February/March 2019 63
undoubtedly higher than before.
“In terms of addressing some of these very serious wellness issues
or mental health issues, I really believe that the sense of feeling
connected to something bigger than yourself is truly important,”
Brosnan says. “And I think the arts really provide for that in many,
many ways.”
As for the work itself, the fluidity of the creative process—
whether in finding the way into a role in a play or in building a
sculpture—allows pathways to succeed and problem-solve that are
decidedly different than those in traditional classes.
“Mistakes in other classes result in a bad grade,” Tyler Wesson,
a senior at Mitty, says while shuffling through several beautifully
drawn artworks he created in class. Other classes tend to “confine
your creativity or ability to ask questions,” he says, but mistakes
in art often result in his best work. “I learn to work around it and
make the piece look better.”
IN CLASS, an art teacher
discusses the fundamentals
of drawing, but the lesson hits
home when he brings his students
to a museum. A dance
teacher leads her charges
through a series of steps, but
the abstract notion of grace
suddenly takes shape during a
live ballet.
As much as local educators
would love to give hands-on
art experiences to their students,
school budgets and the
curriculum constraints don’t
often make it possible.
With that understanding,
SVCreates, a network of leaders
looking to advance Silicon
Valley’s creative culture,
launched ArtsEdConnect in
2012. The program, in partnership
with the Silicon Valley
Education Foundation, awards
mini-grants to teachers in
Santa Clara County who want
to expose their students to
nearby artists and cultural opportunities.
Interested teachers receive
information about educational
programs at local arts
organizations and decide how
those activities might fit into
their classroom curriculum.
ArtsEdConnect works with
some 50 arts groups that welcome
involvement from both
public and private schools in
the area.
During this school year,
$150,000 in grants was
awarded to county teachers
and schools. Grants of up to
$1,000 per teacher are available
for such activities as taking
field trips to performances
or museums, bringing an artist
or performer into a classroom
and supporting a teacher’s
special student performance
or interesting art project.
Smaller grants, up to $250, are
available for purchasing artrelated
materials for special
projects. Grant funding is provided
by the County of Santa
Clara and the Warmenhoven
Family Foundation. Applications
are accepted twice a year
(in January and September).
For more information about
ArtsEdConnect visit artsed
connect.org.
Arts grants engage
teachers, students
At The Nueva School in San Mateo, art teacher Rachel Dawson
looks at art as a means to building empathy. She refers to an art
project two years ago that asked students to examine the notion
of shelter, leading to a larger conversation about the global refugee
crisis that was being heavily covered in the news at the time.
“The great thing about art is that it offers a platform for students
to engage in difficult conversations that I think could be too challenging
to just sit around a table and talk about,” Dawson says.
The anecdotal evidence of these various benefits isn’t isolated. In
the 2011 report “Reinvesting in Arts Education,” the President’s
Committee on the Arts and the Humanities examined various
studies over the years that painted a “remarkably consistent picture”
of the significant positive outcomes of expanded arts education.
Exposure to the creative arts was associated with a multitude of
developmental boons: higher math and reading achievement, overall
student engagement and motivation, decreases in delinquency and
Harker School
field trip to
Stanford’s
Cantor Arts
Center
COURTESY OF THE HARKER SCHOOL; OPPOSITE FROM TOP: RUTH PHILLIPS TEITELBAUM;
COURTESY OF PINEWOOD SCHOOL; PREVIOUS SPREAD: JOANN SCHILB
Mistakes in other classes result in a
bad grade, Tyler Wesson, a senior
at Mitty, says, but mistakes in art
often result in his best work.
