NEA Awards $100,000 to Young Audiences of Houston

National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Jane Chu has approved more than $30 million in grants as part of the NEA's first major funding announcement for fiscal year 2017.

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Included in this announcement is an Art Works- Arts Education grant of $100,000 to Young Audiences of Houston for expansion of the Arts Access Initiative. The Art Works category focuses on the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and the strengthening of communities through the arts.

"With the support from NEA, the Arts Access Initiative efforts will continue its commitment to three goals for arts and arts education access in partnership with the Houston Independent School District, area arts and nonprofit partners, and regional community members, of Equity, Impact & Sustainability for all Houston area children", said Young Audiences of Houston executive director, Mary Curry Mettenbrink.

The Arts Access Initiative expansion grant for Young Audiences of Houston, who serves as the backbone and fiscal agent for the work, will support school principals, leadership teams, and designated arts liaisons who will work to implement the Creative Schools Plan, which offers arts and arts-integration residencies, experiences in Houston's cultural environment, and extended arts learning in after-school classes.

The initiative also includes professional development for both arts and general education teachers across the Houston Independent School District to provide them with tools for effective arts-integration. The School Capacity and Engagement Cross-Functional Leadership Team comprising of professionals from diverse sectors in Houston will continue to study resource mapping and ongoing data collection from randomized control trails, and recognize successful schools with Creative Schools designations over the 2017 year.

"The arts are for all of us, and by supporting organizations such as Young Audiences of Houston, the National Endowment for the Arts is providing more opportunities for the public to engage with the arts," said NEA Chairman Jane Chu. "Whether in a theater, a town square, a museum, or a hospital, the arts are everywhere and make our lives richer."

"Our organization's board, staff, artists, educators, parents and partners over the past four years have worked diligently on finding ways to ensure that all children have access to arts in education and have made significant investments of time, resources and knowledge - and we thank them. We are excited about this support to enter a new phase with the initiative to deepen and expand our collective efforts," said Young Audiences of Houston board president, Mark Farrell.

The Arts Access Initiative is Houston's action plan for ensuring equitable Arts Access for every K- 8 Houston Independent School District student. Young Audiences of Houston works with Houston ISD leaders, city officials, arts and cultural organizations, higher education leaders, businesses, philanthropic community, principals, teachers, parents and students to advance student Arts Access through partnerships, data collection, advocacy and system change. Young Audiences of Houston and the coalition between HISD and the Arts Access Initiative are members of the Any Given Child program of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the National Young Audiences network, the largest network of arts in education organizations supporting more than 5 million children across the United States.

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Young Audiences of Houston provides the largest network of partnerships and access to arts in education in the region. Each year, Young Audiences of Houston serves more than 230,000 children in the greater Houston region, which includes seven counties across Texas. For more information about the arts-in-education organization, please call 713-520-9264 or visit www.yahouston.org.

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