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exposure to the arts and the presence of the arts draw businesses, improve neighborhoods, and create a more compassionate society.

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School of Visual and Performing Arts

Offering an array of programs in the creative arts, including visual art, design, cinematic arts, and theater arts.

Providing pathways for music professionals to pursue excellence in their craft, growing musically, spiritually, and academically.

YouTube: See Our Recent Videos

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School of Visual and Performing Arts Offering an array of programs in the creative arts, including visual art, design, cinematic arts, and theater arts. Providing pathways for music professionals to pursue excellence in their craft, growing musically, spiritually, and academically. YouTube: See Our Recent Videos

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Princeton redevelopment around an arts center

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Princeton redevelopment around an arts center

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For decades, many ambitious universities and arts organizations have taken their mantra from the 1989 movie, "Field of Dreams": If you build it, they will come."People will come, Ray," said the character Terrence Mann, played by James Earl Jones. "People will definitely come."

In reality, it doesn't always work that way.

"The big mistake a lot of universities make is, you build the building, then you have no money to do anything in it," said Michael Cadden, chair of the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University. "No money for faculty, no money for programming, no money for anything."

For 10 years, various arts departments at Princeton - including music, dance, theater, visual art, and creative writing - have banded together to build programs in search of a home. In that time, the number of students and faculty has nearly doubled.

Now, almost one-third of Princeton's undergraduates take a class through the Lewis Center for the Arts. The growth of the center's programs has outpaced the construction of its building.

"Last year, 31 percent more students were taking classes in the Lewis Center," said Cadden. "You need some place to go."

The recently completed, $330 million Lewis Center for the Arts complex is the largest single development in Princeton University history. Its 23 acres include a new train station (the Dinky), new restaurants, and three interconnected buildings housing state-of-the-art performance and rehearsal spaces.

The centerpiece is the 139,000-square-foot building where all the disciplines rub against one another in an open plan - an orchestra rehearsal room is next to the black-box theater, which is next to a white cube exhibitions art gallery. They spill into a common interior court, illuminated by skylights submerged in a rooftop reflection pool that allow sunlight to stream through water.

The design is meant to encourage the cross-pollination of art forms. Students and audiences can easily - sometimes inadvertently - flow between music, dance and visual art.

Sprouting from the common court are towers where the different artistic disciplines can retreat to focus on their craft. As a visitor rises up a central staircase, each department emerges with its own layout, material, and personality to distinguish it from the others.

"You hear collaboration and buzzwords along those lines," said Noah Yaffe, principal architect with the Steven Holl firm, which designed the building. "But the best collaboration comes from a combination of self-identity and a strong sense of curiosity to explore. I like to think the architecture strikes that balance."

By clustering the Lewis Art Center at the edge of campus - near the McCarter Theater and across the street from the newly relocated train station, a convenience store and a French brasserie - the university designed the complex to be a public gateway into Princeton artistic offerings.

This Thursday, the Lewis Center will host a four-day Festival of the Arts to show off itself and its new digs.

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Arts center at heart of massive Princeton redevelopment - and rethinking - of aspirations - WHYY

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For decades, many ambitious universities and arts organizations have taken their mantra from the 1989 movie, "Field of Dreams": If you build it, they will come."People will come, Ray," said the character Terrence Mann, played by James Earl Jones. "People will definitely come." In reality, it doesn't always work that way.

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After Gretchen Valade heard her sisters play Fats Waller on a Victrola when she was a young girl growing up in Grosse Pointe in the 1920s, the classical piano music she was learning to play suddenly held much less interest.

From that point forward, the granddaughter of work clothing magnate Hamilton Carhartt spent much of her free time cultivating her love for jazz - as she raised a family with her late husband Robert Valade, who served as the CEO of Carhartt, Inc. - and as she served on Carhartt's board. Now jazz's fiercest guardian and advocate in Detroit, the 94-year-old Valade has grown her lifelong passion into an enormous investment in the city's jazz culture. And with her leadership gifts to Wayne State University, Valade ensures a future for jazz in Detroit.

Valade's gifts totaling $9.5 million to jazz studies and performance at Wayne State will fund the Gretchen Valade Jazz Center (GVJC), which houses a main hall designed specifically for jazz performance and a club-style venue. These two renovations to existing performance spaces will be part of the Hilberry Gateway integrated performing arts complex for theatre, music and dance. Her generosity will also foster a continued appreciation of jazz through two endowed gifts. The Gretchen Valade Endowed Chair will serve as the artistic director of the GVJC. The Gretchen Valade Endowed Scholarship in Jazz Studies, a graduate assistantship that supports the endowed chair role, will also support jazz education and performance at the GVJC.

Continually investing in her love of jazz traditions, the unique Detroit legacy and the development of new artists, ensembles and compositional techniques, Valade believes in the scholarship and study of jazz, and in the rich culture surrounding it. So it made sense to her to invest in Detroit through a philanthropic partnership with jazz studies at Wayne State, where she has also helped to build an educational partnership with the Detroit Jazz Festival. With the support of Valade and under the leadership of Professor Chris Collins, the 41-year-old festival has been reinvigorated and is one of the largest true jazz festivals in the world.

"Due to her singular commitment to jazz, Gretchen has been dubbed the 'Angel of Jazz' by the global jazz community. Her passion, commitment and vision are a legacy in itself," said Collins, who is the inaugural Gretchen Valade Endowed Chair in Jazz.

Valade chairs the Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation Board of Directors, which she established in 2005 with a $10 million endowment. "I'm passionate about jazz artists and spotlighting Detroit's rich jazz heritage," said Valade. The owner of Grosse Pointe's Dirty Dog Jazz Cafe and the national Mack Avenue Music Group record label, Valade has promoted the musical careers of many Detroit and international jazz musicians and has written songs herself, which have been recorded by the great Shirley Horn and others.

"Jazz, music, theatre and dance are important parts of Detroit's artistic and cultural legacy, and Gretchen's support has ensured that those traditions continue," said Matthew Seeger, dean of Wayne State's College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts.

Valade's philanthropic contributions are foundational to the Hilberry Gateway, a performance complex that will bring Wayne State's performing arts students together under one roof. Her gift of $5 million will fund the renovation of the current Hilberry Theatre, transforming it into the world-class GVJC main performance hall. The hall will be designed specifically for jazz performances and will feature high-profile concerts, a high-tech audio system and two Steinway grand pianos. An additional gift of $2 million will fund a renovation of the Hilberry Theatre's basement Studio Theatre to create an intimate space for jazz performance, jam sessions, jazz workshops and jazz films as well as other Department of Music and college activities.

"I am so very grateful to Gretchen for her continuing generosity," said Wayne State University President M. Roy Wilson. "Leading institutions of higher education like Wayne State must reaffirm their commitment to the arts and humanities. The Gretchen Valade Jazz Center and the Hilberry Gateway will send a strong signal of Wayne State's support for excellence in the arts.

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Hilberry Gateway | Theatre & Dance at Wayne

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After Gretchen Valade heard her sisters play Fats Waller on a Victrola when she was a young girl growing up in Grosse Pointe in the 1920s, the classical piano music she was learning to play suddenly held much less interest.

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Home &rtrif;Academics &rtrif;Theater and Performance Studies &rtrif; Theater & Performance Studies Partnerships

Georgetown University/Arena Stage/Andrew R. Ammerman F'72 Partnership

Now in its twelfth year, our unique partnership with Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater has been made possible by the generosity of the Ammerman Family. This partnership embodies our shared missions and commitments: development of new work, mentorship of a new generation of artists and administrators, community engagement, and deepening the dialogue on vital issues in the field.

Projects developed under this partnership have taken diverse forms. Artistic highlights have included festivals celebrating Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee, Arthur Miller, and Eugene O'Neill; developmental readings of new Heather Raffo plays; and a workshop of Moisés Kaufman's 33 Variations, which led to a full production at Arena, then on to Broadway. Other significant collaborations have included the symposium Playing with the Past, (W)righting the Future; artistic and administrative fellowships for GU alumni; and GU nights for current students.

In the coming academic year, Georgetown University will host playwright Nathan Alan Davis, who is commissioned as part of Arena Stage's Power Plays initiative, as an artist-in-residence. This will be followed by a developmental workshop of Davis' newest play, focused on Oklahoma's "Black Wall Street." Additional partnership activities include a Georgetown University production of Julius Caesar, directed by Arena Stage's Director of Community Engagement Anita Maynard-Losh; the opportunity for Georgetown University students to contribute to the dramaturgical workbook for Two Trains Running; to meet with the companies of Nina Simone: Four Women and Sovereignty at Arena Stage; and a discussion with playwright and Georgetown University alumna Mary Kathryn Nagle, whose play Sovereignty debuts at Arena Stage as the fourth production in the company's Power Plays initiative in January 2018.

Additional details about partnership activities will be announced at a later date and featured at arenastage.org (new window) and performingarts.georgetown.edu (new window).

The Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics

The Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics at Georgetown University is a joint initiative of the Theater & Performance Studies Program and the School of Foreign Service. Led by Professors Derek Goldman and Cynthia P. Schneider, the Lab leverages Georgetown University's distinctive strengths in international relations and theatrical performance, developing new interdisciplinary approaches to fostering cross-cultural dialogue and understanding, and to advancing peace and social justice through performance. The Lab's work is made possible through grants and the collaboration of faculty and staff at every level of Georgetown University, most visibly in the Davis Center. In addition, the Lab is a generative creative space to foster collaborative artistic projects that realize these goals. Finally, the Lab is a hub and a resource center that, in actual and virtual spaces, brings together an expansive global network of artists, policymakers, scholars, cultural organizations, embassies, faculty, and students.

