and theatre teachers. All became law.

  • 1993-1995: New president starts to rejuvenate AAAE; publishes newsletter twice a year

  • 1994: Partners with ACA and ADE to create Vision 2000, a plan to make all arts for all children a reality

  • 1994: New state superintendent of public instruction removes all subject specialists from the ADE and, with the State School Board, moves to legislate school reform

  • 1995-97: AAAE supports the writing of the Arizona State Arts Standards and successfully lobbies for their adoption

  • 1997: AAAE hires a half-time Executive Director; adds minority, student and business members to Executive Board and creates an Advisory Council to boost regional representation; initiates a quarterly newsletter; creates brochures to publicize the new standards; and begins multiple projects for rural school districts

  • 1998: Receives the Governor's Arts Award for work on the Arts Standards

  • 1998: Lobbies for and supervises the writing and publication of performance objectives to accompany the State Arts Standards; sponsors, with Northern Arizona University, the first interactive workshop for teachers at several sites across the state

  • 1999: Begins series of workshops, meetings and mailings that focus on State Arts Assessment

  • 2000: Hires a full time Executive Director; holds Conference 2000, an interdisciplinary collaboration between several arts education associations; field-tests the Kennedy Center Community Audit

  • 2001-2002: Begins two significant new initiatives: The Mayor's Breakfast with the arts programs with community partners across Arizona to build support for arts education; receives a multi-year capacity-building grant from the Arizona Community Foundation; helps to implement Arts in the Schools, Arts in the Community-an Arts Education Initiative, sponsored by the Foundation

  • 2002: Co-sponsors the Superintendent of Public Instruction Candidate's Forum with ACD, focusing on arts education: The forum was held live at the State Capitol and broadcast to seven interactive television sites statewide

  • 2003: Supports the reinstatement of a Fine Arts Specialist position at the State Department of Education; Superintendent of Public Instruction recognizes AAAE for its work at State Board of Education meeting

  • 2004: Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education Community Audit tool incorporated into strategic planning

  • 2005-2006: AAAE conducts workshops in early childhood education and newly adopted arts standards for Early Childhood Arts Partnership (ECAP) program.
  • 2006-2007: AAAE continues to conduct workshops in early childhood education and newly adopted arts standards for Early Childhood Arts Partnership (ECAP) program