Celebrating Arts Month - Educators, Your Voice Is Powerful
The reality is that YOUR voice IS powerful. Consider this - who knows better the challenges your students face on a day-to-day basis? Who knows better your student's growth and accomplishments? Who knows how the 'system of education' both helps and hinders your efforts?, etc. Please consider this an invitation to share both your successes and struggles. This form of 'data' is not only important, it is necessary.
Let's use this month of March to fully realize our collective potential to share out the amazing things taking place in our classrooms, to advocate for the arts in all its forms, and to communicate improvements that need to be made for the betterment of our children.
Thank you for all that you have done and continue to do to benefit our children through the arts.
Governor Evers Proposes Historic $100 Million Investment in the Arts
Open National Media Arts Committee Meeting - March 9
Interested in participating in the new national Media Arts Committee (MAC)? Join us for an open meeting - Thursday, March 9, 2023, 6:30pm ET (MAC Meetings will regularly be the 2nd Thursday of each month). RSVP at https://www.mediaartsedu.org/connect/rsvp-open-meeting. OPEN means that anyone is invited to attend!
Heart Spirit Opportunity
RSVP with Jennifer Dahl today to join Canadian artist Cheryl Ring and create a Heart Spirit to represent one of the 97 missing and murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives in 2022
There are open spots
Tuesday, March 14 @ 2:00-3:00
Wednesday, March 15 @ 8:30-9:30
Wednesday March 15 @ 10:30-11:30
Wednesday March 15 @ 2:00-3:00
Jennifer Dahl
Black River Falls High School Art Teacher
Wisconsin Art Education Association
Youth Art Month Chair
Visioneer Design Challenge - Register by March 17
Wisconsin Music Educators Association Capitol Concerts
“Did you notice? Not even the spectacle of “the big game” could happen without the arts?” – George Tzougros
Thanks to our very own George Tzougros, Executive Director of Wisconsin Arts Board for the quote and the following compilation!
Chris Stapleton Sings the National Anthem at Super Bowl LVII
"Lift Every Voice and Sing" Performed by Sheryl Lee Ralph at Super Bowl LVII
2023 Wisconsin Congressional Art Competitions
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Derrick Van Orden (WI-03) announced the opening of entries for the 2023 Congressional Art Competition. The winning artwork from the Third District’s competition will be displayed alongside artwork from across the nation for one year in the U.S. Capitol, as well as on House.gov’s Congressional Art Competition page.
“I’m excited to invite young artists from across Wisconsin’s Third District to participate in the 2023 Congressional Art Competition,” said Van Orden. “The students of Western Wisconsin are among the most talented in the nation, and I look forward to seeing their work proudly displayed in the U.S. Capitol.”
Along with Rep. Van Orden, these congressional districts are also hosting competitions:
1st Congressional District Art Competition
Office of Congressman Bryan Steil
Deadline: April 20
2nd Congressional District Art Competition
Office of Congressman Mark Pocan
Deadline: April 16
3rd Congressional District Art Competition
Office of Congressman Derrick Van Orden
Deadline: April 8
4th Congressional District Art Competition
Office of Congressman Gwen Moore
Deadline: April 11
5th Congressional District Art Competition
Office of Congressman Scott Fitzgerald
Deadline: May 1
6th Congressional District Art Competition
Office of Congressman Glenn Grothman
Deadline: April 13
7th Congressional District Art Competition
Office of Congressman Tom Tiffany
Deadline: April 7
8th Congressional District Art Competition
Office of Congressman Mike Gallagher
Deadline: April 20
9th Annual Latino Art Fair - Madison, March 3
The 9th Annual Latino Art Fair, hosted by Latinos Organizing for Understanding and Development (LOUD), will take place Friday, March 3, 5:30-7:30 p.m., at the Overture Center for the Arts in downtown Madison.
The Overture Center for the Arts and Dane Arts will also host the 9th Annual Latino Art Fair which will honor the country of Cuba and the partnership with the Madison-Camaguey Sister City Association.
Photo: Madison365 Staff
Read More Here: https://madison365.com/9th-annual-latino-art-fair/
World Premiere Wisconsin To Host Inaugural Festival Celebrating New Plays And Musicals, March 1- June 30
Four years in the making, after extensive planning and collaboration amongst a team of noted Wisconsin theater professionals, World Premiere Wisconsin has announced its inaugural festival comes to Wisconsin this spring. The theater festival will run March 1 - June 30, 2023 throughout the state - from the tip of Door County to the state line and across 20 distinct zip codes.