Past Laboratory events include the sold-out September 16-17, 2013 performances by Freedom Theatre from Jenin Refugee Camp, Palestine, as part of the company's inaugural U.S. tour, and including post-show discussions with the artists and leading policymakers/officials. From March 12-18, 2013, celebrated playwright and actress Anna Deavere Smith and acclaimed cellist Joshua Roman participated in a residency centered around the continued development of the work On Grace, including a discussion with former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. The Lab also hosted the Convening on Global Performance, Civic Imagination, and Cultural Diplomacy from June 14-16, 2012, featuring more than 75 theater artists, policymakers, government officials, activists, cultural leaders, educators, and scholars from across the country and around the world, as well as Georgetown University faculty, students, and alumni. The gathering coincided with an on-campus residency with faculty and students from Baghdad University, whose Arabic adaptation of Heather Raffo's award-winning 9 Parts of Desire was featured as part of the convening.

Past Collaborations

Dance Exchange

Dance Exchange is a professional company of dance artists based in Takoma Park, Maryland that creates, performs, teaches, and engages people in making art.

In February 2008, Dance Exchange in partnership with Georgetown University's Theater and Performance Studies Program presented Love, Etcetera: Dances to William Shakespeare and Willie Nelson. In part one of the production, Shakespeare's sonnets were brought to outrageous theatrical life in The Farthest Earth From Thee, a vibrant dance/theater work that featured explosive movement, stage-filling video, and an all-abilities cast of daredevil performers. The second piece, Nocturnes, choreographed by Founder Liz Lerman, was a poignant and playful dance suite set to songs by country-western balladeer Willie Nelson, and performed by a multi-generational cast.

Visit Dance Exchange's homepage (new window).

Rorschach Theatre

Rorschach Theatre is a fierce young company known for their inventive use of space, performances of feverish intensity and a passion for epic stories told in new ways.

In the Summer of 2007, Rorschach took up residency in the Devine Studio Theatre of the Davis Performing Arts Center. Working with a corp of GU student actors and crew members, Rorschach mounted three top notch productions in short measure including the world premiere of Jason Grote's This Storm is What We Call Progress and the world premiere of Rorschach Artistic Director Randy Baker's Dream Sailors ("A hallucinatory, pop-culture-savvy, romantic quasi-mystery... Part nightmare, part thriller, part fairy tale, part wartime coming-of-age saga" - Washington Post).

Visit Rorschach Theatre's website (new window).

Sojourn Theatre

Sojourn Theatre is a multi-ethnic, ensemble-based company based in Portland, Oregon and around the nation. With a commitment to both adventurous theatricality and community engagement, Sojourn creates unique, often site-specific investigations of stories and themes that consistently surprise, delight and provoke diverse audiences.

Working with a talented cast of GU students, Sojourn Artistic Director Michael Rohd, Scenic Designer Shannon Scrofano and Stage Manager Liam Kaas-Lentz created The Race. This unique, multi-media, civic theater project incorporated a cross-section of voices into an on-stage conversation about some of the most important issues raised by the Fall 2008 election: Who will vote for whom? Who won't? Why? And most specifically, what does leadership mean today?

In October 2012 as part of the Georgetown-Arena Stage Partnership, Rohd returned to Georgetown with Sojourn and another one of the country's most acclaimed devised theater companies, The TEAM, led by Rachel Chavkin, with a work-in-progress showing of their collaborative devised play Waiting for You on the Corner of (...37th & O). The work is based on research done around the nation over the two years, examining how we talk to each other, listen to one another, and survive in a country where the distance between two people is less than a shout but more than a handshake.

Visit Sojourn Theatre's website (new window).

Synetic Theater

Nominated in 2008 for 16 Helen Hayes awards, Synetic Theater seeks to advance and enrich the theater arts through presentation and education in its unique performance style of a synthesis of the arts, fusing the classical elements of drama, movement, dance, mime, and music into a distinct form of non-realistic theater.

Visit Synetic Theater's website (new window).

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Theater & Performance Studies Partnerships - Department of Performing Arts

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Georgetown University/Arena Stage/Andrew R. Ammerman F'72 Partnership Now in its twelfth year, our unique partnership with Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater has been made possible by the generosity of the Ammerman Family. This partnership embodies our shared missions and commitments: development of new work, mentorship of a new generation of artists and administrators, [...]

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Court Theatre is committed to being the professional theatre of the University of Chicago. We strive to be the first place that students think about for live entertainment, and that faculty come to incorporate live performance into curriculum.Therefore, we have partnerships across the University to increase our engagement with the campus community.

In addition to offering discounts for students and staff, we partner with the University in several key ways:

Our artistic staff works with professors to discover links between our production schedule and university scholarship.

Our community engagement staff partners with other professional organizations on campus that offer arts education programs.

Our interns are University of Chicago undergraduate students.

Our marketing staff makes sure to cross promote campus arts events.

Learn more:

As part of our ongoing community engagement efforts, we are always looking for new University partnership opportunities. For more information, contact:
Court Theatre Administrative Offices | (773) 702-7005 | Email

Photo: Tracy Bonner and Jerod Haynes in Native Son (Brosilow).

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University Partners Initiative | Court Theatre

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Court Theatre is committed to being the professional theatre of the University of Chicago. We strive to be the first place that students think about for live entertainment, and that faculty come to incorporate live performance into curriculum.Therefore, we have partnerships across the University to increase our engagement with the campus community.

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Phoenix Forge is a community makerspace that opened on February 16th, 2021. This makerspace is powered by GateWay Community College on behalf of the Maricopa County Community College District and is open to the public, MCCCD students, and staff. GateWay Community College transformed a former warehouse into a 22,500-square-feet place for makers to create. Phoenix Forge is located 535 W. Van Buren Street in Phoenix, Arizona .

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Phoenix Forge is a community makerspace for everyone. GateWay Community College has begun construction of its new makerspace in downtown Phoenix, which is due to open in Fall 2020. On behalf of the Maricopa County Community College District, GWCC is renovating the 22,500-square-foot former warehouse at 535 W.

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Edson E+I works with the American Indian Policy Institute on Inno-Nations, which supports native business owners and enterprises in building sustainable tribal economies through modernizing traditional trade networks. Inno-Nations does this through leveraging partnerships and bringing together resources from ASU, the tribal community, and other community organizations.

photo provided by Christopher Lomahquahu/Gila River Indian News

The Prepped program is a free, early-stage food business incubator designed for ventures owned by women and underrepresented minorities. It is a community outreach program from the J. Orin Edson Entrepreneurship + Innovation Institute and the Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation.

Currently a pilot program in partnership with the Center for the Future of Arizona, DemocraSeed trains students on city and tribal youth councils to utilize design thinking to develop innovative programs aimed at increasing civic engagement. Equipped with these tools and knowledge, students will be empowered to create and pilot financially sustainable peer-to-peer civic engagement interventions.

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J. Orin Edson Entrepreneurship + Innovation Institute

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Edson E+I works with the American Indian Policy Institute on Inno-Nations, which supports native business owners and enterprises in building sustainable tribal economies through modernizing traditional trade networks. Inno-Nations does this through leveraging partnerships and bringing together resources from ASU, the tribal community, and other community organizations.

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] -For decades, Brown has envisioned the creation of a major performance space that would serve as a hub for music, dance, theater and multimedia arts on campus. The University has taken a critical step forward in realizing this vision with authorization to commence the selection of an architect to design a new performing arts center.

A Feb. 11 vote by the Corporation of Brown University's Budget and Finance Committee at the Corporation's annual winter meeting paves the way for a state-of-the-art facility that will showcase the centrality of the arts at Brown and create a publicly accessible venue for groundbreaking new works. The performing arts center will advance a University priority to fully integrate the arts into the Brown experience and provide a welcoming artistic space for the arts community.

"At Brown, we see the arts as a catalyst for creativity, discovery and innovation," President Christina Paxson said. "The performing arts center will attract the best faculty, visiting artists and students to Brown and provide them with the necessary diversity of spaces to experiment, work and perform."

The new center is envisioned as serving the campus as well as artists and patrons of the arts beyond Brown, Paxson said: "We see this performing arts center as an asset for our campus, and also our local community, with benefits for artists and lovers of the arts throughout Rhode Island."

Architect selection is expected to take approximately three months. It is an important step in a process that requires planners to assess proposed programming for the performing arts center and evaluate whether the programming aligns with the anticipated site of the building.

The anticipated home of the performing arts center is between Angell and Waterman streets on the west side of The Walk, a series of linked green spaces that connect Brown's main campus and its Pembroke campus. The site is currently occupied by a parking lot, three residential structures and two academic buildings.

If the site is confirmed in the site validation process, the University expects to submit the site's approval for a Corporation vote in May.

A long-term plan

As early as 1974, Brown envisioned creating a center for the performing arts that could be used by all of the arts departments and groups on campus.

