Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art has selected the collaborative team from Creative Generation and WolfBrown to design and lead an exploratory phase of work for “Excellence in the Arts,” a national scale arts integration initiative. The project will address how the arts can foster learning, creativity and engagement as well as academic, social, and emotional wellbeing for students in a post-pandemic education landscape.
The Excellence Through the Arts endowment was established by the Windgate Charitable Foundation to enable Crystal Bridges to propose creative solutions involving art, art museums, and artists to address educational challenges facing the nation’s schools. The Windgate Advisory Board, consisting of leaders and experts from across the country, helps lead the initiative by providing strategic guidance.
As the world continues to grapple with the lasting impacts of the COVID pandemic and the deep and systemic effects of racial injustice, no education challenge is as urgent as the one that our nation’s schools are facing as they welcome students back into school environments that have been fundamentally changed. School districts across the country are tackling tough challenges in education, including learning declines, disruptions in student academic, social and emotional growth, families in crisis, and teacher recruitment and retention.
Crystal Bridges’ vision is to develop an initiative that can be piloted and scaled across the nation. The aspiration is to ultimately influence a generation of school children. To consider the best ways to move forward, Crystal Bridges’ first step is to engage in an exploratory phase that convenes educators, artists, researchers, and museums to:
Surface best practices;
Elevate relevant research;
Connect theory to practice;
Understand the challenges facing educators in the classroom; and
Explore what frameworks and structures would best serve children in this moment.
About Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
The mission of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is to welcome all to celebrate the American spirit in a setting that unites the power of art with the beauty of nature. Founded by philanthropist and arts patron Alice Walton, Crystal Bridges is a public non-profit charitable organization. The museum opened on November 11, 2011, and welcomes all with free admission. Learn more at https://crystalbridges.org.
About Creative Generation
Creative Generation is a values-forward, global collective of artists, educators, administrators, researchers, storytellers, and activists that believes that youth create change. We serve as both a learning and capacity building organization that collaborates with young creatives and those who cultivate their creativity to take local actions towards global changes in pursuit of a more just world. Learn more at https://creative-generation.org.
About WolfBrown
WolfBrown helps funders, nonprofit institutions and public agencies understand their potential, set priorities and fulfill their promise. Learn more at https://www.wolfbrown.com.