Spring 2011
Summer Institute Musicians Announced
The Iowa entrants for the Kennedy Center/National Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute scholarship have been selected:
- Kayla Burggraf--flute, a native of Decorah who is studying flute at Rice University in Houston, Texas
- Bryanne Presley--oboe, a native of Nevada who is studying oboe at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
ARTSblog post: Don't Be the Dance Band on the Titanic
by Victoria Saunders on Feb. 15, 2011
Three arts education advocacy lessons suggested by the Titanic...
Iowa School for the Deaf high school drama class …
Susan Trucano's high school flash freeze mob was a SUCCESS! From holding circulars, getting ready to select vegetables to even hugging in the aisles of Hy-Vee, her students were polished, and truly, unwavering! The cameraman from Channel 17 said he really got into one the students' faces, and John Isaacson didn't even blink!
In case you didn’t see the story on the tv news or the newspaper, check them out!
Music in the Forest
It is an ad for a wooden cell phone case, but this Japanese video is a serene break from every day stressers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_CDLBTJD4M
Defining Technology and Media: An Important Step for Teaching Necessary 21st Century Skills
10 SEP 2010
Using technology in education is not a new phenomenon. Though this type of integration may be more prevalent now in the 21st century than what it has been in the past, it has existed in education in some form or another for decades. Media integration, on the other hand, is consistently referred to as a relatively new phenomenon in education. Although complete media integration is not yet commonplace in classrooms throughout the country, media’s use in the classroom, much like that of technology, is seemingly old hat (who didn’t enjoy “movie day” in the classroom?) Although “movie day in the classroom” has shifted from slides and projectors to DVDs and YouTube as a result of rapidly-changing technologies in the 21st century, media use in the classroom remains prevalent nonetheless.
So, what is the difference between media and technology? Is there a difference? If so, how does this difference affect classroom integration, pedagogy and, perhaps more importantly, student development of 21st century skills in the classroom and beyond? Can we teach media without technology, or technology without media and what does this mean for the current, and future, states of education integration and reform in the United States?
Read more from author, Amy Puffenberger, the Manager of Outreach for WQED Pittsburgh, working in The WQED Education Department. She received her Master’s degree in Arts Management from Carnegie Mellon University and her Bachelor’s degree in Film and Video Production from Grand Valley State University. She welcomes your feedback at outreach@wqed.org for the National Alliance for Media Art and Culture
..."What arts education needs in a time of fiscal crises are fewer advocates and more entrepreneurs."
Every chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts must advocate for arts education. The arts need a voice in power, say people in the field, someone in the corridors of influence to argue the benefits of teaching the nation’s students about classical and jazz music, ballet, and sculpture. With No Child Left Behind (NCLB) emphasizing math and reading, business and manufacturing leaders calling for workplace readiness in our graduates, and politicians citing lagging international competitiveness in science and math, the Arts Endowment chairman must utilize the bully pulpit more than ever before. Dance, music, theater, and visual arts show up ever further down the priority ladder, and arts educators feel that they must fight to maintain even a toehold in the curriculum. The Arts Endowment chairman, they insist, must help.
Read more in EdNext, FALL 2010, about Advocating for Arts in the Classroom: Academic discipline or instrument of personal change? by Mark Bauerlein, professor of English at Emory University.
New Massachusetts Law Aims to Measure School Creativity
"Employers are increasingly saying that they don't just need people with basic job skills, but people who are creative (and) who can generate new ideas and new ways of solving problems," Rosenberg said.
Last week, as he signed off on an economic development bill, Gov. Deval Patrick made Massachusetts the first state in the country to call for the formation of a creativity index aimed at rating public schools statewide based on their ability to teach, encourage and foster creativity in students.
Read more about this legislation in Massachusetts. What does this mean for Iowa?
Archives: Arts Ed News
Three-year-old Conductor = The Joy of Music
Click on the image above to see the Joy of a little boy as he conducts the 4th movement of Beethoven's 5th Symphony! Happy New Year!
Summer Music Institute
September 2010
Bethany Wheeler, harpist from Hiawatha, Iowa, participate in the 2010 National Symphony Orchestra's Summer Music Institute in Washington, DC. She is the first Iowan to ever be accepted to this prestigious program. Read more...
IAAE: Focusing on You
August 6, 2010
Representatives of IAAE member organizations met in Des Moines to put their heads together to make sure that IAAE is the organization that you need and want. 
Present at the meeting, moderated by facilitator Sue McEntee, were these representatives.
Visual Arts: Cappie Dobyns, Ronda Sternhagen, Maggie Parks, Shanise Brockshus,Tony Onesto
Choral: Anna Lee
Band: Donna Angell, Rob Medd,
Music Educators: Martha Kroese,
Music Assoc.: Alan Greiner
IAAE Exec. Board: David Law, Diane Franken, Leon Kuehner, Robin Walenta, Ken Esveld, Nancy Sojka
There were two questions answered by members of the group:
1. Define what IAAE has done for arts education in Iowa in the past.
2. What do you think IAAE should do for you and what other things would you like IAAE to do for you/organization?
The day ended with several concise guidelines for the Executive Board to take action on. The highest ranked of those ideas included:
- Transparency: We want to make sure that everyone is informed about IAAE projects, ideas, and opportunities.
- Advocacy: We want to be advocates for all arts education in Iowa: music, visual arts, dance, speech/drama,...
- Membership: We want to clarify the value of your IAAE membership.
July 2010
Music and Technology Resources
With phrases like "21st-Century skills," "project-based learning," and "digital citizenship" whizzing through the mile-high Denver air at the ISTE 2010 conference, you'd think there was no room in the ed-tech world for a sweet melody.
Not so, said William Bauer, director of music education at Cleveland's Case Western University, whose lecture Tuesday highlighted a dozen or more online resources music teachers and technology specialists should find both free and useful. And it's a little odd that more music teachers aren't aware of those resources already, he said, considering how profoundly technology has changed music. (Remember the invention of electricity, the radio, the compact disc or the MP3 player?)
NEA Funding
The U.S. House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, which sets the initial funding level for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), approved a $2.5 million increase for the NEA in its FY 2011 spending bill. Chairman Jim Moran (D-VA), a longtime champion of arts and culture, presided over his first Interior spending bill as chairman of the subcommittee.ÊIt is significant that Chairman Moran has proposed an increase for the agency in light of a spending freeze on federal discretionary funds and a lower budget request by the administration.
Currently funded at $167.5 million, this increase would bring the NEA's budget to $170 million. In his statement, Chairman Moran acknowledged that, "the increase recognizes the value we place, as a nation, on our artistic and cultural heritage."
Obama Signs Bill Aimed at Saving Teachers' Jobs
Up to 300,000 jobs could be saved by the long awaited jobs bill. Read more...-
Fifty States / Fifty Days
Starting on Saturday, July 31 and continuing until Saturday, September 18, Americans for the Arts Action Fund will coordinate a 50 States 50 Days initiative that supports local advocacy activities in all 50 states and in as many congressional districts as possible.
This summer, the Arts Action Fund is urging arts advocates to use their incredible arts institutions at home to convey their message about the arts in a setting that reinforces themes of economic development; jobs in the arts; arts education; and partnerships between artists, institutions, and local policy makers. Read more...