At the time, the University's 12-member Committee on the Arts - which counted a Nobel Laureate in physics, a poet-playwright and a pioneer in the development of solar cells among its ranks - wrote that such a center would be "a cultural force of great value to Brown University and to the community, greater than can be provided by these departments individually" and that it would "contribute as much to the education of those not primarily concerned with the arts as the artists would gain from the presence of other disciplines."

In advocating for a highly visible, publicly accessible performing arts center that would encourage exploration across disparate fields of study, the group articulated values that endure at Brown four decades later.

Professor of Music Joseph Butch Rovan said the addition of a performing arts center on campus will play an integral role in cultivating creative expression across fields of study, a key theme in the University's strategic plan. Rovan directs the Brown Arts Initiative, which will celebrate its public launch with a major arts symposium in March, and whose activities will have a natural home in the performing arts center.

"The Brown Arts Initiative supports the integration of arts research and inquiry with exploration in scholarship and practice," Rovan said. "Our goal is to advance new forms of knowledge and new methods of creative expression across all departments and art forms. The new performing arts center is central to that mission."

The arts center is proposed as a space that is welcoming to students, faculty and practicing artists from diverse backgrounds, while expanding Brown's teaching capacity in the arts. Currently, 60 percent of Brown undergraduates declare the arts as their principal co-curricular interest, and Brown's strategic plan emphasizes creating an environment in which artists operating at the highest levels of their crafts learn from and inform students and scholars in the full range of academic disciplines.

"In concert with the Granoff Center for the Creative Arts and other arts facilities on campus, the new performing arts center will serve as a focal point for creative expression and an incubator for experimentation, collaboration and engagement," Rovan said.

Space for artists and non-artists alike

While the architect selection process is just beginning, the specific concept for the performing arts center
has been carefully developed over the course of several years, said Russell Carey, Brown's executive vice president for planning and policy. Fundraising for the project continues as part of the $3-billion BrownTogether comprehensive campaign Brown announced in fall 2015.

"As envisioned, the performing arts center will feature state-of-the-art spaces that encourage use by diverse audiences," Carey said.

With a proposed main performance hall and a slightly smaller performance and rehearsal hall, the center will be able to accommodate large ensembles - including full orchestras, choruses or opera companies - as well as mid-sized dance and theater performances and more intimate, immersive multimedia experiences. Performance spaces are expected to host groups from Brown, the Providence community and artists from around the world.

Plans include venues in the building that will feature advanced acoustics as well as innovative seating, lighting configurations and staging possibilities. In addition, the performing arts center is expected to include professional sound recording and multimedia digital production capabilities.

"These elements will expand the possibilities for creating and staging new works that combine art forms, reflecting Brown's emphasis on collaboration and discovery," Rovan said. "In addition, visiting artists, faculty and students will be able to document their productions for further study and artistic use."

A planned acting studio will be an exceptional resource for Brown's Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies, Rovan said. As envisioned, faculty and students - both graduate and undergraduate - will make use of this space to discuss and experiment with the theory and practice of acting and directing. The studio will provide ample space for master classes, artistic critique and demonstrations by professors of the practice and visiting artists, including a host of renowned Brown alumni in the arts.

A dance studio is expected to accommodate the learning and rehearsal needs of Brown's dance program and support workshops and master classes with guest artists from different traditions and techniques. The center also should feature practice rooms and instrument studios where instruction in music can take place.

The center is being planned as a space to host symposia, festivals and other events. With a café in the lobby expected to include space for visual art displays, the center is envisioned as a gathering place that will welcome all Brown students and help to cultivate a deep appreciation for the arts among non-artists.

The performing arts center will solidify the University's commitment to the arts as a central element of the Brown academic experience, Paxson said.

"Brown has an opportunity to be the leading institution among its peers for the full integration of the arts into the academic experience," she said. "A vibrant center for the performing arts is a part of that vision."

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Brown plans new, cutting-edge performing arts center

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] -For decades, Brown has envisioned the creation of a major performance space that would serve as a hub for music, dance, theater and multimedia arts on campus. The University has taken a critical step forward in realizing this vision with authorization to commence the selection of an architect to design a new performing arts center.

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Art is not a luxury; art is a precondition to success in a world increasingly driven by creativity and innovation … Investing in arts and cultural institutions … can be the economic equivalent of bringing a manufacturing plant to a neighborhood and — from a cultural and quality-of-life standpoint — more than surpass it.

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Art is not a luxury; art is a precondition to success in a world increasingly driven by creativity and innovation … Investing in arts and cultural institutions … can be the economic equivalent of bringing a manufacturing plant to a neighborhood and — from a cultural and quality-of-life standpoint — more than surpass it.

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Something is stirring in Detroit. Here, in a city that in the past decade alone lost a quarter of its already dwindling population, plans are in the works to revive the manufacturing economy - at least on a small scale. The Detroit FAB Lab taps into the vibe of "maker" labs and hackerspaces around the globe. Its creators envision an incubator for artists, artisans, and entrepreneurs. Members will have access to equipment for woodworking, metalworking, digital fabrication, and media, as well as business coaching and networking.

"Detroit has always been a place where things have been made," says Alex Feldman, one of the project's creators, who works on economic development strategies with the company U3 Ventures. "That tradition is still alive here. But it's starting to shift in a small way to a more [artistic] culture of manufacturing and creation."

The FAB Lab, a part of Wayne State University's TechTown initiative, recently won a planning grant from ArtPlace America, a collaboration of charitable foundations, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and federal agencies. The funding is designed not just to feed starving artists or prop up grand old arts institutions. Under the banner of "creative placemaking," these grants aim to inject new life into local economies.

"Our idea is that we will invest in art and culture as part of a portfolio of strategies meant to transform communities," says ArtPlace president Carol Coletta.

In September, ArtPlace announced $11.5 million in grants for the Detroit FAB Lab and 33 other projects designed to "integrate artists and arts organizations into key local efforts in transportation, housing, community development, job creation and more." Two months prior, the NEA doled out $6.5 million in the first round of Our Town grants, funding 51 public-private partnerships that are also trying to both buoy up the arts and reshape communities.

But if the goal is to strengthen local economies, are these people wise to throw their money at artists? Wouldn't foundations and government agencies be better off putting their money toward industries that create real jobs?

Luis Ubiñas, president of the Ford Foundation, which is a partner in ArtPlace, summed up the philosophy of creative placemaking on the NEA's Art Works blog:

Art is not a luxury; art is a precondition to success in a world increasingly driven by creativity and innovation ... Investing in arts and cultural institutions ... can be the economic equivalent of bringing a manufacturing plant to a neighborhood and - from a cultural and quality-of-life standpoint - more than surpass it.

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback would probably beg to differ. In May, Brownback vetoed the entire budget of the Kansas Arts Commission, saying that state needed to focus on "core" functions such as education and public safety. In response, the NEA has withheld all funding to the Kansas commission, arguing that the state needs to pony up its share if it wants a cut of the federal money.

This kind of culture-war skirmishing never fails to ignite a ruckus. But beneath it lie legitimate questions about the power of the arts to transform places, particularly in a time when public funders are struggling to cover the most basic needs.

"It's unrealistic to think that artists are going to transform the entire economy of a city," says Daniel D'Oca, an urban designer and co-founder of the New York-based architecture and planning firm Interboro Partners. "Artists can certainly bring value to a neighborhood and to a city. But, obviously, to address larger issues, there's a lot more that you need to do."

As an example, D'Oca offers up Baltimore, where he teaches at the Maryland Institute College of Art. Residents of Baltimore's richest neighborhoods can expect to live 20 years longer than those in the poorest neighborhoods, according to a 2008 report from the city Health Department. D'Oca says there is a 40 percent discrepancy in high school graduation rates between the city and its wealthier suburbs.

If he had a million bucks to hand out however he pleased in Baltimore, would D'Oca - an art school professor who helped create a massive installation for the Museum of Modern Art's PS1 courtyard this summer - give any to the arts? "No," he says. "There are worse problems in inner cities.

"I support the arts and arts funding as much as anyone," he says. "But we shouldn't assume that arts funding is economic development spending."

Advocates of creative placemaking are careful not to present their work as a panacea. But they firmly believe that art has a central role in reviving urban economies and communities. As examples, Coletta offers the Design District in Miami; the ArtPrize festival in Grand Rapids, Mich.; WaterFire, which lights up the rivers in downtown Providence, R.I., with dozens of bonfires; and the Studio Museum in Harlem, which is credited with helping to fuel the resurgence there.

It's the SoHo story gone viral. But beyond anecdotal evidence, what kind of evidence is there that this kind of thing works? Nationally, arts and culture organizations generate $166.2 billion in economic activity every year, according to the nonprofit Americans for the Arts. But measuring the economic impact of the arts is a slippery business.

Coletta says her organization will be watching the recent grantees closely, in an effort to gauge something she calls "vibrancy." What does that mean? ArtPlace will track the number and kinds of people that come to these communities, the types of jobs and activities there, and the value of real estate and other amenities over time.

"Vibrancy is probably the best proxy we have for the quality of place," Coletta says. "Quality of place is essential for attracting and retaining human capital. And human capital is essential to the economic well-being of communities."

There you have it: the arts recast as urban revitalization strategy.

Roberta Brandes Gratz, a longtime student of cities and author of The Battle For Gotham: New York in the Shadow of Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs, says it's a refreshing approach. "Usually in the past, money went into creating big cultural venues - that's not what nurtures the arts," she says "These big venues are good for importing big productions, but for the arts to be of real economic value, it needs to be local.

