The Latest

Announcing Principal Arts Leadership Award Nominations

For Arts' Sake in association with the Sacramento County Office of Education leadership Institute and CCSESA Arts Initiative, is inviting parents, educators and arts groups to nominate a school principal who honors the arts! We seek examples of bravery in office - principals who have provided students quality arts learning experiences through strategic collaborations, innovations, persistance and creating use of resources. Nominate your principal - from public, private or charter schols in El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo or Yuba counties, by January 30th 2012. Judging will occur in early February - awards will be presented at the Regional Arts Education Forum March 6th. See details. Download nominations form here. Send completed nomination form to palaward@forartsake.org.

Any Given Child 2011-2012 artists selected

Thanks to all the community arts educators who expressed interest in our 2011-2012 Any Given Child programs. The following artists and arts organizations have been selected to provide arts experiences through this year's work. Congratulations!

Artist Residencies:

Dance: Keith and Summer Turk, Saumirah McWoodson

Theatre: Lisa Lacy, Gail Dartez, Franchesca Sonoyama, Cynthia Speakman, Lynn Baker

Spoken Word: TroubleSin and Coon

Visual Art: Jesus Barela

 Arts Exposure Providers:

Dance: Instituto Mazatlan Bellas Artes (IMBA), Latin American Magic (LAMECA), Sacramento Ballet,

Music: FABOS Ensemble, Sacramento Children’s Chorus, Sacramento Opera, Sacramento Taiko Dan, Sacramento Youth Symphony, Sacramento Suzuki Violin Project

Theatre: B Street Theatre, California Musical Theatre, Crane Culture Theatre, Sacramento Theatre Company,Son/Ancestors Players, Theatre of All Possibilities

Visual Art: Kenneth Spengler, A Day in the Life Project, Crocker Art Museum

Special thanks to Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission for managing the Arts Exposure and Professional Development activities and to Twin Rivers Unified School District for managing the Arts Residencies.

Artober Debrief Meeting Nov 11 2011 11:30-12:30 at Crocker Museum Featuring Special Guest Speaker John Michael Schert, Executive Director Trey McIntyre Project.

Artober colleagues and Arts organizations managers and board members are invited to join For Arts' Sake team and other Friday Nov 11 11:30-12:30 at the Crocker Art Museum to celebrate Artober's inaugural launch and talk about changing dynamics for arts and community engagement. John Michael Schert is Executive Director of the Trey McIntyre Project - a renowned contemporary dance company based in Boise Idaho. The group's dynamic approach to community engagement is attracting funders and visitors. Their "Bright Spots" model provides the arts community with examples of successful strategies addressing the changing audiences for the arts. Come join us for both these discussions. Rsvp to rsvp.fas@gmail.com

For Arts Sake Coalition Meeting October 26, 4:30-6:00 at the Guild Theatre.

In November 2010 Rocco Landesman, Chair of the National Endowment of the Arts, encouraged Sacramento to implement the bold Creative Action Plan. Action Teams and partner organizations began to meet, plan, execute, and move forward. One year later, it's time to review the accomplishmentsand celebrate successes. The Coalition Meeting  featured a special Arts Partner Award to Wells Fargo's Chevo Ramirez, announcement of the winners of the arts education billboard contest, and special guest speaker Synthia SAINT JAMES, noted artist-illustrator famed for producing the first US postage stamp celebrating Kwanzaa. Click here for event information and RSVP. 

Annual Report July 2010 - June 2011

For Arts' Sake Artist Survey Findings - Full Report

Arts Education Press Conference

On October 18th, 2011 Mayor Kevin Johnson described the first year efforts of Any Given Child to a press audience at Fairbanks Elementary School. Sacramento's pilot work has reached 37,000 students in 89 schools. Our experiences have set the stage for the Kennedy Center to expand its program to six other communities - Austin (Texas), Portland (Oregon), Sarasota (Florida), Las Vegas (Nevada), Tulsa (Oklahoma), and Springfield (Missouri). Students at Fairbanks explained that "arts matter", and displayed artwork inspired by some of the professional development activities for classroom and arts educators provided by the Kennedy Center. Click here for Any Given Child Sacramento Year One Report.

