Press Release: 13 Schools Awarded Grant from AIE Grant Program from the NJ State Council on the Arts and YA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT:
Samantha Clarke
AIE Administrator
609.984.7019
13 Schools Awarded Grant from Artists in Education Residency Grant Program from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and Young Audiences Arts for Learning NJ & Eastern PA
Grants provide a 20-day artist in residence for schools throughout New Jersey
Trenton, NJ September 17, 2019: This school year, the Artists in Education Residency Grant Program (AIE) is pleased to announce that it will be sponsoring thirteen long-term residencies throughout the state of New Jersey. This year’s residencies range from Latin dance to Bollywood, buddy benches to drumlines, and many different art forms in between.
The Artists in Education Residency Grant Program is a co-sponsored project of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and Young Audiences Arts for Learning NJ & Eastern PA. The program is carried out in partnership with regional partners, including Appel Farm Arts & Music Center, Count Basie Center for the Arts, and Morris Arts.
AIE grants (in value of $10,000) place professional teaching artists in classrooms for long-term residencies that can be offered in all arts disciplines and at all grade levels. AIE grants are available to any New Jersey School, PreK – 12th grade. The twenty-day residency provides professional development in the visual, performing, and literary arts, in-school workshop days with a professional teaching artist, and a community-based culminating event. AIE residencies focus on direct learning about the arts and the processes of creating art, including the skills, techniques and concepts of the art form.
The 2019 – 2020 schools who received the grant are:
- Bradley Beach Elementary School (Bradley Beach)
- Broad Street School (Bridgeton)
- Farmingdale Public School (Farmingdale)
- Hawkins Street School (Newark)
- Middle Township High School (Cape May Court House)
- Morris-Union Jointure Commission (New Providence)
- Mott ElementarySchool (Trenton)
- PG Chambers School (Cedar Knolls)
- Stony Brook Elementary School (North Plainfield)
- Sussex Avenue School (Newark)
- Washington Avenue School (Pleasantville)
- The Willow School (Gladstone)
US Wiggins College Preparatory Lab Family School (Camden) has been selected as the participant in the Bridge to AIE program. The Bridge to AIE Program was started by Young Audiences in 2015 to help prepare schools to join the AIE program. It provides additional support for schools during the residency and as the school prepares for the following year’s application. During this year’s residency, US Wiggins will work with step dancer and teaching artist Maxine Lyle of Soul Steps to learn the history and technique of stepping.
AIE has had a profound effect on schools throughout New Jersey. Kirsty Sucato of Bradley Beach writes of her 2018 – 2019 photography residency with teaching artist Erik James Montgomery, “One student said the residency was the best part of her year. She intends to join yearbook club and the school newspaper next year. She now thinks of herself as a photographer.” Sucato continues by saying that the student had a major breakthrough because of the residency, raising her C average to an A+, the highest in the class. “She said she forged a bond with our teaching artist and other teachers who supported and celebrated her work. This would be a wonderful outcome for any student, but for this particular seventh grader, it was transformative.”
Winning schools have expressed how proud and excited they are to be a 2019 – 2020 recipient of an AIE grant. “Artists in Education Residency Grant Program has provided Morris-Union Jointure Commission students with many great learning opportunities,” says Denise Smallacomb, Assistant Superintendent at MUJC. “We are extremely excited this year to have a residency that will result in a traveling hip hop team performing in schools and community centers throughout Union County. Along the way students will build confidence and greater self-esteem.” Morris-Union Jointure Commission will host a 20-day residency with Resident Teaching Artists Hip Hop Fundamentals.
AIE congratulates these thirteen schools and we wish them a great school year with their Resident Teaching Artist.
The application for the 2020 – 2021 Artists in Education Residency Grant Program will be available to the public on October 1, 2019. The deadline is February 7, 2020. Schools that are interested in applying can go to AIE’s website www.njaie.org to learn more about the grant program, access the application, and connect with resources to assist with the application process.
To keep up to date on AIE, follow us on Facebook and Twitter (@NJArtistsinEd).
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About the New Jersey State Council on the Arts
The New Jersey State Council on the Arts, created in 1966, is a division of the NJ Department of State. The Council was established to encourage and foster public interest in the arts; enlarge public and private resources devoted to the arts; promote freedom of expression in the arts; and facilitate the inclusion of art in every public building in New Jersey. The Council receives direct appropriations from the State of New Jersey through a dedicated, renewable Hotel/Motel Occupancy fee, as well as competitive grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. To learn more about the Council, please visit www.artscouncil.nj.gov.
About Young Audiences Arts for Learning New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania
Founded in 1973, Young Audiences Arts for Learning NJ & Eastern PA is the premier arts-in-education resource in the region, providing high-quality performances and artist-in-residence programs to schools in all 21 counties of New Jersey and the 7 easternmost counties of Pennsylvania. Young Audiences’ extensive professional artist roster represents all art forms—from dance and theater to music, language and visual arts. Since its founding, the organization has reached over 15 million children with essential arts education experiences.
A not-for-profit organization, Young Audiences’ mission is to inspire young people and expand their learning through the arts. YA’s programs are accessible to all socio-economic, ethnic, cultural, and geographic communities, and are designed to strengthen the arts in schools, meet local and state curriculum standards, involve families in arts activities, and enrich cultural life in New Jersey and Pennsylvania communities.
Young Audiences is the first arts education organization designated as a major service organization by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and, as part of the national network of Young Audiences, Inc., was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Clinton. Young Audiences programs are made possible in part through a grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State and Pennsylvania Council of the Arts. Additional funding comes from foundations, corporations and generous individuals. To learn more, visit www.yanjep.org.