Wyoming Arts Council

Wyoming Arts Council Spearheads “Arts Education Working Group”

Featured News, Program News | March 14, 2017

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Formally launched in August 2014 at the National Conference of State Legislatures’ Legislative Summit, Americans for the Arts’ State Policy Pilot Program, also known as SP3, includes ten state teams seeking to strengthen arts education by advancing state policy. Wyoming is one of those states.

The latest phase of development for Wyoming was a first-of-its-kind meeting late last month. The goal of the meeting was simple: To develop strategies to strengthen arts education in the state of Wyoming. The diverse group included over 20 stakeholders from a variety of disciplines and organizations, including the Wyoming Art Education Association, Wyoming Secondary Arts Educators Association, Wyoming Jazz Educators, Wyoming Music Educators Association, Wyoming Educators of Secondary Theatre, Wyoming Afterschool Alliance, Wyoming Arts Alliance, Wyoming Thespians, The University of Wyoming Art Museum, and of course the Wyoming Arts Council.

“This was a great opportunity to come together for a unified conversation surrounding arts education in our state, and I think those in attendance could feel the power of having a variety of discipline areas, educational levels and venues represented in the room,” said Tara Pappas, Arts Education Specialist with the Wyoming Arts Council. She added, “I’m looking forward to the exciting work that is to come from the conversations and ideas started during this first convening.”

The meeting’s agenda items included:

• The Every Student Succeeds Act & Arts Education
• College & Career Readiness
• Data Collection/Assessments
• Standards/Graduation Requirements
•  STEAM and Arts Integration
• Arts Magnet Schools/Turnaround Arts
• How to Grow Arts Education in Wyoming
• Arts Disciplines Coming Together as One Voice

Expect to hear more from the Arts Education Working Group in the coming months.

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