Artober Launches

September 30th was the occasion to kick-off Artober:31 Days of Art and Soul. This is Sacramento's celebration of October as National Arts and Humanities Month. After months of planning by volunteers from the arts and business communities, Artober is rolling out with a calendar of 250+ events throughout the Sacramento region. Many of these events were already planned - such as the World Music and Dance Festival, the SAMMIES music awards, and exhibitions, festivals and performances throughout the five counties: a few new signature elements are all Artober:

--- Arts.Open House at the Community Center Theatre provided back stage tours and a sampler of performances on the big stage by local professional, community and student groups

--- Midtown Modern Arts Festival created a street party featuring local performances and visual artists

--- The Artober Exhibit, at the Urban Hive, featuring nationally known locally-involved visual artists

--- Artist Hot Spots, creating informal events in private homes that allow artists to share house concerts, trunk shows, and other arts-related endeavors

--- Arts Indulge, pairing a nonprofit arts group with a business, to promote a signature business offer that benefits the arts.

Any Given Child Press Conference

Mayor Johnson held a press conference celebrating the Any Given Child programs on Tuesday, March 29, 2011, to a packed audience of arts and arts education representatives along with 400 eager K-7 students at Kohler Elementary School in North Highlands. The occasion also marked a site visit from Barbara Shepherd, Director of National Partnerships for the Kennedy Center in Washington. Kennedy center launched the Any Given Child initiative in Sacramento in 2009 as a way to expand arts education resources nationally. The program is being tested here and will expand to additional sites in the coming months.

Mayor Johnson led a rousing "Arts Rock" cheer from Kohler students and talked about the value of partnerships in advancing kids' learning. Arts education is essential in helping students expand their creativity and innovation talents - those skills that are critical to 21st century success.

In Sacramento, as part of the For Arts' Sake implementation, SMAC is acting as matchmaker to link community arts providers to schools in Sacramento Unifed School District and Twin Rivers School District. The result is that over 35,000 students will have opportunities to experience the arts through assemblies, field trips, residencies and arts exposure activities. In addition Kennedy Center has been providing workshops and resources for artists and teachers to help them be successful.

Any Given Child Sacramento thanks B Street Theatre, a lead arts partner that presents Tuesday's assembly. B Street has produced a series of short plays written by Sacramento students and performed 5 of these plays Tuesday, to the delight of the Kohler School.

Visit from Barbara Shepherd

For Arts' Sake Action Teams were priviledged to get a visit from Barbara Shepherd, Director of National Partnership at the Kennedy Center the week of March 28, 2011. Shepherd was part of the original team with Michael Kaiser who set up the partnership between the Kennedy Center and Sacramento to strengthen arts education resources. Through her work, the For Arts' Sake teams conducted an inventory of arts education resources in the area and identified areas to work on to help connect all kids to arts. The result is Any Given Child - a program that in Sacramento is bringing together community arts providers and schools to extend arts education experiences, and a new momentum and spirit of collaboration on behalf of kids.

Shepherd met with two For Arts' Sake Action Teams working on arts education, visited arts programs and talked with various arts education leaders. She provided an update on the Kennedy Center programs, gave us a glimpse of what's going on in the three communities that are just now beginning their Any Given Child activities, and reminded us that Sacramento, as the pilot site, can access additional resources from the Kennedy Center, including additional training, access to the Kennedy Center touring productions and workshops for teachers and artists. New programs in Springfield, Missouri, Las Vegas, Nevada and Portland, Oregon are learning from our experiences. Three new sites will be rolled out later this spring.

Shepherd reminded us that the Kennedy Center supports varied models to connect students to arts. Their core question is :"how can we work across an entire community to build arts education for every child?" They are leading the way so that all communities can address this question and ensure that arts are part of the school day for every child.