"These grants reflect the true nature of urban arts," Brandes Gratz says, "which is totally integrated into larger urban process."

Will Biden deliver on climate? Get weekly analysis of federal climate policy action in the first months of Biden's term.

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Something is stirring in Detroit. Here, in a city that in the past decade alone lost a quarter of its already dwindling population, plans are in the works to revive the manufacturing economy - at least on a small scale. ...

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This is my basic-level attempt to diagram some of the ideas/the story of COFAP that I *think* we have been trying to tell. I think this diagram could be done much (much) better but hopefully, this could be a starting point.

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This handbook examines a particular strategy of cultural revitalization - the development of cultural districts. More than 90 cities in the have planned or implemented such districts, positioning the arts at the center of their urban revitalization efforts. This book examines 24 of those districts and reveals how cultural districts are established, the processes and players in each city that have determined the shape and content of such areas, and how cultural districts reflect the unique strengths of their respective cites and support local artistic redevelopment goals. (p. 13)

A cultural district is a well-recognized, labeled, mixed-use area of a city in which a high concentration of cultural facilities serves as the anchor of attraction. Cultural districts can be found in communities as small as Riverhead, New York, (population 8,814) to New York City (7.3 million). Cultural districts boost urban revitalization in many ways: beautify and animate cities, provide employment, attract residents and tourists to the city, complement adjacent businesses, enhance property values, expand the tax base, attract well-educated employees, and contribute to creative, innovative environment.

While no two cultural districts are exactly alike - each reflects its city's unique environment, history of land use, urban growth and cultural development - they can be divided into one of five categories:

1. Cultural Compounds.

2. Major Arts Institution Focus.

3. Arts and Entertainment Focus.

4. Downtown Focus.

5. Cultural Production Focus.

The impact of cultural districts is measurable. The arts attract residents and tourists who also support adjacent businesses such as restaurants, lodging, retail and parking. The presence of the arts enhances property values, the profitability of surrounding businesses and the tax base of the region. The arts attract a well-educated work force - a key incentive for new and relocating businesses. Finally, the arts contribute to the creativity and innovation of a community. (p. 7)

CONTENTS
Foreword by Paul Helmke.

Executive Summary:

The impact of cultural districts is measurable:

The number of events in the Pittsburgh Cultural District increased from 250 in 1986 to nearly 600 in 1994 with audiences doubling to more than one million annually. In its first decade of operation, the district generated $33 million in public investment and $63 million in private and philanthropic funds, which in turn triggered $115 million in commercial activity. Tax revenues in the district from real estate and performances increased from $7.9 million in 1986 to $19.1 million in 1994.

Three years after establishing the Tucson Arts District, 26 of the 112 businesses in the arts district were new, 54% had increased their sales volume, and 53% made renovations, with an average cost of $105,272 each. Within four years, the retail vacancy rate declined by 50% and city sales tax revenues in the arts district increased 11.7%, compared with a citywide increase of 7.4%.

Urban Revitalization and the Arts:

The role of the arts in urban redevelopment:
Beautify and Animate cities.
Provide employment.
Attract residents and tourists to the city.
Complement adjacent businesses.
Enhance property values.
Expand the tax base.
Attract well-educated employees.
Contribute to a creative, innovative environment.

Cultural Districts: Designations:
Arts District.
Arts and Entertainment District.
Arts and Science District.
Artists Quarter.
Cultural District.
Museum District.
Theatre District.

Cultural Districts:
Facilities.
Performance spaces.
Museums.
Galleries.
Artist Studios.
Arts-related retail shops.
Music or media production studios.
Dance studios.
High Schools or Colleges for the Arts.
Libraries.
Arboretums and gardens.

Goals of Cultural Districts:

Revitalize a particular area of the city.
Offer evening activities, extending hours during which the area is in use.
Make an area safe and attractive.
Provide facilities for arts activities and arts organizations.
Provide arts activities for residents and tourists.
Provide employment and housing for artists.
Connect the arts more intimately with community development.

Cultural District Typology:

Types of Cultural Districts:
Cultural compounds.
Major arts institution focus.
Arts and entertainment focus.
Downtown focus.
Cultural production focus.

Cultural compounds in the U.S.:
University Circle, Cleveland.
Fair Park, Dallas.
Cultural District, Fort Worth.
Forest Park, St. Louis.

The Relationship of Cultural Districts to Other City Amenities:

Other city amenities:
Cultural districts are designed to take advantage of other city attractions
such as:
Historic features.
Convention spaces.
Natural amenities.

Cultural districts and convention centers:
Dallas Convention Center: linked to the Dallas Arts District by a light
rail system.
David L. Lawrence Convention Center: Directly adjacent to the Pittsburgh
Cultural District.
Moscone Convention Center: Located in San Francisco's Yerba Buena
Center.
Will Rogers Memorial Center: Major exposition center located in the
Fort Worth Cultural District.
Within close walking distance of their cities' convention centers:
New Orleans Arts and Cultural Sector.
Philadelphia Avenue of the Arts, SOFA Arts and Entertainment District,
San Jose.

Profile: New Haven, CT Audubon Arts District.

Cultural District Establishment: Siting, Facilities, Programming, and Management:

Profile: San Francisco Yerba Buena Center.
Profile: Pittsburgh Cultural District.
Factors affecting siting and development:
Structural.
Community Leadership.
Social Forces.
Profile: New Orleans Arts & Cultural Sector.

Cultural District Facilities and Programming:

Cultural district programming:
Activities within a cultural district may include:
Arts classes and education.
Arts creation and rehearsal.
Arts-related street vendors.
Art sales.
Craft shows.
Exhibitions.
Festivals and fairs.
Film/Media Screenings.
Gallery Hops.
Literary Readings.
Parades.
Performing Arts Events.
Public Art.

Cultural District Management:
Services provided by cultural district coordinating agencies:
Arts support:
Property management, leasing and facility rental.
Event promotion and publicity.
Events programming.
Box office services.
Centralized arts management services.
Business and non-cultural property support:
Space development.
Business development.
Property and facilities management.
Urban design and streetscaping.
Office and administrative support.
Security and sanitation.
Profile: Tucson Arts District.

Creation of a Cultural District:

Recommendations:
Cultural district development and management:
Each cultural district is unique and should reflect the specific cultural,
social and economic needs of its city.
Planning for a cultural district should be part of wider cultural planning for
the city at large.
Cultural districts should be comfortably accessible.
Cultural district management requires careful coordination among diverse
groups.
Cultural districts must be part of a package of many strategies to
revitalize a city.

Appendix:
Cultural Districts in the U.S. - list of 90 cities which have or plan to have a cultural
district.
Bibliography.
About the author.

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Cultural Districts: The Arts As a Strategy for Revitalizing Our Cities

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This handbook examines a particular strategy of cultural revitalization - the development of cultural districts. More than 90 cities in the have planned or implemented such districts, positioning the arts at the center of their urban revitalization efforts.

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Characteristics of our organization, our employees, our partners, and our students.

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Characteristics of our organization, our employees, our partners, and our students.

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Thinking Local, regional, and national. Decisions of growth can not always be generic across all three locations, nor across all academic content areas within COFAP

SERVICE
Serving our employers by being responsive to their needs.
Serving our students by providing a creative career that is technically enabled to move them forward into the future.
Serving our community by providing creative opportunities for our neighbors, k-12 students and teachers.
Serving God through being light and salt, being the hands and feet of Jesus, and by understanding that God has called us to this creative life.

CREATIVITY
The ability to solve wicked problems, build beauty, and change the world through our intentions and actions.

INSPIRING OTHERS
GCU students have that "special sauce" that inspires others through their strength of character.
Build a mentoring pipeline throughout all levels of our organization.

CARE FOR OTHERS
Our organization will have a culture of  giving back, and doing good with the skills we provide. Our central attitude towards others will be missional in spreading the Gospel and being salt and light in our

COLLABORATION
Leverage individuals and programs on campus to benefit all stakeholders.
Seek a common good in our growth activities.

HIGH LEVEL OF CRAFT
Enabling the organization to grow into jobs we don't even know exist yet, will require us to provide systems, programs, and structures that are competitive with the industries we serve.

MEANING AND PURPOSE
Intentionally staying close to our industries will insure graduates have a clear understanding of their purpose.
Intentionally building stronger IFLW projects will increase a student's understanding of the meaning given their life by their creator.

VALUES DRIVEN
At all levels of our organization, values in alignment with the Christian world view and the GCU mission should be evident in the decision making process.

NIMBLE AND RESPONSIVE
Growth with eyes open for opportunities within the community, our advisory boards, and our partners.
Students should learn to be unafraid to take risk, and be emotionally, technically, and practically able to adjust as the world shifts.

GCU College of Fine Arts and Production will be a highly desired destination for students wanting a creative career.  We will be known as the premiere destination for Christian students wanting a creative career.

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The arts mean business

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Our students are being in the world but not of the world, making different art forms.
Excellent craft.
Through that we are influencing other people.

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student lab

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infrastructure
education

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Certifications
Non education based community service
Technology expertise to share with local educators

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Facilities
Employment
Services

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Enrollment sustainability should drive  our decisions.

STEAM based charter school or magnet school as a "lab" where our education students are going into work with those students. Campus Wide activity.

