National Endowment For The Arts Awards Young Audiences Of Houston

Young Audiences of Houston (YAH), in partnership with University of Houston Kathrine G. McGovern (UHKGM) College of the Arts Dance Program and Center for Art & Social Engagement, received an award from the National Endowment for the Arts of $50,000 in support of the Arts for Learning Lab (ALL).

The funds will cover the continued development and growth of the Arts for Learning Lab (ALL), a year-long professional development pipeline for emerging and established artists and educators who seek to widen their teaching platform by incorporating arts integration strategies into the classroom. The program, which began in 2018, is the first of its kind in the city of Houston. ALL strives to provide equitable access to this training program and its resources to artists, educators and students that are underrepresented in arts-in-education programs due to socio-economic, social, and/or cognitive limitations.

YAH Executive Director Mary Curry Mettenbrink envisioned a program that "invests in and reduces barriers for artists, creating new opportunities and pathways for highly-qualified teaching artists interested in entering the field, while at the same time introducing high-performing educators to arts integration. As an organization solely dedicated to learning through the arts and connecting teaching artists with classroom educators, investing in professional development programs like the Arts for Learning Lab is vital to our success."

The program is ambitious and rigorous, and serves as a model for sustainability for arts integration expansion across the Houston region. Piloted in 2018, the Arts for Learning Lab serves as a model for broad inclusion, acceptance and appreciation for the teaching artist field. This non-degree, academic certificate program recognized by the University of Houston provides a robust and immersive learning experience for grades K-12 in the fundamentals of arts integration emphasizing artistry, curriculum learning objectives, and planning and preparation. It also provides schools with direct access to high-quality arts-integrated residencies. In its first year, ALL selected artists from dance and movement disciplines trained professionally in diverse styles from hip-hop to classical Indian dance. In 2019, ALL expanded to include theatre artists and is currently on trend to add visual arts in 2020. During the program, ALL delivers 45 hours of training to each teaching artist and up to 25 hours of training for classroom educators.

Rebecca B. Valls, Associate Professor, Dance at UHKGM College of the Arts affirms the university's commitment for arts integration programs, "The Dance Program in the School of Theatre, which offers a course in arts integration, has been the driving force in the partnership with Young Audiences." With support from UH, YAH looks toward building a long-standing and sustainable partnership in the next phases of ALL.

Sixto Wagan, Director for the Center for the Art and Social Engagement (CASE) responded, "Building partnerships with community organizations such as Young Audiences of Houston to more fully integrate pedagogy, creative practice, and educational innovation further connects the college's aspirations to the city's success."

Mary Mettenbrink added, "There was a natural connection between YAH and UH to tackle this together for Houston's future and growth as a leader for the arts-in-education sector. The Arts for Learning Lab embodies YAH's foundational vision of leading art-infused learning through meaningful and innovative collaboration with educational beacons like the University of Houston. We are excited to see Houston artists further the impact of their artistry and to enable Houston's children flourish as a result."

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