SEL DAY 2023
The fourth annual SEL Day will take place on March 10th. SEL4US and The Urban Assembly invite schools and communities around the globe to celebrate the importance of social emotional learning (SEL). The theme this year is Uplifting Hearts, Connecting Minds. Learn more about how to participate in #SELday at selday.org/.
G-E-T Band Selected To Represent State At Pearl Harbor Parade In Hawaii
When Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau High School band teacher Tony Kading first opened a letter telling him that his students had been selected to perform in the annual Pearl Harbor Memorial Parade, he thought he was being scammed.
He couldn’t let that go to chance, so he dialed the number on the invite. The result of that call will be a once in a lifetime opportunity for his students later this year.
Read More Here: Trempealeau County Times
Photo: (Times photographs by Benjamin Pierce)
Platteville music teacher tuning up for trip to Colombia through Fulbright program
Amelia Armstrong hopes an international trip she will take this summer will help her teach the students of Platteville High School about the music of different cultures and the value of global education. Armstrong teaches vocal music, guitar and digital audio classes at Platteville High School. She is participating in a yearlong Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms Program, which will culminate in a field experience teaching in Colombia in July.
Photo: Stephen Gassman
Appleton celebrates Black History Month with unique event
The event was open to the entire community at Appleton East High School - which provided a chance to learn about the contributions of black individuals in areas of music, poetry and theatre.
Madison All-City Honor Band returns after COVID hiatus
The first note from the Madison All-City Honor Band in nearly three years was a B-flat. It rang out from a mix of trumpets, trombones, flutes and other instruments at a Feb. 14 rehearsal, which brought about 30 Madison middle schoolers from five middle schools together in the Hamilton band room.
Photo: Ruthie Hauge
Student musicians learn through live performance at Sun Prairie JazzFest
The festival — which was started in 1993 and went online in 2021 before resuming an in-person format last year — was in full force as usual recently at Sun Prairie West High School. Students took part in a performance critiqued by jazz professionals, and then in a follow-up clinic received additional feedback and input and worked on those areas.
Photo: Pamela Cotant
Bands from two area schools to take part in national jazz band festival, competition
Bands from Beloit Memorial High School and Sun Prairie West High School are among the 15 finalists for this year's Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition and Band Festival. The top 15 schools were chosen from a list of 100 hopefuls.
TIME TO AUDITION: Kids From Wisconsin Enters 55th Year
Each year since 1969, the Kids From Wisconsin has auditioned and selected some of the state’s most talented young adults to tour across Wisconsin and hone their performance skills. This year will be Kids From Wisconsin’s 55th year of auditions and they’ll be in Eau Claire on March 3.
Thirty-six talented singers/dancers and instrumentalists ages 15-20 will be selected from the auditions – this year’s upcoming auditions are on March 2 in Manitowoc; March 3 in Eau Claire; March 4 in Milwaukee – and will spend the upcoming summer experiencing professional rehearsal and tour life, performing to over 120,000 people and more than 30 communities.
Photo: Branden Nall
In photos: Kids create wildlife paintings in art class at Racine museum
Photo: Scott Williams
La Crosse Community Theatre offers all-inclusive theater program
LA CROSSE, Wis. (WXOW) -- Empowering children with specific needs and disabilities through theater. The La Crosse Community Theatre is launching it's 'Penguin Project' for 2023 with this year's musical being 'Honk Jr.'
According to LCT, the 'Penguin Project' is for anyone, including but not limited to, children and young adults ages 8 to 21 with specific needs and disabilities who are blind, visually impaired, speech impaired, deaf, hard-of-hearing, and use wheelchairs. Also included are children and young adults with mental, learning, congenital, and psychiatric disabilities. Additionally, participants who have Autism Spectrum Disorder and Down Syndrome.
Photo: Carly Swisher, WXOW
Onalaska hosts free 300-person band concert
The Onalaska school district hosted its' first all-district band concert on Sunday, Feb. 5. Audience members were able to enjoy performances by 6th, 7th, and 8th grade band, and performances by the high school's concert and wind ensembles. For the grand finale performance, all musicians grades 6-12 played the same piece, giving a 300-person concert band experience. The school raised money through concessions, which will go towards purchasing instruments for middle schoolers who cannot afford to rent or buy one.
Photo: Anna Fischer
Pulaski Band and Choir begin fundraising for the 2024 Rose Parade
The annual Rose Parade in Pasadena is 11 months away, but the Pulaski Music Program is preparing now. It held its biggest fundraiser today, with proceeds going to help send the band and choir to the big event in California. For the first time ever, the Pulaski Choir will tag along with the band to attend the 2024 Rose Parade.