Master of Music Education online
Needed by all educators

Cultural connections with our community

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Powerhouse in the West Valley of creativity, technology in the arts, and supporting and educating the community students and instructors

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Professional or semi-professional theater attached to GCU.
Christian focus
Used for many uses plus to spread the gospel

More cross discipline degrees, workshops, certifications

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Arts center to give back to the community, exhibit our skills to the community.
Sound Stage for teaching, sharing, monetizing,
Student organizations working with different parts of the University and community.
STEAM
Certifications

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there is a market for online programs in the music area

Summer programs for community

Cultural awareness in the arts, minor or new classes

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Creation of degrees that align with the changing industry needs.
Facilities in which to grow and support that.
Different certifications in many areas of technology

New degrees that look more cross content with other academic groups .

More ongoing workshops.

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Ability to support new programs with current and state of the art technology, so that GCU is competitive in the industries that are increasingly expecting high-tech trained students.
Higher level infrastructure to serve not only COFAP but the community and the entire university.

Collaborative content creators

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Arts Complex
Space to grow
New programs
Space to hold events
Powerhouse in the arts in the West Valley

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CETA Christians in Theater Arts connectivity - need facilities to house them.
Photo Studio

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Facilities - improving neighborhoods, Supporting K-12, Growing employment, New programs, community outreach, monetized, community and college use

Embedded in the community

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I agree that there are so many opportunities to collaborate within COFAP and also with other colleges and departments: Honors college, CCOB, CSET, and departments like MDIO (Multicultural, Diversity, & Inclusion Office).

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I agree that there are so many opportunities to collaborate within COFAP and also with other colleges and departments: Honors college, CCOB, CSET, and departments like MDIO (Multicultural, Diversity, & Inclusion Office).

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The power of structured movement like dance to aid physical rehabilitation and improve coordination, strength, and health is well known. However, few are aware that dance and movement activities can also improve psychological, emotional, and behavioral health. Dance therapists work on the understanding that the body and mind are deeply connected, and utilize this connection both to assess and treat their patients.

Working as a dance therapist generally requires an undergraduate degree, in addition to a master's degree or post-graduate program approved by the American Dance Therapy Association (ADTA).

Clients come to dance therapists with a variety of ailments, including chronic illness, anxiety, depression, OCD, abuse, trauma, and eating disorders. It's the dance therapist's job to assess their needs, invite them into a safe therapeutic space, and create tailored sessions that utilize a combination of movement exercises and choreography activities-in a wide range of styles-to treat them. Although movement itself can have great therapeutic value, reducing stress and improving mood management, dance therapists are equally interested in what lies beneath the movements: a hidden language that they can interpret, helping bring to light repressed thoughts, memories, attitudes, and feelings.

At a Glance

Most dance therapists get started as additional training-also ADTA-approved-to become board-certified practicioners, or pursue licenses, which are awarded on a state level and possess differing requirements. Dance therapists might also go on to work with or found dance therapy-focused dancers or choreographers. Working as a dance therapist generally requires an undergraduate degree, in addition to a master's degree or post-graduate program approved by the American Dance Therapy Association (ADTA). In order to advance within the field, dance therapists might seek other art forms into their practice, becoming creative or expressive arts therapists. nonprofit organizations, or incorporate

Dance therapists work in a wide variety of settings, from medical, rehabilitation, and drug treatment facilities to schools, community centers, and prisons. They can also create their own opportunities by founding private practices, or work within a local community as freelancers.

Dance performance and choreography in a wide variety of genres

Assessing clients' needs and developing treatments

Teaching

Anatomy

Research

Establishing therapeutic relationships

Empathy

Dance therapists should strive to be patient, perceptive, and persistent. Analytical skills are helpful in assessing clients' needs and interpreting their communication through movement, but perhaps more critical are empathy and emotional openness, which can go a long way towards making clients feel safe and comfortable. Of course, excellent communication skills will only help.

Dance therapists might work a fairly predictable daily schedule in a school, hospital, or mental health institution, combine a number of small gigs in different settings, or create their own schedule working out of a private practice. While dance therapists might spend some time at a desk organizing clientele, seeking out new jobs, or taking care of billing and other paperwork, the majority of their workday is spent on their feet with clients. Time is also set aside for continuing one's education and acquiring new tools and approaches.

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The power of structured movement like dance to aid physical rehabilitation and improve coordination, strength, and health is well known. However, few are aware that dance and movement activities can also improve psychological, emotional, and behavioral health. Dance therapists work on the understanding that the body and mind are deeply connected, and utilize this connection both to assess and treat their patients.

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Paul is right. This facility will do so much for recruiting. As the PDS a lot of potential students and their families were underwhelmed by our facilities. In this facility our faculty should be responsible for providing workshops that will ultimately create a lead pool for future Lopes. 

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Paul is right. This facility will do so much for recruiting. As the PDS a lot of potential students and their families were underwhelmed by our facilities. In this facility our faculty should be responsible for providing workshops that will ultimately create a lead pool for future Lopes. 

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Director of Bands, Assistant Director of Bands, Instrumental Faculty Leads - Woodwinds, Brasswinds, Percussion, Strings

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OVERALL - GCU Enrollment sustainability in all degrees - KOCH

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OVERALL - GCU Enrollment sustainability in all degrees - KOCH

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This requires faculty to help recruit AND retain students in the COFAP as a stakeholder alongside ADMR's, UAC's, etc.

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Relationships with West Valley School System - KOCH

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Relationships with West Valley School System - KOCH

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develop relationships with West Valley schools to learn how we could best support their programs through GCU Student to school student mentor programs, free private lessons, free ensembles, etc.

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Dalcroze Teacher Training Certification (summer program) - KOCH

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Dalcroze Teacher Training Certification (summer program) - KOCH

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American Orff-Schulwerk Association Certification Program (summer program of study) - KOCH

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American Orff-Schulwerk Association Certification Program (summer program of study) - KOCH

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Masters of Music Education Online - KOCH

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Masters of Music Education Online - KOCH

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Program focuses on Music Educators across the country who would like to advance their careers and paygrade by earning their Masters of Music Education online.

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Mariachi Ensemble
Samba Ensemble
Community Free Music Private Instruction - Taught by GCU Music Students - Equipment provided by GCU - Designed program of study that has a focus... and leads to GCU Scholarship

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GCU Interdepartmental collaboration with STEAM Focus
GCU Student's serve as teaching aides (Practicum hours earned, hands on experience, you remember 95% of what you teach someone else).

Paul Koch

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I agree with all that has been shared and would like to add the value that dance brings to a neighborhood. https://hechingerreport.org/opinion-how-can-we-bring-the-beauty-and-power-of-dance-to-children-in-underserved-neighborhoods/

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I agree with all that has been shared and would like to add the value that dance brings to a neighborhood. https://hechingerreport.org/opinion-how-can-we-bring-the-beauty-and-power-of-dance-to-children-in-underserved-neighborhoods/

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Get important education news and analysis delivered straight to your inbox
NEW YORK - One of the first lecture demonstrations of Accent Dance NYC took place at an elementary school in the South Bronx, where a large percentage of children lived in temporary housing and shelters. Most had never seen a professional dance performance. They became transfixed watching a diverse sampling of ballet, tango, salsa, hip-hop and more.

Somehow, they understood the special bond that diverse artists of Accent Dance NYC had forged by dance, which was further solidified as it brought the joy and beauty of dance to children just like them.

"Do you feel like a family when you dance together?" asked one student in the Q&A session that followed the performance, perhaps coming from one of the many children who lived in shelters. The question crystallized the ability of dance to transform lives and unify people.

It also reminded me of how my small charitable organization might bring joy to children in underserved communities, including the South Bronx and Mount Vernon, a city bordering my small Westchester suburban town.

Despite the documented advantages of arts education, we face unprecedented challenges during the pandemic in reaching underserved youth. Many schools will remain closed or opt for remote learning for an indefinite period. Even where schools reopen for in-person instruction, it will be a partial reopening at best. School administrators may decide, or already have decided, that arts programs should be reduced or eliminated, with school resources and student hours devoted to "core" subjects, such as math, science and English.

This shortsighted approach does not consider the children's need to have more, not fewer, emotional, physical and creative outlets. That's why for the coming fall, Accent Dance NYC has teamed up with some of the schools we were working with prior to the pandemic to bring virtual dance programming to students. Lessons are designed for small, apartment-sized spaces. Offerings include hip-hop dance parties and choreographic workshops to explore the creation of movement sequences, taking inspiration from, among other things, everyday objects, language-based prompts, teacher-led videos and other educational materials.
Related: Trading textbooks for dance?
Accent Dance NYC also has partnered with BronxNet TV, where culturally responsive dance programming will be streamed to school children and their families on a weekly basis. We are also discussing potential Covid-19-compliant, in-person programming at a Westchester County YMCA that successfully reinstated some of its athletic programming this summer.

Accent Dance NYC grew out my childhood desire to right a societal injustice: inequitable access to arts and dance education. I grew up in a Detroit suburb, raised by a family of Russian-Jewish cellists, violinists and pianists on one side and Polish-Jewish doctors, lawyers and architects on the other. As a child, I delved into academic studies while also pursuing my passion for ballet, which continued throughout my college years.

