Advocacy

Missouri Art Education Association

.........Meaningful Art Experiences for All

MAEA Art Advocacy

As a teacher, you are in a unique position to bear witness to the extraordinary richness that the arts can lend to your classroom. That makes you an ideal advocate for arts education.

Think about the last time you experienced the power of the arts in your classroom. Perhaps a struggling student blossomed while creating a piece of visual art. Or maybe your class made an authentic connection to their history when they wrote and performed a play about civil rights.

Advocacy often has a lofty connotation, and is assumed to be the domain of lobbyists, non-profit organizations, and policymakers. As a result, teachers tend to underestimate their own potential role—and power—as advocates.

Advocacy is really nothing more than influence—and teachers have ample opportunity to influence parents, peers, school boards, and administrators. No matter whom you are attempting to persuade, the key is to make them active partners in your mission.

adapted from Exercise Your Influence for the Arts By Barbara Shepherd

Join us for Fine Arts Education Day, March 9, 2005

Poster Schedule Performances

Missouri Alliance for Arts Education Statement on the Arts

Art Advocacy Websites:

Visual Arts Career Guide National PTA Arts in Education
MSIP Standards & Indicators Americans for the ARTS

Arts Education Partnership/Critical Links ArtsEdge

John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

MAEAArtBytes is a listserve designed to keep Missouri art teachers in touch with what is going on in the state organization as well as infomation from across the state.

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