“They just reached out to choir and were like, 'hey we’ve seen all the work that you guys do too, we’d love to bring you along as well.' Choir has never gotten to go to Pasadena before so this is a first for us," says Pulaski High School Choir President, Audryn Just.
Photo: Lydia Andersen
'It's not something you'll see anywhere else': Stoughton Norwegian Dancers prepare for Norse Afternoon of Fun
At the Norse Afternoon of Fun, 20 students from Stoughton elementary schools will also be dressed in Bunads and accompany the Stoughton Norwegian Dancers for select dances.
"Norse Afternoon of Fun is our largest fundraiser celebration leading up to Syttende Mai weekend," said dancer Grace Greenwald. "It's a really cool you get to see and it's not something you'll see anywhere else unless you're in Norway so it's a really awesome opportunity."
Photo Sara Maslar-Donar
Black Oxygen: Art as a manifestation of culture with Chris Walker
Listen Here: https://madison365.com/black-oxygen-art-as-a-manifestation-of-culture-with-chris-walker/
Call for Artwork
Northeast Wisconsin Technical College (NWTC) is once again looking for art proposals from local artists. Art Criteria and Instructions for Submitting Proposals
Artists from NWTC's district are encouraged to submit proposals each month for "ready to hang" artwork priced under $1000. Proposals may be withdrawn by the artists if pieces are sold elsewhere before receiving a reply from the NWTC Art Committee.
The goal is to select indoor and outdoor art that is welcoming, inclusive, inspirational, and appealing to our student population. The NWTC community is multicultural, therefore, we desire art depicting diverse experiences.
The College is particularly interested in art that represents the activities happening in our spaces, the subjects taught in our buildings, or the inclusivity of the diverse culture of our local community.
Visit our Flickr page to see the art in our permanent collection (including the pieces we have purchased in the last few years.)
Direct any questions and submit the complete proposals to art@nwtc.edu.
DNR now taking entries for wildlife stamp design - deadline July 15
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is now accepting artwork entries for the Wild Turkey, Pheasant and Waterfowl Stamp design contests. The winning designs will appear on the 2024 collection of stamps.
Each year, local artists from around Wisconsin compete for an opportunity to have their artwork commemorated in a historic way on the wild turkey, pheasant and waterfowl stamps.
Sales of these three stamps bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars annually for species management throughout the state, including habitat management, restoration, education and research projects. Hunters are required to purchase stamps to harvest these game birds.
Photo Sam Timm
Classics for Kids Foundation invites applications from K-12 music programs Deadline: March 31, 2023
The Classics for Kids Foundation believes that playing a stringed instrument can transform a child and give them experiences and skills that can help make them more successful.
To that end, the foundation invites applications for its matching grant program, which will award grants to schools or nonprofit organizations in support of incorporating string instruments in K-12 music education programs. All instruments in the string family are supported (including guitars and ukuleles).
Applicants must have nonprofit status and be based in the United States.
For complete program guidelines and application instructions, see the Classics for Kids Foundation.
Creative Capital invites applications for radical visual arts and film/moving image projects- Deadline March 31
The Creative Capital aims to fund artists in the creation of groundbreaking new work, amplify the impact of their work, and foster sustainable artistic careers.
To that end, Creative Capital invites applications for its Wild Futures Visual Arts & Film 2024 Open Call. The organization will support conceptually and formally interesting, challenging, risk-taking, never-before-seen projects. While selecting projects that are interesting, genre-stretching, and adventurous is at the core of the Creative Capital mission, multidisciplinary projects and projects that push boundaries within a single genre are invited.
Deadline: March 31, 2023 at 4:00 p.m. ET (Letters of Inquiry)
NEA Grant Opportunities
Grant guidelines and application materials are now available for Research Grants, Challenge America, and Grants for Arts Projects (GAP). These grants to organizations support specific projects in any part of the nation’s 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. jurisdictions.
Creative Writing Fellowships in Prose enable the recipients to set aside time for writing, research, travel, and general career advancement.
The NEA will continue to hold webinars and question-and-answer sessions in March for prospective applicants. See the list below in the Upcoming Deadlines and Events section of this newsletter for the current webinars and sessions, and check at arts.gov/news/events for updates.
[NOTE: the archived webinars are linked to from their respective grant guideline Applicant Resources pages. We now have GAP and Research Awards archived.]
The NEA National Heritage Fellowships is the nation's highest honor in folk and traditional arts. Each year since 1982, the program recognizes recipients' artistic excellence, lifetime achievement, and contributions to our nation's traditional arts heritage.