"If and when schools can reopen safely, dance, music and other arts programs should be included as part of the school day, particularly in communities of color where Covid-19 has disproportionately affected families. Gyms and lunch rooms can be made available for socially distanced arts instruction."
Andrea Ziegelman, founder, Accent Dance NYC

While all of these opportunities were available to me, I recognized my good fortune. The inner city my parents fled in the late 1960s remained divided by racial conflict and socioeconomic strife. Too many children were trapped in a cycle of poverty, prejudice and inadequate education.

After raising my own children and spending 30 years as a children's legal advocate, I seized an opportunity to bring the power and beauty of dance to neighborhoods akin to the Detroit of my childhood, where children too often lack exposure to transformative experiences, including the arts.
Related: Reimagine schools? We must widen our starting points
How could I satisfy the moral imperative to advocate for innumerable Black and Brown children who face daily inequities - not at the hands of warring parents or guardians with whom I was accustomed to dealing as an attorney, but by a system that favors children in wealthy, primarily white, communities? How could Accent Dance NYC provide dance opportunities for underserved children? What difference were we trying to make, and why?

At a young age, underserved youth bear witness to a disproportionate share of economic strife, unemployment, violence, stress, serious illness and death. Returning to school, in and of itself, is not a consistent outlet. Their parents - unlike those in wealthier communities - cannot often afford private lessons, camps and programs that foster their children's exposure to the arts, and their schools may not offer much enrichment either.

And yet, a 2013 study found that high schoolers who studied dance scored higher than non-dancers on measures of creative thinking, especially in the categories of fluency, originality and abstract thought. Other studies have shown a solid correlation between studying dance and improved learning in math, reading and science.

Studies aside, I have seen with my own eyes how dance has positively affected the children to whom we've brought lecture demonstrations and dance residency programs.

If and when schools can reopen safely, dance, music and other arts programs should be included as part of the school day, particularly in communities of color where Covid-19 has disproportionately affected families. Gyms and lunch rooms can be made available for socially distanced arts instruction.

If in-person instruction isn't possible, virtual movement classes can be offered to students as an alternative to physical education. During the early stages of the pandemic, Accent Dance NYC successfully implemented virtual dance instruction for its students, and we recently partnered with a local television station to continue to provide movement classes to youth and families in the Bronx and beyond.

Now more than ever, we must advocate for and serve precisely those underserved youth who need the arts as vehicles of hope, for emotional, physical and intellectual growth and transcendence.

Andrea Ziegelman started Accent Dance NYC with her fellow teaching and performing artists to bring high-quality dance education programming to school children in New York City and neighboring areas. She is an attorney who comes from a family of classically trained pianists, cellists, violinists and singers.

This story about arts education was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the Hechinger newsletter.

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OPINION: Accent Dance NYC brings the beauty and power of dance to children in underserved neighborhoods

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Get important education news and analysis delivered straight to your inbox NEW YORK - One of the first lecture demonstrations of Accent Dance NYC took place at an elementary school in the South Bronx, where a large percentage of children lived in temporary housing and shelters. Most had never seen a professional dance performance.

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Start a chapter https://womeninstem.org/ Push for more inclusion of the arts in STEM. Overwhelming majority of our DDN majors are female. Close the STEM gap by integrating STEAM courses.

AAUW  Reports
Women in Steam

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(Rachel) Create a Voice Science Research Lab in the Canyon Center for the Arts so that students can undertake voice science research, we can serve as a location to assist in voice habilitation and voice health in the West Valley. I have colleagues at Midwestern University who might be interested in partnering, and I'm undertaking professional development this summer to better learn how to navigate voice science research with one of the top researchers in the world.

Additionally, voice health is a vital subject for our educators, both in COE and in the community at large. Teachers are one of the largest populations seeking assistance in voice. I have worked with Dr. Paul Danuser in COE for his voice use (as an educator and as the voice of GCU announcing at basketball and volleyball games), as well as presented to the Speech and Debate club.

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User experience courses for non-majors to help them with aspects of their current field.
UCLA Extension
CORNEL Online
NYU Online
University of Baltimore
University of Maryland - Graduate

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UCLA Extension: The User Experience Certificate

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I know I'm a broken record (sorry!) but partnering with Unreal does open us up into discussions/agreements with other tech companies (and jobs).

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Virtual production is transforming the art and craft of filmmaking. Find out more.

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Collaboration with Performing Arts can turn STEM into STEAM, practical applications.

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Collaboration with Performing Arts can turn STEM into STEAM, practical applications.

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• The Goodman Theatre’s Stage Chemistry program is a standards-based curriculum that introduces teachers and students to the math, science and technology of theatrical production. In one lesson, entitled “What would my theatre look like?” students are asked to create a blueprint of a theatre and, in taking on the multiple roles of architect and designer, demonstrate the relationship of scale and proportion through visual and narrative explanations.
• Boston Academy’s STEAM Lab helps teachers and students explore the connections between the arts, science, and math, and incorporate new technology into their projects, including theatre design. Students explore the parallels of the artistic, scientific, and design processes and get “hands-on’ experience in 3D modeling and design, electronics, digital media, and fabrication. For one class project, a dance student prototyped her own “electroluminescent costume,” which used electrical currents to light up the fabric. She created the costume from sketch to reality, complete with working circuits, and all with the help of the school’s modeling software and a 3-D printer.
• The Stagecraft Institute of Las Vegas offers teachers and training in state-of-the-art entertainment technology training in areas such as stage automation, digital drafting, and special effects.

And there are also examples of how theatre performance can include STEM subjects.
• In David Auburn’s Tony Award-winning play Proof, a woman deals with the legacy of her late father, a mathematical genius who struggled with mental illness.
• Caryl Churchill’s play, A Number, examines the science of human cloning.
• Tom Stoppard, who has written several science-based scripts, blurs the past and present in Arcadia.
• Even musicals get attention in the whimsical Calculus the Musical.
https://alliancetheatre.org/content/arts-integration-and-steam

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Honors Student Design Agency (Design United)

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Honors Student Design Agency (Design United)

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This is a goal currently in the beginning phases with Design United http://designunited.org/. This student agency primary focus is to be lead by student workers/honor students servicing the GCU community creating design materials ranging from print collateral, animation, social media to websites.  They would have their own studio space to work. Similar to the BYU AdLab https://www.byuadlab.com/ BU AdLab https://www.buadlab.com/ William & Mary https://www.wm.edu/news/stories/2017/student-run-marketing-and-advertising-agency-launching-at-business-school.php Pepperdine University http://www.thewaveseffect.com/

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In addition to Master programs, I think certification in specific areas can be useful. Many high schools are integrating film (and other digital arts) into their curriculums but do not have instructors with backgrounds teaching it. Offering some certifications in specific areas (cinematography, nonlinear editing, etc) can help these high school instructors increase their knowledge as well as create a positive impression that they then pass onto their students.

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Performing Arts/Arts venues support a wide range of jobs

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Performing Arts/Arts venues support a wide range of jobs

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"..parking attendants, security guards, and ushers. You might visit the gift shop or purchase refreshments before the show, again, aided by helpful service of staff. After ushered to your seat, you would hear the orchestra, some of the finest musicians in the world, warming up in the pit. For some shows, you may be struck by the set imagined by designers and built by hand. Renowned performers would take the stage, and their talent would be rewarded with applause. Unseen is the support they receive off stage from choreographers, acting coaches, stage hands, makeup artists, costume designers, and more.

In normal times these teams of workers, numbering in the thousands, perform this work every night.." - The Hill
How much do the arts contribute to the economy?

The sixth edition of the Arts and Cultural Production Satellite Account (ACPSA) finds that arts and culture contributed $877.8 billion, or 4.5 percent, to the nation's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2017.Mar 17, 2020- arts.gov
Which sector contribute more to the economy?

A New Study Says the Arts Contribute More to the US Economy Than Agriculture. Here Are Five Other Takeaways From the Report. The arts also contribute more than transportation or warehousing.Mar 8, 2019

..news.artnet.com
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/nea-arts-economic-study-1484587#:~:text=Art%20World-,A%20New%20Study%20Says%20the%20Arts%20Contribute%20More%20to%20the,more%20than%20transportation%20or%20warehousing.

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Our design community has to import this skillset from other states. There is no like program in Arizona. It would be an evening cohort//summer intensive for working individuals wanting to stay in Arizona to grow into this high demand position.

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We could offer master program Interaction Design.
What is an Interaction Designer
Why IxD is different than UX?
SVA - Graduate Degree in Interaction Design
SVA - interactiondesign.sva.edu
Examples of Interaction Designs

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User experience courses for non-majors to help them with aspects of their current field.
UCLA Extension
CORNEL Online
NYU Online
University of Baltimore
University of Maryland - Graduate

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UCLA Extension: The User Experience Certificate

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Software Certifications: Adobe and Microsoft

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Software Certifications: Adobe and Microsoft

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Adobe Certification is a ticket to  employment and promotion. Adobe has a partnership with third party providers to administer tests. Other Universities have provided training and testing embedded in their curriculum.
Microsoft training doesn't happen on campus and yet we expect our students to know the ins and outs of the programs.

We should investigate how to better server our students and the community with these certifications.

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Work with local communities to create art and performance in collaboration with community members that speaks to their experience and serves as a dialogue.

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Partnering with local and national performance groups focused on expanding diverse voices on stage. 

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Partnering with local and national performance groups focused on expanding diverse voices on stage. 

