The capstone project, "Amplifying the Voices of Black Pedagogy," delves passionately into the experiences of Black, licensed music educators in North and South Carolina's public school systems, driven by the researcher's own journey as a Black, Queer woman in the music industry. Its aim is to give voice to Black music educators, understanding the challenges they face, their strategies for overcoming them, and the guiding principles of their pedagogy.
Read moreTransparency in Community-Based Arts Organizations: Overview of Documented Knowledge
This Overview of Documented Knowledge aims to provide an understanding of transparency, its various dimensions, implications, and potential benefits, by outline trends, examples of strategies, methods, accountability considerations, effects, and costs associated with transparency.
Read moreThe Starving Artist: Overview of Documented Knowledge
This Overview of Documented Knowledge explores the history of the notion of “starving artist” as well as issues of elitism and perceptions of serious artistry which intersect with each other. Through a review and analysis of existing knowledge from the cultural sector, the author argues that financial and educational barriers keeping many out of artistic practice contributes to an industry atmosphere that encourages multihyphenate work in order to stay afloat.
Read moreResponsive Review of Practice: Nationwide Perspectives on Virtual Learning, Digital, and Technology Integration in Arts Learning
As education and cultural systems continue to grapple with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, those involved in the systems—primarily the decision-makers, policy implementers, educators, and their collaborators—face unprecedented changes, especially in relation to the integration of virtual learning, digital literacy, and technology in arts learning. This reflection articulates the learning gained through the State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education’s “Leading and Learning in Virtual Arts Education” project; researchers and documentarians sought to understand how virtual learning and other technology and digital resources have integrated into arts education; how technology and virtual learning in the arts existed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, changed as a matter of necessity through the pandemic, and what stayed in place; and which practices might or should continue to develop and be implemented beyond the pandemic. The publication concludes with a number of recommended actions for those leading organizations and systems in the arts education field to most effectively support arts educators and leaders in navigating the digital landscape and ensuring a more inclusive and technologically enriched arts education environment for students.
Read moreRecognizing My Wholeness Through Artmaking
Work in the arts and disability require new models for inquiry. This report by Former Resident of Research Analysis & Documentation Audrey Maxner offers both personal critical reflection and an overview of an inquiry process, heuristic and ethnographic project, and learnings for the field. To start, the report provides a brief summary of the discourse on arts-based heuristic and ethnographic methods. The author then shares the process, followed by the project itself and the creative work produced as a result. To conclude, the paper summarizes critical insights gained through the process and work and offers a reframing of approaches of wellness in the intersectional fields of arts, education, and disability studies.
Read moreBuilding and Engaging Steam Audiences for the Innovation Collaborative: Summary of Findings
The Innovation Collaborative is a national transdisciplinary forum to foster creativity, innovation, and equity in teaching and learning. Throughout 2022, Creative Generation has worked in collaboration with the Collaborative to create, manage, and grow the Collaborative’s social media presence and to determine what content would best serve a community of practitioners seeking to foster creativity, innovation, and equity in teaching and learning through STEAM. On October 12, 2022, Creative Generation conducted a focus group to determine what content would best serve the field. In this report, you will find an overview of the themes that emerged from this conversation.
Read moreDeveloping Community Hubs for Artistic, Cultural, & Creative Learning: An Approach
A significant aspect of supporting young creatives to achieve their goals and visions is understanding the role other actors (e.g. organizations, educators, caregivers, and systems) play in this mission as well. This report explores the relationships between three main groups of actors that come together to create a place, or “Community Hub” where this type of work happens, and addresses the question What are the attributes of a Community Hub for artistic, cultural, and creative learning? Through a combination of Creative Generation’s foundational research, which explored the conditions that most effectively cultivate creativity in youth, and our engagement with a number of organizations between 2022-2023 to better understand the role organizations play as catalysts to achieve the same mission, we uncovered numerous trends that led to the design of a relationship-oriented process that enables an organization to take on the role of “Community Hub,” known now as the “Community Hub Framework.” This framework outlines the interplay between three key groups: Individual, Organizational, and External actors, and not only outlines the outcomes when all three of these processes are in alignment, but the intersectional outcomes that arise between pairs as well.
Read moreResponsive & Community Engaged Forecasting for the Appell Center for the Performing Arts: A Report of Findings
In the summer of 2022, the Appell Center for the Performing Arts (ACPA) worked with Creative Generation to to convene residents throughout York County, Pennsylvania — virtually and in-person — to learn about the ways they engage civically, creatively, and interpersonally with the arts, arts education, and the Appell Center and its theatres. This publication is a final report that combines the findings of each study conducted to support these efforts — one-on-one empathy interviews, group discovery sessions, and an online survey tool — as well as an executive summary.
