After-School Arts Education: Resource

Web Sites

Americans for the Arts www.artsusa.org
Americans for the Arts has produced the YouthARTS Tool Kit. Based on rigorous research, the kit features a step-by-step handbook, a video and "lessons learned" video supplement, and a diskette with sample paperwork such as contracts, evaluation forms and other materials already in use by youth arts programs. For more information, call 1-800-321-4510.

Arts Education Partnership www.aep-arts.org
The Arts Education Partnership is a coalition of over 100 national education, arts, business, philanthropic and government organizations that promote arts education and demonstrate its role in enabling all students to succeed in school, life and work.

The Coming Up Taller Awards Program www.cominguptaller.org
Sponsored by the NEA and the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities (PCAH), the Coming Up Taller program recognizes some of the outstanding after-school, weekend and summer programs for children from at-risk communities that are currently fostering the creative and intellectual development of America's youth. These awards focus national attention on concrete examples of the arts and humanities benefiting this country. Accompanied by a cash award, the awards not only reward these projects with recognition but also contribute financial support for their continued work. For more information on the awards program, go to PCAH’s web site at www.pcah.gov.

Institute of Museum and Library Services www.imls.gov
This federal agency supports museums' and libraries' ability to serve the public through grants to institutions, agencies, and professional associations.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts kennedy-center.org/education
The Kennedy Center provides resources for students, educators, artists, and the public to experience and explore the arts. It has issued "The Arts Beyond the School Day: Extending the Power." Identifying essential elements of arts-based after-school programs and a list of quality indicators that help describe each essential element, the report calls for submission of best practice models. For information contact kcaaen@kennedy-center.org. ARTSEDGE, a national arts and education information network, supports the place of arts education at the center of the curriculum through creative and appropriate uses of technology and helps educators to teach in, through and about the arts: artsedge.kennedy-center.org

The Mars Millennium Project www.mars2030.com
Through the arts, science and technology, this project challenges students to design a future community for the planet Mars. It is a White House Millennium Council Youth Initiative, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, the U.S. Department of Education, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and its Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the J. Paul Getty Trust.

National Assembly of State Arts Agencies www.nasaa-arts.org
Their mission is to advance a meaningful role for the arts in the lives of individuals, families and communities in all 50 states and six jurisdictions.

National Endowment for the Arts 
http://www.nea.gov/
As described above, the NEA supports arts education in a variety of ways. For information on its grants programs, go to www.arts.gov.

Partnership for Family Involvement in Education http://www.ed.gov/pubs/whoweare/index.html
This site has information on the partnership and how to join; a list of members; partner activities; and a comprehensive listing of U.S. Department of Education publications on family and community involvement, including after-school programs; and other resources.

President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities www.pcah.gov
The President’s Committee was created by Presidential Executive Order to encourage private sector support and to increase public appreciation for the arts and the humanities through projects, publications and meetings.

21st Century Community Learning Centers Program www.ed.gov/21stcclc
This Web site provides detailed information including applications, answers to frequently asked questions, a searchable database of grantees and much more.

U.S. Department of Education www.ed.gov
Find the latest news about national education issues; review education-related publications and statistics; and learn about the offices and programs at the U.S. Department of Education.