Arts education has proved to have intrinsic and instrumental benefits for youth
(McCarthy, et al, 2004). However, budget cuts cause schools to focus on subjects tied to testing, giving less attention to in-school arts programs. The creation of out-of-school arts programs appears to be one way of filling the lack of in-school arts programs. However, access to non- school arts education depends upon resources and availability of programs (Bodilly and Becket,
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2005) someone who want to participate may not have the access or resources. People from low- income families participate less, or not at all, in cultural and recreational programs because they cannot afford to pay the fees (Torjman, 2004). Collaborations between different organizations in the community help to create arts programs that are affordable and accessible for underprivileged people, and connect them with opportunities.
Abundant literature points to partnerships as a way to fill the gap of arts learning experiences and to provide funding and incentives for youth involvement (Alderoqui, 2005; Bodilly and Augustine, 2008; Ellis and Dreeszen, 2003; Galligan, 2001; Ostrower, 2004;
Shanklin-Peterson and May, 2007; Walker, 2004; Yohalem, et al, 2006). The partnerships include arts, community, and cultural organizations, state and municipal agencies, institutions of higher education, unions, and funders and other interested stakeholders across national, state and local levels (Galligan, 2001). Arts organizations are partnering with other arts organizations of different size and with non-arts organizations such as educational, health, religious, youth development, human services, recreational and community development organizations to
accomplish both artistic and community service goals that might be difficult to achieve otherwise (Walker, 2004).
Arts organizations are also presenting arts programming in non-traditional venues such as open air spaces, schools, churches, restaurants, community centers and public buildings in order to increase their visibility in the community and connect with potentially new audiences and participants (Walker and Sherwood, 2003). More people are attending arts and cultural events at community venues, although most people do so for social/family reasons rather than for artistic reasons (Walker and Sherwood, 2003). However, people’s exposure and attendance to arts programs can lead them to other forms of participation in, and support for, the arts and culture, such as art making, and financial and volunteer support (Walker, Fleming and Sherwood, 2003).
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Exposure and attendance to arts programs can guide youth to discover their artistic talents and interests, and develop them from amateur to professional if they so choose. Integration of arts organizations with the communities may increase people’s commitment to the arts and strengthen the case for political and economic support of arts and culture as valuable community assets (Walker, Fleming and Sherwood, 2003).
Bodilly and Augustine (2008) conducted six case studies, interviews and document
reviews about the state of arts education and community-wide coordination in different regions of the United States. They found that community-wide coordination is necessary to arts education and increasing children’s access to quality arts learning experiences. They stated that coordinated approaches in the public sectors such as public education and the arts, can increase the efficiency by reducing duplication and gaps in service (Bodilly and Augustine, 2008). It is important to add that community-wide arts education coordination is important as a way to increase the chances to reach those students that had dropped-out of school for distrust or disinterest in the school system or for any other reasons. Also, community-wide arts education coordination recognizes that arts learning can take place in and out of school settings.
Bodilly and Augustine (2008) found factors that foster and impede community-wide coordination. And, other literature refers to the benefits and the problems that partnerships, whether between arts/arts or arts/non-arts partnerships, may represent (Alderoqui, 2005; Ellis and Dreeszen, 2003; Ostrower, 2004; Ostrower, 2005; Walker, 2004).
Bodilly and Augustine (2008) found that factors that foster community coordination are the convening of key stakeholders to build support, overcoming ideological differences,
identifying local leadership talent, laying groundwork for subsequent coordination, initial seed funding and sustained funding, convening and joint planning, evaluation, feedback and
improvement, and effective leadership. On the other side, Ostrower (2005) advises that
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partnerships are not always the best way to achieve an objective; that partnerships should be only a method to achieve an objective and not the end in itself. Ostrower (2005) insists that
partnerships require prior planning to explore its feasibility and costs; develop realistic criteria for readiness, and assess that the potential benefits are truly congruent with each organization’s mission. Partnerships imply serious commitments in terms of time, staff, resources and money. Partnerships require a shared vision, motivation, patience, honesty, mutual respect, clear roles and responsibilities, good communication and reporting channels, fair distribution of tasks and costs, including unexpected costs and costs not covered by funding grants (Alderoqui, 2005; Ellis and Dreeszen, 2003; Ostrower, 2005; Walker, 2004). A partnership may worth the effort as it can represent benefits such as increased cultural participation, expanded networks, improved organizational capacity, diversified audiences (including new donors), expanded programming and services, growth, relationships at the community level, bridge between arts groups and wider community, engagement in outreach activities, increased visibility in the community, and merged resources (Ostrower, 2004; Ostrower, 2005; Walker, 2004).
Among the factors impeding community coordination, found by Bodilly and Augustine (2008), are the lack of resources for collaboration, turnover of key leaders, and policy and funding and incentives changes, and conflict between providers and/or influencers. Once organizations engage in partnerships, conflicts may arise due to differences in organizational values, principles, culture and priorities (Alderoqui, 2005; Walker, 2004); differences in
organization, staff and audience size, level of professionalization and ethnicity (Ostrower, 2004). Some of the resulting problems may be financial burdens, intensive demands on staff, difficult logistics and communication and inability to carry-out the assigned tasks and to accomplish the objective(s) (Ostrower, 2004, Ostrower, 2005, Walker, 2004).
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Bodilly and Augustine (2008) found several strategies to improve access and quality to arts learning through assessing and implementing arts education collaborations. They can be summarized as conducting audits of arts education, setting a goal of access for all, strategic planning, constructing a case, advocating, attracting and leveraging resources, building individual and organizational capacity, hiring an arts education coordinator within the school district
administration, requiring alignment with state arts standards, developing curriculum supports, qualifying/screening providers, coordinating peer review, ranking and modeling, and assessing student learning. The study concludes that coordination among multiple organizations has the potential to overcome the knowledge and skill gaps that exist in any single provider organization, be it a school or a non-school provider. In addition, coordination across organizations leads to improved access to arts learning experiences. The researchers advise to be cautious about promoting arts education for its potential to improve learning in other subjects that may backfire if improvements do not occur. Instead, arts education is better promoted for its intrinsic and youth development benefits (Bodilly and Augustine, 2008). Galligan (2001) seems to support the same advise of some critics by emphasizing that arts education should be about the arts and not about improvements in other areas.
A conceptual framework schematic is provided in Appendix A, which visually represents the intersections of these themes.
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