Read moreAdaptive Impact Plan: Education & Community Engagement at the Appell Center for the Performing Arts
This publication is the Adaptive Impact Plan and Community Understanding that the Appell Center published after the summer of 2022. During this time, ACPA worked with Creative Generation to to convene residents throughout York County, Pennsylvania to learn about the ways they engage civically, creatively, and interpersonally with the arts, arts education, and the Appell Center and its theatres. Using the resulting research and ACPA’s foundational documents, staff + community members worked with Creative Generation to build an Adaptive Impact Plan to aid the organization in fulfilling its aims.
Read moreReport of Recommendations: From Bloomingdale School of Music’s Diversity Task Force
From September 2021 to February 2022, the Bloomingdale School of Music (BSM) engaged the team at Creative Generation to facilitate and document the work of its Diversity Task Force. During this time, the committed group of individuals comprising the Task Force authored a set of recommendations intended to inform the development of the organization’s next strategic plan.
Read moreInnovation Spotlight: Impact - A Thematic Inquiry into Impact Measurement in Arts Integration Settings
A thematic inquiry into impact measurement in arts integration settings, featuring research on socio-emotional learning, neurophysiological impact, and artistic impact, with examples from Crystal Bridges’ school field trips, the Kaleidoscope Headstart Program sponsored by the Settlement Music School in Philadelphia, and the New Victory Theater.
Read moreInnovation Spotlight: Technology - A Thematic Inquiry into the Applications of Technology in Museum and Educational Settings
A thematic inquiry into the applications of technologies such as augmented reality, gaming platforms, and coding technologies, visitor engagement technologies, and virtual reality in museum and educational settings, featuring examples from The National Gallery in London, Tate Galleries, the Scratch Foundation, Cooper Hewitt, and the Barnes Foundation.
Read moreInnovation Spotlight: Asset-Based Arts - A Thematic Inquiry into the Role of Arts Integration in Community Development
A thematic inquiry into the role of arts integration in community development, featuring examples from Partners for Rural Impact (formerly Partners for Education) in Appalachian Kentucky, The Vermont Community Learning Network, and ArtPlace America.
Read moreInnovation Spotlight: Scale - A Thematic Inquiry into Scaling Strategies in Arts Integration
A thematic inquiry into scaling strategies in arts integration, featuring examples from Expeditionary Learning, Ingenuity, Boston Public Schools, the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Arts Learning Program in Utah (BTS Arts), Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) developed by Abigail Housen and Philip Yenawine, Billboard Art Project, and the National Orchestra Institute and Festival.
Read moreThe Barnes Foundation: A Case Study about Integrating Art and Wellbeing in Philadelphia Neighborhoods
This case study focuses on the community and family engagement work at the Barnes Foundation, a museum in Philadelphia, PA, specifically, the museum’s partnership with Puentes de Salud, a health clinic serving the growing LatinX immigrant population in South Philadelphia and the ways in which the arts have become a source of healing and well-being for both young children and their families.
Read moreThe Exploratorium: A Case Study of Arts-Integrated, Informal Learning at Work in Museums
The Exploratorium, a San Francisco museum of science, art, and human perception, uses the power of informal learning through performances, public art, events, and open-air exhibitions in shared public spaces to awaken its visitors. The case study focuses on the museum’s “Middle Ground” exhibition.
Read moreA+ Schools of North Carolina: A Case Study About Professional Development as a Lever of Implementation
This case study focuses on A+ Schools of North Carolina, a network of schools within the National A+ Schools Consortium. This portrait of A+ Schools of North Carolina provides insight into the overall design, evolution, and impact of the A+ Schools model, the longest-running, arts-based whole-school reform model in the nation.
Read moreSPARK! Arts Ignite Learning: A Case Study about Coalition Building as a Lever of Implementation and a Key to Scaling.
This case study focuses on SPARK! Arts Ignite Learning (SPARK!), a community partner of the John F. Kennedy Center’s Any Given Child initiative. Founded in 2014, SPARK! works as a collaboration of local artists, arts organizations, business and community leaders, the city of Missoula, Missoula County Public Schools (MCPS), parents, philanthropists, and the University of Montana to ensure equity and access to a comprehensive arts education ecosystem for all K-8 MCPS students.
Read moreDesigning New Futures for Arts Integration: Exploratory Phase 2022
In spring 2022, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art engaged a team of consultants from WolfBrown and Creative Generation to explore the role(s) a new arts integration initiative could play in addressing the multiple challenges currently facing education systems. This report situates the Crystal Bridges initiative within the larger arc of arts integration practice, provides an overview of the case studies and other resources materials that were developed in conjunction with this work, and summarizes key insights and program ideas generated by participants at a two-day convening on arts integration.
Read moreArts Impact Stories: Summary of Interviews from the Boys & Girls Clubs of America 2022 National Conference
In 2022, the team at Creative Generation, in collaboration with Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA), spent time with hundreds of members of the BGCA community, specifically those who were interested in artistic, cultural, and creative learning in their Clubs. We wanted to know what impacts Arts programs are having on youth and communities through Boys & Girls Clubs. Through this report, the following key findings were identified across the interviews of Club staff, leadership, and youth members: centering youth voice; prioritization of personal connections; community engagement; and creating pathways to college and workforce readiness.
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