Author: Brouillette, Liane

Publication Year:

Media Type: Periodical (article)

Summary:

Abstract:

This is an outline of the project, ArtsBridge, an innovative and successful K-12/university collaborative arts education program at the University California.

Founded in 1996 and housed at the UC Irvine School of the Arts, ArtsBridges mission is to work in partnership with California public schools to provide high quality arts education in performing and visual arts disciplines. The program provides scholarships to qualified UC arts students (graduate and undergraduate) to teach the arts and conduct arts-related workshops in close collaboration with classroom teachers. It incorporates a pedagogical approach that emphasizes activity-based learning. Its charter ensures that 75% of these efforts are targeted at low-performing schools.

In just three years, there were more than 800 UC arts students working in classrooms statewide.  The formula seems a win-win for the schoolchildren, UC students, the public schools and its communities, the university, and the entertainment industry in California(a $25-billion industry). Having enhanced resources and recruitment makes it possible for arts departments, and their graduates, to remain vibrant contributors both to campus life and to our national culture.

Arts & Intersections:

Categories: Arts Education