The Creative Learning Initiative to Receive $100,000 Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts

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The Austin ISD Creative Learning Initiative has been approved for a $100,000 Grants for Arts Projects award. 

This one-year award will support increased access to the arts, including: 

  • Drama and dance at elementary schools. 
  • Campus and classroom partnerships with over 100 community arts organizations.
  • Ongoing creative teaching professional learning and resources for more than approximately 4,055 Austin ISD teachers. 
  • Additional support for building and sustaining arts-rich schools. 

The Creative Learning Initiative is among 1,073 projects selected across America. Funds in the Grants for Arts Projects funding category totaled nearly $25 million that were selected during this first round of fiscal year 2021 funding. This marks the fifth time the Creative Learning Initiative has received this Collective Impact grant.

“The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support the Creative Learning Initiative,” said Arts Endowment Acting Chairman Ann Eilers. “The Creative Learning Initiative is among the arts organizations across the country that have demonstrated creativity, excellence and resilience during this very challenging year.”

“Receiving this prestigious grant allows us to better provide all kids with equitable access to the arts and creative learning,” said Austin ISD Creative Learning Initiative Coordinator John Green-Otero. “As an Initiative, we strive to advance the rigor, relevance, and relationships of the arts and education for all AISD students and it is an honor to be with this select group of people doing such amazing work.”

The Creative Learning Initiative is a long-standing, collective-impact partnership among AISD, the arts nonprofit MINDPOP and the City of Austin. In the 2020-21 school year, the initiative has provided arts learning for approximately 53,900 Austin ISD students and 4,160 educators on 97 campuses. The arts help fulfill Austin ISD’s mission to provide a comprehensive educational experience that is high quality, challenging and inspires all students to make a positive contribution to society.

For more information on projects included in the Arts Endowment grant announcement, visit arts.gov/about/news.

 

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