Roots of American Culture: A Cross-Country Visit with Living Treasures of the Folk and Traditional Arts celebrates the 2022 NEA National Heritage Fellowship honorees.
Karen Ann Hoffman (Oneida Nation of Wisconsin)
Haudenosaunee Raised Beadworker
2020 NEA National Heritage Fellow
Stevens Point, Wisconsin
Control Alt Achieve from Eric Curts
But are you getting the most out of it?
Chrome is loaded with lots of helpful features and tools that make your work easier, help you be more productive, and extend your abilities way beyond just browsing the web.
A while back a did a series of blog posts and videos on Google Chrome, where we explored lesser known features, tips, tricks, and helpful ideas for getting the most out of Chrome.
To make it simpler to access all of that content I have pulled everything together in one place. For each topic below you will find a short tutorial video, a basic overview, and a link to the original blog posts with even more details.
Over time I will continue to add new content here as Google Chrome continues to add features and improvements. Also, be sure to let me know your suggestions for tips that I should add. I would love to learn from you!
2021 Educator Preparation Program and Workforce Analysis Report
- Teacher retention rates are 67 percent after their first five years.
- Foundations of Reading Test (FORT) passage rates are 54 percent for firsttime test takers and the FORT is a particular barrier to teachers of color when compared to white test takers.
- Out of a possible 5,391 new public school teachers who completed a program, the state only added 3,618 teachers.
- The teaching workforce continues to be overwhelmingly white and female.
- Enrollment in educator preparation programs is still below 2008-09 levels.
- Wisconsin is producing more teachers overall than there are retirements.
- Median salaries and wages for educators have been dropping over the last decade.
READ THE FULL REPORT BELOW
How a School District Used Music Teaching to Keep Students Connected
The pandemic quite literally took some of the air out of many school music and band programs. But it has also provided new routes to engage students in music and school.
That’s one implication from a new study published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology. It looks at how secondary students have experienced music instruction via both traditional and virtual programs in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
Researchers analyzed students who participated in Los Angeles’s virtual middle school music program, or other in- and out-of-school music instruction in a descriptive analysis for an ongoing research series.
Read More Here: Education Week
Photo: Ben Fogletto/The Press of Atlantic City via AP
Who Takes Music With Them When They Transition to High School?
The majority of students who had taken music in eighth grade dropped music upon entering high school. Only 24.5 percent, that’s one in four students, persisted in some type of music education in ninth grade after eighth grade.
Overall, only 24.5% of students taking a music elective in eighth grade continued to do so in ninth grade (band = 20.4%, chorus = 21.8%, guitar = 12.3%, orchestra = 20.4%). Initially more academically competent students (higher eighth-grade grade point average and reading and math scores) and students with disabilities were more likely to persist with music from eighth to ninth grade.
2) Students with diabilities had a 36 percent greater odds of persisting in music than their peers without disabilities.
3) “The experience within each music classroom should first and foremost be catered toward fostering a love and appreciation for music,” this is from the article, “not just, for example, proficiency in one’s major skills,” end quote.
P-5 STEAM Education as an Engine for Equity
Visual arts as a lever for social justice education: labor studies in the high school art curriculum
Why music causes memories to flood back
When Laura Nye Falsone’s first child was born in 1996, the Wallflowers album “Bringing Down the Horse” was a big hit. “All I have to hear are the first notes from ‘One Headlight,’ and I am back to dancing … with my brand-new baby boy in my arms,” she says. “It fills my heart with joy every time”
When Carol Howard’s early-onset Alzheimer’s worsened, often she couldn’t recognize her husband. She once introduced him as her father. But if she heard a 1960s Simon & Garfunkel song playing, Howard, a marine biologist who died in 2019, could sing every word “effortlessly,” her husband says.
Student Master Class with 2023 NEA Jazz Master Kenny Garrett
Thursday, March 30, 2023 at 12:30pm ET
2023 NEA Jazz Master Kenny Garrett will conduct a master class with Howard University student musicians at Howard University’s Childers Recital Hall, 2455 6th Street NW, Washington, DC 20059. The public is invited to observe and no registration is necessary (seating is first-come, first-served).
