Ten Art Advocacy Videos

One of the first books I bought as an art teacher early in my career was on Art Advocacy from the NAEA. While I no longer have the book, it’s message has stuck with me over the years—Art teachers have to promote, market, and always be prepared to make a strong case for their programs in order to thrive, or even survive, in the public school setting.

We all know times have been tough lately and there are lots of stories floating around about school arts programs being cut. Earlier this year, I blogged about the elimination of half the elementary art and music teachers in our local schools. Fortunately that situation turned around in November when taxpayers in the county passed a mil increase that allowed the eliminated positions to be once again filled with full-time arts teachers. I’m confident this outcome would not have been so positive without the hard work of a dedicated group of local community members who successfully lobbied for the return of elementary arts programs to full-time status. This group continues to function as an arts advocacy group in the local community. Similar efforts are underway across the country (e.g., see artless Wednesdays in Pennsylvania).

All of this has been on my mind lately as I work to prepare another batch of art education students to enter the field. They’ve already heard from me that it’s important to be able to provide clear and strong reasons that describe the benefits of art education to parents, administrators, community members, policy makers, and of course to the children being taught. To help support their case, I’ve collected the following ten videos that speak to the value of art and art education in ways that are easily understood by a broad audience. Some have been featured previously on this site or received attention elsewhere. (Thanks to Errin and Theresa for their suggestions.)

1. Art-iculation is by Illinois Elementary Art Teacher Tricia Fuglestad and her students.

2. “Lessons the Arts Teach” was made by students in response to Elliot Eisner’s article “10 Lessons the Arts Teach.”

3. “Don’t Let Art Education Disappear” is a short art advocacy video produced by Lisa Clark, a student at Eastern Michigan University.

4. The Arts Teach is another short art advocacy video produced by Jen Williams, a student at Eastern Michigan University.

5. “Arts and Citizenship” was produced by Pittsburgh Filmmakers and the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts.

6. In this video, Frank Curkovic, who teaches art and other subjects at an International School in Japan, introduces us to his teaching philosophy and views on art advocacy.

7. A Child’s Creativity tells a poignant story about the importance of parents and teachers providing a supportive environment for children to exercise their imagination.

8. in Art in Translation, Danielle Mulcahy, with the help of her peers, shares a number of personal reasons on why art is important in schools.

9. This cute commercial is part of a larger PSA campaign from the Ad Council in collaboration with Americans for the Arts, The NAMM Foundation, and Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.

10. Lastly, any list of videos intended to support arts education in schools would be incomplete without mentioning Sir Ken Robinson’s Ted Talk on how Schools Kill Creativity.