In this special edition of Arts Education Policy Review (AEPR), contributors bring together a variety of perspectives from community-based arts organizations around the world to highlight and reflect upon the ways in which they, their organizations, their localities, and the youth they serve responded to the COVID-19 pandemic between March - September of 2020. The issue was co-edited by Dennie Palmer Wolf of WolfBrown and Jeff M. Poulin, managing director of Creative Generation.
These articles reflect the uncertainty that marked the early months of the pandemic - a time when youth-centered arts organizations sought to balance cultivating creative skill-building, inquiry, and expression with providing essential services akin to those of food pantries, internet hubs, and financial clinics. In making that transition, old habits and assumptions gave way to fundamental questions about the definitions of art, arts education, community, leadership, funding, and policy.
While the Special Edition will not be available in its entirety until later this year, the individual articles are free to access from Tuesday, February 16th - Friday, April 30th, 2021.
The following articles are featured in the edition and can be asked through the links below:
“When questions are our best answers: responding to the impact of COVID-19 on community-based arts education organizations: a special issue of Arts Education Policy Review” by Dennie Palmer Wolf and Jeff M. Poulin: In their introduction, Palmer Wolf and Poulin set the stage for the accounts and reflections shared in the upcoming special edition.
“Responding to crises: constructing a response through organizational change” by Jeff M. Poulin: In his article, Poulin explores past frameworks from organizational theory and crisis response to create an expanded framework that emphasizes the critical need for organizational development, distributed leadership, and a growth mindset to harvest innovation from the tumult of crisis.
“Dancing toward the light in the dark: COVID-19 changes and reflections on normal from Australia, Ireland, and Mexico” by Rachael Jacobs, Michael Finneran, and Tere Quintanilla D’Acosta: In their article, Jacobs, Finneran, and Quintanilla share reflections from Ireland, Australia, and Mexico to discuss the precariousness and vulnerability of the community arts sector as well as the artists and educators within it at this profoundly difficult time.
“In the face of the unprecedented: creative youth development guides organizations to adapt, support, and thrive” by Rodrigo Guerrero: In his article, Guerrero explores the COVID-19 response of two Creative Youth Development (CYD) organizations, one from Austin, TX, and one from Lawrence, MA.
Re-imagining personal and organizational policies as sources of radical change: perspectives from a teaching artist, organization, and city: by Tina LaPadula, James Miles, and Olisa “Spyc-E” Enrico: In their article, Seattle’s LaPadula, Miles, and Enrico explain, from their unique perspectives as a teaching artist, a leader from a youth-focused cultural organization, and a representative from a city agency, why teaching artists are not just essential but essential partners for students and communities in navigating this health and social crisis.
More about Arts Education Policy Review (AEPR): AEPR is a journal dedicated to the discussion of major policy issues concerning P-12 education in various arts in the United States and the rest of the world. Addressing education in music, visual arts, theatre, and dance, the journal presents a variety of views and emphasizes analytical exploration.