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Hosting and co-producing

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Explore the visual and artistic heritage of our neighborhood and create a focus somehow, on collecting that heritage. Could be a storytelling thread, could be a photographic and audio archive. First we have to investigate if anything like this exists. 

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Explore the visual and artistic heritage of our neighborhood and create a focus somehow, on collecting that heritage. Could be a storytelling thread, could be a photographic and audio archive. First we have to investigate if anything like this exists. 

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Can work with the Learning Lounge to connect to families in the area.

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Honors Student Design Agency (Design United)

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Honors Student Design Agency (Design United)

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This is a goal currently in the beginning phases with Design United http://designunited.org/. This student agency primary focus is to be lead by student workers/honor students servicing the GCU community creating design materials ranging from print collateral, animation, social media to websites.  They would have their own studio space to work. Similar to the BYU AdLab https://www.byuadlab.com/ BU AdLab https://www.buadlab.com/ William & Mary https://www.wm.edu/news/stories/2017/student-run-marketing-and-advertising-agency-launching-at-business-school.php Pepperdine University http://www.thewaveseffect.com/ UT Austin https://advertising.utexas.edu/about/the-lab

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BFA + MFA 3+2
This program would create producers, directors (Digital Film is more focused on the technicians).

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High schools are investing heavily in film/broadcast facilities as are our competitors. Students are expecting at least comparable learning conditions at GCU. Additionally, this will allow us to have more hands-on opportunities with the equipment, which will lessen the chance of equipment damage.

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Offered as an idea by Paul Koch.

At the center of it has the arts center. Cross departmental use of education majors to teach.

If this looks like competition to local schools, we could look at magnet school or CTE specialized school.

Students could be contractually obligated to stay involved with their home school and come here for focused content in the arts.

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https://colab.duke.edu/

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Welcome to the Innovation Co-Lab at Duke University

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Interdisciplinary research content in courses and in collaboration with lab spaces. 

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Interdisciplinary research content in courses and in collaboration with lab spaces. 

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Design History Research
Social Media Research
Technology Research

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Another example of monetizing Lopes Media Lab

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Another example of monetizing Lopes Media Lab

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Ford Media Lab | Social Media Agency & Commercial Content Studio

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Our 1125 ft² photography studio and creative workspace is located in the historic Pencil Factory of Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

Rates: Half Day (4hrs) $350, Full Day (8hrs) $600, Full Day+ (10hrs) $725, Overtime $90/hr

FML Studio has 10.5' ceilings, 37' wall with north-facing windows and fifth floor view of Greenpoint and Manhattan, 11' rolling table perfect for teamwork and propping, a sound-dampened "speakeasy" podcast room, brainstorming area with 5' magnetic whiteboard and 49" 4K television, and a kitchenette with Moccamaster coffee maker and Andy Warhol banana-scented wallpaper.

Amenities include: access to our equipment, heat & air condition, garment rack and steamer, Sonos sound-system w/ iPod and turntable, fast wi-fi, freight elevator, utility cart, Counter Culture coffee, Tea Pigs tea, Poland Spring Water, Topo Chico, and La Croix.

We proudly use Sony cameras and lenses, Profoto strobes and modifiers, and Savage seamless paper.

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FML Studio - Ford Media Lab | Social Media Agency & Commercial Content Studio

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Our 1125 ft² photography studio and creative workspace is located in the historic Pencil Factory of Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

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Design websites for other groups on campus

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Design websites for other groups on campus

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Student organization more formalized to serve other entities.

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Jeff is exploring new wearable technologies, board games and medical. Put forth an initiative to collaborate with Jeff and our design students. Web design students can design interfaces and animation student can work on developing board games.

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A project just in the beginning stages, coordinating COFAP and CHSS, providing a working lab from which to produce social media and broadcast content. This will start on ground in the academic departments and coordinate with multiple groups on campus.
As it grows we can provide workshops to high school instructors and our local community about how to use these common tools for their purposes.

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The School of Communication & Media's Digital Media Lab: Facilitating creative breakthroughs in audio/visual storytelling across a multimedia spectrum.

The Digital Media Lab is, and always will be, a work in progress, focusing on a variety of digital technology in relation to both video and audio productions. The lab has audio and video production facilities and provides Mac Pro workspaces that include Adobe Creative Suite. Additionally, there is HD video equipment for studio and field production.

In the Lab, the opportunity to engage in cutting-edge technologies is offered with a true encouragement to view these technologies as tools, and not just an end in themselves.

Lab Info:

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The School of Communication & Media's Digital Media Lab: Facilitating creative breakthroughs in audio/visual storytelling across a multimedia spectrum. The Digital Media Lab is, and always will be, a work in progress, focusing on a variety of digital technology in relation to both video and audio productions.

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Jeff has had experience in grant writing and this could be an opportunity for us to explore ways to collaborate on projects.

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If you don't have a Padlet account your ideas will show as Anonymous. Please put your name in the beginning of your idea so we can follow up with you.

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Our small photo classroom is in demand not only by our students, but by clubs, student activities, and other groups needing access to a space where they can create studio-quality images.
Along with Digital Film, a dedicated space is needed.
The precedent exists as a proven concept by the studios Marketing has created in Papago, and the amount of use they get.
The student population at GCU both academic and co-curricular, will benefit greatly from these facilities.
This can be monetized to pay for the upkeep and needed staffing.

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Cross posted in Educate Neighborhood Students.
This space would be used by the collaboration between COFAP and CHSS to allow students space to create content to be used by the school. It is also an innovation space to explore new technologies, and ultimately will provide an outreach space for the community. It is also a great GCU Tour space.

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A project just in the beginning stages, coordinating COFAP and CHSS, providing a working lab from which to produce social media and broadcast content. This will start on ground in the academic departments and coordinate with multiple groups on campus.
As it grows we can provide workshops to high school instructors and our local community about how to use these common tools for their purposes.

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There is a lot of research about the benefits of learning art, music, or other creative  problem solving skills at a young age. The demographics of our local community may not support the financial cost or access to these things.
With the concept of an outward/ inward shared "creative center" GCU can become known even more as a neighborhood partner. We provide activities, the Learning Lounge, the Canyon Ventures, and Habitat, but we don't yet offer anything in developmental creativity, particularly since we are in a neighborhood that has limited budgets for creativity in the k-12 arena. Being able to offer workshops, lessons, and even open studio times for the neighborhood would keep us in that good neighbor category, and expand our offerings in the minds of our neighbors. This could be monetized or scholarshiped depending on University desires.

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Can the balance between teaching and non-teaching staff  be clarified, and  be organized based on expectations in each content area?
For example, overseeing film and photography equipment, supporting co-curricular activities, and other out of classroom duties. Is the Program Manager job still a position within the GCU structure?

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When companies are awash in cash, as many U.S. companies are following the US$1.5 trillion tax cut in December 2017, their tendency is to stick with the comfortable and reliable shareholder dividends and share buybacks, with perhaps some M&A thrown in. And although these conventions keep investors happy, they do little to address the barrage of other pressing issues companies currently face.

Corporate leaders must now navigate a landscape in which consumers, shareholders, and activist investors are putting good corporate citizenship on par with providing excellent products and services. Skilled talent is increasingly hard to recruit and retain. Amid the clutter on social media, it's getting harder to control brand image. And firms are looking for new ways to stimulate innovative thinking and attract a diverse workforce.

What if, to help address these issues, companies put some of that newfound cash toward something less conventional, yet effective? What if they invested in the arts?

Whether displaying a corporate art collection in the workplace, providing free museum access to employees and their families, or sponsoring a gallery event in the community, investments in the arts can work to assuage some of the concerns keeping CEOs up at night.

Providing free museum access to employees and their families is one perk that can help companies differentiate themselves.

There is some evidence that business is prepared to step up their arts-related philanthropy. Total spending on arts sponsorship in North America was $993 million in 2017 and is expected to increase 3.7 percent to $1.03 billion in 2018 - the first year the amount would break the $1 billion mark. That's according to ESP, a consultancy that collects and analyzes sponsorship information. Yet ESP expects sports sponsorships to account for 70 percent of the global corporate sponsorship budget, with 4 percent going to the arts.

It's true that putting money into the arts may not provide the direct and measurable return on investment for a company that, say, sponsoring a football game might. But evidence shows that arts investment provides solid advantages for both the business itself and the community in which the company and its employees live and work.

Draw Talent

Company leaders are worried about being able to attract the workers they need in an age in which both technical and soft skills are required to succeed. According to PwC's 21st CEO Survey, when asked to consider threats to their organizations' growth prospects, 79 percent of the more than 1,200 global CEOs surveyed reported being somewhat or extremely concerned about having access to needed skills. Further, 42 percent of CEOs said they would consider relocating their operations closer to available pools of digital talent in order to have a better shot at attracting tech-savvy workers.

But what if the community in which a company was already based was a draw for that talent? Investing in local art programs and artists contributes to the well-being and culture of the community overall, making it a more attractive place for talent to live and work.

A 2017 study from the Conference Board and Americans for the Arts, " Business Contributions to the Arts (PDF)," found that 54 percent of the corporate leaders responding said the arts improve the quality of life in a community. Almost half, 49 percent, said the arts create a vibrant community and society. Furthermore, according to the Americans for the Arts 2016 survey " Americans Speak Out about the Arts (PDF)," 87 percent of respondents said that "arts institutions add value to our communities," regardless of whether people engage with art or not.