Only 60 Seats Remain
Calling All Secondary Educators! Join AFS-USA and educators from one of 5 countries in the Global Up Educator program for 5 weeks this spring. Learn about culture, identity, communication and conflict styles, and teaching for global competence via self-paced online modules and LIVE dialogue sessions via Zoom. You’ll gain tremendous insight and classroom ideas, an international teaching partner, & 20 professional growth hours at no cost to you! Learn more: https://bit.ly/GlobalUpInfoAFSUSA See schedules and sign up today: https://bit.ly/GlobalUpAFSUSA23
Dane Co. conference to hold workshops for independent artists
The Dane Arts Buy Local 2023 Business of Arts Conference II, which will be held March 30 through April 1, will offer workshops for independent working artists and arts administrators.
“Dane County has a unique community or artists who contribute to our local economy, and we are excited to celebrate and support their careers with these upcoming workshops,” said Dane County Executive Joe Parisi.
Workshops offered at the conference include learning how to set up a shop, social media and accounting. Organizers say there will also be time to network and get a professional headshot taken.
Annual Wisconsin Dance Conference
Association of Arts Administration Educators Conference June 1-4, New York City
Conference Theme - The Creative Ecosystem: People, Process, Power
Inspired by the conference location of New York City, one of the most artistically vibrant and culturally diverse multi-tier cities, we are inviting you to embark on an investigation of the creative ecosystem, from an arts-administration perspective.
The dynamic development of the field and the accelerated digitalization caused by the pandemic have impacted teaching, learning, creating, and experiencing, and this has prompted a need to reflect on the key elements and dimensions of the creative ecosystem in different parts of the world and to appraise what the future might look like.
Striking a balance among people, process, and power has become a central challenge for the creative ecosystem. We would like to invite you to interrogate the creative ecosystem through all or any of the three lenses.
American String Teachers Association National Conference, March 15-18, Orlando, FL
We are thrilled to welcome you to the 2023 national conference themed, Building a More Inclusive Community. Community is at the heart of ASTA, and we hope that you will reconnect with colleagues and make new friends. Expanding our community and increasing access to string instruction is central to our organizational mission and requires commitment from all of us. We hope that you attend concerts and sessions during the conference that inspire you as well as discussions and sessions that stretch your ideas and practices.
National Art Education Association National Convention, April 13-15, San Antonio, TX
WISCONSIN ARTS INTEGRATION SYMPOSIUM, April 21-22, Madison
CONNECT, REFLECT, PLAN
The Wisconsin Arts Integration Symposium is a community for educators, teaching artists, researchers, and administrators.
Participants will:
- Engage in experiential training with peers
- Gain tangible strategies for implementation in educational settings
- Shape the future of arts-integrated learning
When: April 21-22, 2023
Where: MyArts
1055 E Mifflin St, Madison, WI 53703
https://place.education.wisc.edu/k12-programs/wisconsin-arts-integration-symposium/
Play, Make, Learn Conference July 20-21, 2023 Madison
The deadline to submit a proposal at the 2023 Play Make Learn Conference (PML) is quickly approaching! PML is a gathering of researchers, game designers, makers, artists, and educators. The conference is a place for collaboration and discovery in the design, research and practice of playful learning, games for learning and positive social impact, making and makerspaces, STEAM education, and arts integration in education.
PML creates an inspirational space for PreK-12 students, educators, designers, developers, innovators, librarians, museum professionals, makers, and researchers to tinker together, share knowledge, and celebrate one another’s work.
Interested in attending, but not presenting? Save the date for registration opening in April!
NEA Foundation Global Learning Fellowship -Due April 1
Through the NEA Foundation Global Learning Fellowship, public school educators develop the knowledge and skills to integrate global competency into their daily classroom instruction, advocate for global competency in their schools and districts, and help students to thrive in our increasingly interconnected world. Fellows transform their classrooms to give students a global perspective.
Over the course of a year, NEA Foundation Global Learning Fellows immerse themselves in online coursework, webinars, reading and reflection as well as in a two-day professional workshop and an international field study. The field study brings the cohort together to investigate the historical and cultural context of the country they visit and learn about its education system through meetings with policymakers, business and nonprofit leaders as well as visits to schools to meet teachers, students and administrators. The NEA Foundation partners with EF Educational Tours, a global leader in international education, to design transformative field study experiences for the Fellows. The field study country for the 2024 cohort is Costa Rica.
Tell A Friend!
TO SUBSCRIBE simply send an email with no message to subscribe-wiartsed@lists.dpi.wi.gov
Chris Gleason
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
This publication and previous issues are available from: Division of Academic Excellence> Teaching and Learning Team> Arts and Creativity. https://dpi.wi.gov/fine-arts/newsletter
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, religion, creed, age, national origin, ancestry, pregnancy, marital status or parental status, sexual orientation, or ability.