Brooklyn Music School Announces Expansion Plan

Brooklyn Music School (Brooklyn, NY) announced that it has entered into a partnership with Gotham Group that will lead to a new 20,000 square foot BMS Music and Performing Arts Center that will be wholly owned by BMS and located adjacent to our historic facility on St. Felix Street.

Some of the highlights of the project include:

  • The new facility will be constructed without requiring BMS to ever go offline, so we can continue to support our wonderful students and families throughout construction.
  • We already have over 85% of the required financing in place and will be launching a new Capital Campaign in 2020 to raise the additional funding.
  • The new facility more than doubles our instructional space and provides a home that is fully accessible, safe, and acoustically designed as a state-of-the-art music school.
  • It will enable us to add important capabilities such as a new dance and recital space, a Digital Music Lab, a recording studio, and a music video production lab.
  • It enhances BMS's mission commitment to core audiences including urban youth, seniors, the disabled, and recent immigrants.

20 Arts Organizations Selected to Participate In Catalyzing Creative Aging Program

Twenty nonprofit arts education organizations from 13 states have been selected to participate in the third cohort of the National Guild for Community Arts Education’s Catalyzing Creative Aging Program. This multi-phase program is provided in partnership with Lifetime Arts, a nationally recognized leader in designing and disseminating model creative aging programs for active older adults, with support from Aroha Philanthropies, St. David’s Foundation, and other generous supporters. The initiative is designed to support the establishment of high-quality and effective arts education programs for older adults that increase social engagement and mastery of one or more art forms. Research shows that professionally led, participatory arts education for older adults fosters positive aging and healthier lives.

Program participants:

“We are excited to continue our partnership with Lifetime Arts and Aroha Philanthropies on this important initiative,” said Jonathan Herman, CEO of the National Guild. “With each new cohort of Catalyzing Creative Aging, our nation gains a group of organizations committed to combatting ageism and promoting the well-being of our older generations.”

The program will provide training and coaching for eight months (Nov. 2019–June 2020) via a series of workshops, webinars, and video consultations. Participating organizations will play an integral role in developing arts education for older adults at the intersection of health, senior services, community arts, and social change. They will also be part of a growing, intentional shift away from the passive entertainment traditionally offered to older adults, and towards programs that inspire vital creative practices. 10 of the participating organizations will be selected through a separate competitive application process to receive seed grants of up to $7,000 to implement new creative aging programs in fall 2020.

“We are thrilled to welcome this new cohort of Creative Aging Guild members who represent a wide variety of disciplines, organizational structures and sizes—as well as diverse regions of the country,” said Maura O’Malley, CEO of Lifetime Arts. “The Lifetime Arts team is looking forward to working with each of these important community organizations to help align their work with best practices in Creative Aging. As always, we’re proud to partner with the Guild and Aroha Philanthropies to advance this work.”

The goals of the Catalyzing Creative Aging Program are to:

  • Increase capacity to serve older adults through skill-based, participatory arts programs
  • Provide models of high-quality creative aging programs to the field
  • Raise public awareness about the benefits of creative aging programs

Catalyzing Creative Aging is made possible with support from Aroha Philanthropies, St. David’s Foundation, and other generous supporters. For more information, visit www.nationalguild.org or call (212) 268-3337 ext. 10.

 

The National Guild for Community Arts Education ensures all people have opportunities to maximize their creative potential by developing leaders, strengthening organizations, and advocating for community arts education. Through these strategies, the Guild aims to address our country’s widening opportunity gap which leaves millions of individuals with little or no access to the creative resources they need to reach their full potential. Together, the Guild’s national network of 400+ members serves 2.5 million students annually, employs 16,000 teaching artists, and reaches 8 million people through performances and exhibits. www.nationalguild.org

Lifetime Arts, Inc. was founded in 2008 as a service organization with a singular goal: to enrich the lives of older adults through arts education. Lifetime Arts works nationally to build the capacity of organizations, agencies, and individuals to initiate, develop, implement, and sustain professionally conducted Creative Aging programs for the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population. www.lifetimearts.org

About Aroha Philanthropies – Awakening Creative Expression
Within all of us, creativity lies waiting to be awakened and expressed, bringing new chances for confidence, connection, purpose and joy. Aroha Philanthropies supports the development of artistic and creative opportunities – and the personal discoveries that go with them – for everyone.
Aroha fulfills its mission to awaken creative expression and build communities through its three program branches, each with a different area of focus:
Discovery Arts: Sparking wonder through creativity for children and youth
Vitality Arts®: Inspiring creativity for ages 55 and better
Humanity Arts:  Enhancing homes and empowering creativity for adults with mental illness
 
Aroha Philanthropies is a private foundation based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. For more information, visit arohaphilanthropies.org. Vitality Arts® is a registered mark of Aroha Philanthropies.

Using Art Instead of Prosecution for Low-Level Crimes

New York City has announced the expansion of a Project Reset, a diversion program launched as a pilot for 16- and 17-year-olds in Manhattan in 2015. Now Project Reset offers diversion programs (programs that offer an alternative to the traditional justice system) to people of any age at all precincts in the boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx.

Individuals arrested for low-level crimes can complete community-based programming instead of being handed jail time. Many of these programs use art and art-making to explore justice, accountability, and community. 

Artists Shaun Leonardo and Derek Fordjour were the first teaching artists to work with Project Reset back in 2017 and the principles they laid out are still at the core of the curricula across the program. “What art can do in this conversation with the justice system is see where a person might be restored,” Leonardo told CityLab. “When someone has an experience, in this case an arrest, that story is running them. Making art is a way of slowing down, seeing what’s at the heart of the story. Because quite often what’s missing in the telling of that story is how that person feels. So it’s a process of humanizing our narratives.”

