Iowa Arts News is a monthly publication of the Iowa Arts Council. If you would like to subscribe, please send us a blank e-mail.
Worth a Look...
A Call to Arts
A recent article published on the Inside Higher Ed Web site states that administrators at some of America’s top universities are perking up their ears when it comes to student interest in majoring in an arts related discipline
Findings include the following:
• According to College Board data compiled by the Art & Science Group, an enrollment consulting firm, there was a 44 percent increase from 1996 to 2005 in the number of high school seniors who say that they plan to major in visual and performing arts. For business and commerce majors, the gain was much less modest, at 12 percent, while the percentage who plan to major in social sciences and history has decreased by 15 percent.
• “When I log on to the MIT Web site and see a picture of a dancer pop up on the screen,” says Shirley M. Tilghman, president of Princeton University, “I know that schools are taking the arts seriously. It’s a powerful statement that an institute of technology has such a strong focus.”
• Sean Buffington, associate provost for arts and culture at Harvard University, says that “some of the hungriest consumers of the arts happen to be scientists and mathematicians.”
And it’s not just the high-end private schools getting on board. More and more public universities are in the middle of major expansions or improvements in arts offerings, the article states, citing Louisiana State University and Ohio State University as examples.
Read the complete article at www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/02/03/arts.
Youth Art Display in March
The winning entries in a statewide art competition involving Iowa students will be on display March 1-31 at the State Historical Building in Des Moines.
The competition, sponsored for the 16th year by Art Educators of Iowa and exhibited with assistance from the Iowa Arts Council, gathers works by Iowa students in grades K-12. About 100 entries will be on display in the State Historical Building, while a dozen “best of show” entries will be displayed in the Governor’s Office.
A special reception celebrating the artistic success of these students will be noon-3:30 p.m. March 11 at the State Historical Building, 600 E. Locust Street in the heart of Des Moines’ Historic East Village. Students, parents, arts educators, legislators and the public are invited. The celebration helps direct attention to the value of art education in developing critical thinking skills, problem-solving skills, community awareness and technical, communication and expressive skills.
Beyond Richard Florida: A Cultural Sector of Our Own
"Now that Richard Florida has moved on from the ‘rise’ of the creative class to the ‘flight’ of the creative class, the cultural sector is left with the question: are we better off today than before he re-classified us?" Read the complete article on DanceAdvance.org »
ArtsManager.org
ArtsManager.org is
a resource for current and future arts managers who seek real solutions to management
challenges faced by many nonprofit arts organizations. The site provides tools
from experts in the field on some of the most pressing issues affecting arts managers
today. In addition, ArtsManager.org provides an opportunity for arts managers
to be connected to a community of their peers; other managers from around the
country and world who share many of the same management challenges.
