The New Orleans Arts Education Alliance works together across schools and communities to ensure meaningful, equitable arts education for all children in New Orleans public schools.
Through a planning process facilitated by the Kennedy Center’s Ensuring the Arts for Any Given Child initiative, over 1,200 citizens participated in data collection and collaborative planning to establish a path to access, equity, and excellence in arts education. This plan resulted in three goal areas for the NOAEA.
The NOAEA is a collaborative and community-driven initiative. A broad group of constituents including schools, cultural institutions, and community members designed a plan to bring more, and better arts education to New Orleans students. The Governance Council now works to support the efforts of the NOAEA to enact the city-wide goals and strategies. We provide technical and planning support for schools & CMOs, community arts providers, and other stakeholders. Please reach out for more information or to partner with us.
EXCELLENCE: The arts are a core part of a well-rounded education.
Arts education is associated with numerous positive outcomes for children including creativity, critical thinking, academic engagement, and social-emotional learning. But in our current high-stakes educational environment, the arts are disappearing. The NOAEA connects schools with resources and partnerships to increase arts education programming.
EQUITY: Every child in New Orleans deserves access to arts-rich education.
Although the arts are vital to a meaningful education, inequities persist along racial and socioeconomic lines, inhibiting many students from accessing their full benefits. In a district where 83% of our students are Black and 86% qualify for free and reduced lunch, the Alliance advocates for policies and programs ensuring equal access to arts education for all children in public schools.
COLLABORATION: Community engaged, data informed decision making is needed to ensure all children have access to arts-rich education.
Understanding is key to addressing the systemic inequities that keep many students from experiencing the benefits of arts education. The NOAEA collects and shares arts education data with all stakeholders in our community, ensuring resources and partnerships are directed where they are needed most.
CULTURAL LEGACY: Arts education should reflect and sustain the traditions of New Orleans.
The artistic and musical legacy of New Orleans is central to our cultural economy. The NOAEA supports arts education that is culturally relevant, celebrates our diverse traditions, and engages students with local artists and art forms to strengthen our legacy and invest in our next generation of creative leaders and culture bearers.
We are very excited to welcome our new Executive Director, David Pulphus. David has served as Board Co-Chair for the New Orleans Arts Education Alliance for the past 3 years, and has been instrumental in helping us keep moving forward through a pandemic, a hurricane and more! David is also a Grammy Award-winning bassist and an experienced music educator. We know his experience, vision & passion for arts education will help the organization thrive through this key transitional phase. He will be our main contact, and can be reached at director@artsedall.org.
