Allied Arts Posts “ArtsDirect” Resource for Teachers Online
Arts Directory Lists Classroom and Field Trip Opportunities for Students
Allied Arts of Greater Chattanooga has posted ArtsDirect, its annual arts education resource for schools and community organizations, on its website .
ArtsDirect includes comprehensive information about programs and services offered by local arts organizations and teaching artists, including artist residencies, field trips, in-school performances and workshops, and professional development opportunities for teachers.
The directory also includes information on funding available to schools from Allied Arts and the Tennessee Arts Commission, including the state’s ticket subsidy program, as well as biographical information about arts organizations and teaching artists.
“Over 30,000 students benefit each year from programs developed by local artists and arts organizations,” says Rodney Van Valkenburg, Director of Arts Education at Allied Arts. “ArtsDirect is a popular tool for teachers to explore the 170 arts programs available to enhance the classroom curriculum as well as professional development opportunities for classroom teachers.”
The 48-page directory provides information that allows elementary, middle school, and high school teachers to select activities that support their classroom curriculum, from field trips to local cultural performances and exhibits to classroom instruction with area teaching artists.
Student ticket subsidy forms also available on the website enable teachers to apply for students in public schools in the Southeast Tennessee Development District (Bledsoe, Bradley, Grundy, Hamilton, Marion, McMinn, Meigs, Polk, Rhea, and Sequatchie counties) to attend cultural field trips or to invite performing groups and outreach programs to their schools.
Funding for the subsidy program comes from the Tennessee State Legislature and is administered by the Tennessee Arts Commission and Allied Arts. Additional funds serve schools in North Georgia. Subsidy applications are accepted beginning September 12, 2007. The funds are available on a first-come first-served basis until funding runs out.
Starbucks Foundation Awards $7,500 Grant to Allied Arts
Funds Support
"Books Alive" Arts and Literacy Program in Hamilton County Schools
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Allied Arts of Greater
Chattanooga has received a $7,500 grant from the Starbucks Foundation
to support the Books Alive project. The project engages local
artists who will provide instruction to Hamilton County students
in grades 3-5 to write and illustrate books. Local artists then
work with the students to bring their books to life through
theatre and dance.
Allied Arts has produced a
"shopping guide" to local arts and fine crafts in Southeast
Tennessee. This project was funded in part by the Tennessee
Arts Commission, the National Endowment for the Arts and The
Southeast Tennessee Tourism Association. Stay tuned for "Music
Trails" which will be published this summer. It will include
a complete listing of music festivals in the area.
Allied Arts has also produced
a cultural guide and map, ArtsGuide, of downtown Chattanooga
and the North Shore. This guide was sponsored in part
by RealtyCenter/GMAC.
Love the arts? Want to
see the arts continually funded? Don’t know how you can
help? Well, it’s easy!! You can become an advocate
for the arts without lobbying in front of the state or federal
legislature. How? There are two simple ways.
First purchase a specialty arts
(or Tennessee Titans) license plate. All funds raised
are directed to the Tennessee Arts Commission and are redirected
by to the arts community in the form of grants. Allied
Arts and several of the local arts organizations in Chattanooga
are recipients of these grants. For additional information
on the Tennessee Arts Commission and the specialty license plate
program, visit the TAC website at
www.arts.state.tn.us
and scroll down to the license plate on the left hand side of
the screen.
The second is by joining Tennesseans
for the Arts. Tennesseans for the Arts is the official
state advocacy organization. For as little as a $25 individual
membership, you can be part of an organization that stands tall
in its relentless support of the arts in Tennessee. To
find out more about Tennesseans for the Arts, visit their website
at www.TFTARTS.com
Ooltewah Students' Art Blossoms at
CountyCourthouse
Allied Arts Exhibit Inspired by Georgia O'Keeffe
An Ooltewah Elementary School exhibition
of student artwork has the Hamilton County Courthouse blossoming
with the color of floral works inspired by acclaimed artist
Georgia O'Keeffe. "Ooltewah in Bloom" recently opened with a
reception for students, parents, teachers, elected officials,
and representatives of Allied Arts, which provides grant funding
for arts education at the school.
