To inspire and engage students of all ages across the state of virginia in and through the arts. The goal is to use the arts to help students overcome social, cultural and academic barriers with programs that promote critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication and citizenship.

Arts & Culture , Arts Education , Children & Youth , Youth Development Programs

Performances: virginia students of all ages attend highly participatory art performances that tie directly to core curriculum and the virginia standards of learning. The priority is to reach underserved populations. Professional artists use their art form, including but not limited to music, dance, storytelling, poetry, and painting, to both provide a professional arts experience and to use the arts as a teaching tool. A few examples of our diverse programs follow. Math concepts are taught through tempo, rhythm, and meter; students learn about the civil rights movement from the perspective of children their own age. A magician teaches character development, such as self-esteem and perseverance. Offerings are revised to meet the most pressing education gaps. residencies: a residency is a customized arts immersion experience for students of all age levels taught by professional teaching artists that may include both performance and workshop elements. Arts-infused learning blends both the art form and curriculum content, deepening the students' understanding through multiple sessions in the subject area as well as the art form. Examples include dance for life, which teaches students about making healthy life choices and exploring math concepts as they also learn hip hop and modern dance, and the military child initiative, where military-connected students use visual arts, storytelling and dance, and music to creatively express their emotions and experiences. conferences and workshops: in response to requests by virginia educators and administrators for arts focused professional development opportunities, workshops in multiple ways to enhance core curriculum are offered to educators of all grade levels. Workshops and artist lecture-demonstrations designed to help participants build their toolbox of arts integration techniques and impact strategies are given through the annual july, inspiring teachers conference, held in conjunction with old dominion university's darden school of education. regional programs and other performances expenses