Read the full article here.

2019 Board Election Voting Invitation

All National Guild Member are invited to vote on the slate of candidates nominated for 2019 election to the Guild board of trustees.

Four individuals have been nominated for their first three-year term of service. Three current board members are seeking re-election.

Learn all about the nominees here.

Each Full Member Organization may cast one vote. You should have recieved an email last week with information and a link on voting. Didn't receive it? email membership@nationalguild.org. Voting closes October 11, 2019.

About the 2019 Annual Meeting
The National Guild for Community Arts Education's 2019 Annual Meeting is scheduled for 9:00 AM on Friday, November 1 as part of the 82nd annual Conference for Community Arts Education in Austin, TX. We encourage all of our members to send a representative to the meeting to hear about current news and priorities at the Guild and to confirm the results of the Board Election.

2019 Milestone Awardees Announced

On October 31st and November 1st, 2019, seven community arts education  leaders will be honored with the National Guild for Community Arts Education’s Milestone Award for their long-standing, exceptional service to the field. The Milestone program recognizes leaders who have demonstrated a commitment to supporting and advancing community arts education for more than 20 years. 

Awards will be presented during the Thursday and Friday plenaries at the Conference for Community Arts Education (Austin, TX). This year’s recipients are: 

  • Dava Cansler, Founder & Executive Director, Foluké Cultural Arts Center, OH
  • Joyce Drayton, Founder & Executive Director, The Georgia E. Gregory Interdenominational School of Music (GEGISOM), PA
  • Jon Hinojosa, Artistic & Executive Director, SAY Sí, TX
  • Matthew Hinsley, Executive Director, Austin Classical Guitar, TX
  • SoYoung Lee, Executive Director, Rocky Ridge Music Center, CO
  • Davin Pierson Torre, Director, Flint School of Performing Arts, MI
  • Sonja Zeithamel, Director, Preucil School of Music, IA  

Click here for bios.

“The Guild is proud to honor this year’s Milestone Awardees,” said Jonathan Herman, CEO of the National Guild for Community Arts Education. “They have demonstrated dedication to ensuring their communities reach their creative potential, and their contributions have helped to advance the field of arts education substantially. We are proud to count them and their organizations among the Guild’s members.”

Nominations for the Milestone Certificate of Appreciation are accepted year-round. Nominees must be executive directors or divisional directors of Guild member organizations to be eligible. Click here for more information on National Guild awards.

October is National Arts & Humanities Month

From Americans for the Arts: October is National Arts & Humanities Month (NAHM)—a coast-to-coast collective recognition of the importance of culture in America. NAHM was launched by Americans for the Arts more than 30 years ago as National Arts Week in honor of the twentieth anniversary of the National Endowment for the Arts. In 1993, it was reestablished by Americans for the Arts and national arts partners as a month-long celebration, with goals of:

FOCUSING on the arts at local, state, and national levels;

ENCOURAGING individuals and organizations to participate in the arts;

ALLOWING governments and businesses to show their support of the arts; and

RAISING public awareness about the role the arts and humanities play in our communities and lives.

There are many ways to get involved, from social media to hosting a conversation about arts in your community. 

Read more from AFTA.

 

Austin Classical Guitar Juvenile Justice Work Featured

Austin Classical Guitar (Austin, TX) was recently featured in local news for work they are doing in local juvenile justice centers, in addition to the other work they are doing in Austin and beyond under the leadership of  Matthew Hinsley, executive director. 

“Music is sometimes thought of as an ornament or as something nice to have,” Hinsley says. “For me personally, I believe what social workers do is pivotal for our society. So to have them view what we do with music as being especially practical and effective is very meaningful.”

Austin Classical Guitar has generated specially devised music training programs for 50 Central Texas schools. It oversees similar programs in 40 states and 20 countries. St. Louis alone hosts 23 of the signature Austin Classical Guitar education programs, while Loudoun County, Va., has 46.

Read the full article.

 

 

John Glover Named Director of Artistic Planning at Kaufman Music Center

John Glover has been named Director of Artistic Planning at NYC’s Kaufman Music Center (New York, NY). A newly-created position, the Director of Artistic Planning is responsible for planning and implementing performance activities in line with Kaufman Music Center’s dual mission of presenting world-class concerts and providing music education. 

Vice President and Director of the Orchestra of St. Luke's DiMenna Center for Classical Music since 2013, Glover is Artistic Director of the Look+Listen Festival and has produced numerous new music festivals and series including NYsoundCircuit, NOise, the UnCaged Toy Piano Festival and SONiC Festival. Glover says, “I am thrilled at the chance to work with this multifaceted and forward-thinking organization, which supports music-making from the earliest moment of learning to the highest professional achievements.”

Read the full release.

New California Law Re-Classifies Independent-Contractors

The Teaching Artists Guild outlines in a new blog post how the recent change in California law will impact arts organizations and the teaching artists they employ as independent contractors. 

"Teaching Artistry is what we often call a hybrid profession. A teaching artist fuses the skills, practices, and sensibilities of an artist with the expertise of an educator; a foot in two fields is required of a successful teaching artist," Jean Johnstone writes. "How can we assure that our sector stays healthy across the board: that workers are rightfully protected and that non-profit, arts, and arts education organizations maintain the ability to offer quality programs to the most people?"

The article outlines the difference between an employee and an independent contractor, in addition to going over what the recent changes mean for employers in California. 

Read the full post.