I look forward to sharing stories, lesson learned, tips, and moments of levity about the practice of advocating for arts education.
The purpose of ElevateArtsEd is to illuminate effective practices in arts education advocacy and share tips and techniques with arts ed-interested advocates. Blog posts will address common issues in arts education advocacy, such as knowledge sharing, capacity building, funding, and communications.
As an extension of ElevateArtsEd, I also provide customized consulting services and issue expertise to school districts, nonprofit, cultural and philanthropic organizations in coalition building, public policy and advocacy, governance and strategic planning, and program development with a focus on arts education. If interested, please contact me.
Personal Statement
I grew up in Dallas, Texas in a family who cared about social justice issues and art and aesthetics in equal measure. I learned very early that to care about your community was to engage in its betterment. I also learned that the arts are vital to community health, with a vocabulary that appeals to the senses and speaks to the need to understand who we are. Dance became my way of understanding the world, providing an expression of identity and the experience of discovery.
It has taken many years of professional practice and geographic relocations from Texas to Maine, California, and now Tennessee to hone an early artistic sensibility with a desire to improve the education of our nation’s young people. For me, arts in education has been the consistent drumbeat throughout, as I believe the arts must be central to the education of every child.
In 40+ years of professional life, my jobs have ranged from dancer, teaching artist, program director, nonprofit executive, school district administrator, fundraiser, campaign manager, and author/editor; with responsibilities for lobbying, finance, marketing, facilitating, convening, communications, and advocacy. And did I mention cheerleader, cat herder, desperado…. You get the idea.
In the spirit of paying it forward, I hope you will enjoy ElevateArtsEd as a springboard of ideas for your own practice in advocating for arts education.
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