Giving Compass' Take:

• Lauren Hess recounts her time at the 2018 Americans for the Arts Annual Convention in which an important takeaway was for organizations to involve youth in their own arts education and programming. 

• Why is it important to encourage youth voice in the decision-making process of programs that involve them?

• Read about the relationship between youth development and arts education

The 2018 Americans for the Arts Annual Convention was as stimulating as ever!

One of the perks of being on the Arts Education Advisory Council is the opportunity to go on site visits to places that offer interesting arts education programs before Convention begins.

This year we had the chance to visit Downtown Aurora Visual Arts (DAVA) and observe students in the artmaking process. DAVA works with students from ages 3-17 on building 21st-century life skills.

Over the years I have attended several Americans for the Arts conferences and I am always impressed by the number and variety of attendees who gather to discuss the impact of the arts in our communities. More than 1,000 people traveled to the beautiful city of Denver to discuss the trends of equity and inclusion across all sectors, how the arts unite cities, advocacy and grantmaking, as well as the role of the arts in aging and coping with trauma. The list of topics covered seems almost endless!

The preconference began with a keynote from Samantha Joseph, a recent high school graduate who was passionate, articulate, and insightful about the impact the Newark Museum’s Explorers Program played in her development. It is programs like this that invest time and resources to help students discover career opportunities, learn how to tackle college applications and develop the necessary life skills of communication and creative problem-solving.

Across the board, the biggest takeaway for me was to involve the youth you work with every step of the way. Let their voices be heard with program creation and development, as well as with marketing and social media, and even what the program evaluation might look like.

Read the full article about Americans for the Arts Annual Convention by Lauren S. Hess at ARTS Blog