With the competition for skilled talent so intense, it is important for employers to create unique experiences for workers. Providing free museum access to employees and their families is one perk that can help companies differentiate themselves. And there is evidence that exposing kids to the arts is indeed of value: In the "Business Contributions to the Arts" survey, 47 percent of respondents said the arts improve academic performance for students (a plus for employees' families). Along the same lines, investing in a corporate art collection - one that is displayed throughout the office and not just in the C-suite - also helps a company stand out.

As people increasingly seek employment with firms that act as good corporate citizens, being known as a company that supports the arts financially, has an art collection it shares with employees, or is a part of bringing arts to children can set a firm apart from its competitors.

Elevate Brand

Such engagement with the arts, of course, also adds to the corporate brand and is a useful marketing tool to both potential employees and customers, says Vadim Grigorian, a marketer specializing in corporate art projects. Grigorian lectures on brands and art at his MBA alma mater, INSEAD, in addition to helping businesses with cultural engagements. He is perhaps best known for his project in which artists were asked to present their interpretation of the Absolut Vodka bottle when he was marketing director of luxury and creativity at spirits company Pernod Ricard.

But beyond the cachet of being associated with the art world, today's investors want the companies they support to have a conscience. And that means acting philanthropically throughout the community, including the art community.

"Increasingly, companies are noted by rating agencies or investment analysts on elements beyond P&L: social responsibility, ethics, sustainability," says Grigorian. "This puts pressure on even the most cynical managers. But for visionary business leaders, deep corporate cultural engagement is an opportunity to stand out in the eyes of investors and other stakeholders."

Spark Creativity

Creativity is among the top skills sought by businesses, according to the Conference Board's " CEO Challenge 2017" survey, with 72 percent of business leader respondents saying creativity is of high importance when hiring. And although there hasn't been much work done on the psychological process responsible for the connection, studies have shown that being exposed to art allows a person to feel more creative and open to innovation.

"To understand the force of art, try imagining for a moment a business world devoid of any visual creative stimulus," says Kai Kuklinski, CEO of AXA Art, the world's largest specialist art insurer. AXA has its own art collection of some 12,180 works, many of which are on display globally in its offices.

Recent studies show that when companies buy art and give employees access to the works throughout the office, that exposure can help spur creativity and innovation. Similarly, giving employees free museum access also allows them to enjoy the creative benefits of taking in art.

"Most modern offices in today's global commercial districts appear entirely interchangeable," says Kuklinski. "This is where a company has the chance to impress its personality onto its clients, and stimulate its own employees into a mind-set of heightened creativity and productivity."

He adds, "This is what art does - sometimes to brilliant and startling effect...Giving access to art so that paintings, sculptures, and photography are not hidden behind closed doors means culture and creativity are part of the employees' and clients' work life."

Promote Diversity

A diverse workforce is also proving to be an increasingly important factor for leaders as employees, customers, and shareholders begin to emphasize inclusion. More good news for CEOs on diversity: It has also been shown to be an important factor in fostering innovation and creativity.

When asked to what extent their organization was building trust with its workforce by creating transparency in diversity and inclusion policies, 89 percent of those responding to the PwC CEO survey said they were doing so at least to some extent, and 88 percent said they were using diversity and inclusion to build trust with customers.

According to the "Americans Speak Out about the Arts" survey, 67 percent of Americans believe "the arts unify our communities regardless of age, race, and ethnicity" and 62 percent agree that the arts "helps me understand other cultures better."

"Corporate art collections have increasingly become a global culture currency, helping to realize and overcome differences and to relate to cultural background, symbolic language, and philosophies," AXA's Kuklinski says.

Art invites us to see things from other points of view. When companies display art or give employees access to museums, it can prove eye-opening, brining employees of different backgrounds to work together more closely. And while art can help us understand other cultures better, there is also evidence that it attracts diversity, according to the Martin Prosperity Institute at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management. The group publishes the " Bohemian Index," which tracks the correlation between a vibrant arts scene and an influx of cultural diversity.

Artists and their work can help give meaning to the complex period in which we live, and propose new ways of thinking. And corporate leaders can use that to their advantage. Supporting art and artists adds a dimension to public and employee life, and that philanthropy, in turn, can enhance a company's image - and bottom line.

Author Profile:

Shellie Karabell is a writer, editor, and communications consultant, based in Paris, France.

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When companies are awash in cash, as many U.S. companies are following the US$1.5 trillion tax cut in December 2017, their tendency is to stick with the comfortable and reliable shareholder dividends and share buybacks, with perhaps some M&A thrown in.

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Exposure to the arts improves a child's lifelong outcomes. Arts education increases the likelihood of graduating from high school; attending and finishing college; and makes students more likely to register to vote.

And having access to art and cultural resources may also improve key aspects of social well-being in disadvantaged neighborhoods, according to a recent study.

The two-year study by researchers from the School of Social Policy & Practice at the University of Pennsylvania found that low-income New York City residents with more access to cultural resources experience better education, security and health outcomes.

That includes a 14% decrease in cases of child abuse and neglect, an 18% decrease in the serious crime rate and a 18% increase in the number of students scoring at the highest level on standardized math and English tests compared to low-income communities with fewer cultural resources. Study authors wrote:

We might expect culture to exhibit the strongest relationship with social wellbeing in neighborhoods with the largest number of cultural assets, but this is not the case. We've found the most consistent relationships between culture and dimensions of social wellbeing in lower-income neighborhoods that, on average, have fewer cultural resources.

The report comes at a time that the National Endowment for the Arts faces possible elimination. The NEA is among the independent agencies earmarked for zero funding in the 2018 budget proposal recently released by the Trump administration. The endowment was created in 1965, and this is the first time a president has called for its elimination, according to The New York Times.

NEA Chair Jane Chu told The Los Angeles Times:

The President's FY 2018 budget blueprint proposes the elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts. We are disappointed because we see our funding actively making a difference with individuals of all ages in thousands of communities, large, small, urban and rural, and in every Congressional District in the nation.

Although cultural resources can be beneficial, an opportunity gap leaves low-income individuals less likely to have access to them than their wealthier peers. University of Pennsylvania researchers found resources are not equally distributed across New York City and tend to be clustered in wealthier neighborhoods, following patterns of "social class, racial and ethnic inequality."

Authors note that while findings of the study don't necessarily mean the cultural resources are causing the improved outcomes, they are nonetheless significant. Michele K. Baer, a program associate at the New York Community Trust, told Artsy Magazine:

The report suggests that investments in cultural communities in lower-income neighborhoods would be potentially more advantageous to wellbeing of New York City communities than investments in higher-income neighborhoods.

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Access to arts and culture may improve outcomes in low-income communities

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Exposure to the arts improves a child's lifelong outcomes. Arts education increases the likelihood of graduating from high school; attending and finishing college; and makes students more likely to register to vote. And having access to art and cultural resources may also improve key aspects of social well-being in disadvantaged neighborhoods, according to a recent study.

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The Performing Arts Advisory board noted that all students should have audio and video technical training. This is also true for the education majors in our college. We should look holistically at this content area - cross populating it for all our majors - and addressing facilities that are more open-use locations for learning audio and video. Right now there is an increasing pressure on DFP111 as more degrees include that class.

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What is the mechanisms for us to get included with the Learning Lounges to connect creative content with the students in line for SIS scholarships?

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College of Fine Arts - University of Texas at Austin

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The University of Texas at Austin Department of Theatre and Dance is pleased to host the Summer Institute: Activating Learning through the Arts. Pre-service and in-service teachers, and arts educators interested in using drama-based pedagogical strategies across the curriculum are encouraged to apply for the 2019 program.

Austin, Texas

Dates for the 2021 Summer Institute will be announced in Spring 2021.

Program Overview

The Summer Institute is a research-based comprehensive pedagogical exploration and immersion training experience in the use of drama-based instruction across the curriculum. This three to four-day intensive arts integration training program is co-facilitated by faculty and graduate students from the Department of Theatre and Dance and the College of Education. The Institute provides an opportunity for educators and working professional from across the country to gather and explore the power of learning in and through the arts.

During the Institute, participants:

Work in professional learning communities;

Explore drama-based pedagogical strategies;

Reflect on readings;

Develop and redefine new arts-integrated curricula and/or peer training modules, and;

Have the opportunity to observe and facilitate lesson plans.

The Institute concludes with the sharing of multiple drama-based lesson plans for peer review. Ongoing support for participants is provided after the class through the DBI Network website (which also serves as a virtual professional development community). In-service participants are also eligible to receive follow-up and support from University of Texas at Austin faculty through the Drama for Schools program model.

"I left with so many ideas that I can immediately implement with my students. I loved that we were all engaged and had opportunities to try out the strategies and talk about additional applications. Breaking into early elementary and upper elementary learning communities really helped, too! Thank you!" - 2019 Summer Institute Participant

2020 Tuition and Fees

Contact Lara Dossett at laradossett@utexas.edu for workshop fee information. Fees include course texts used in the Institute.

Housing

For non-Austin area attendees, housing is available through The University of Texas at Austin and can be coordinated through Drama for Schools.

"Excellent modeling of instruction and reflection. Our institute leaders were AMAZING! Such an invigorating 4 days! One of the best PD's I've attended in my 36 years of education." - 2019 Summer Institute Participant

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Summer Institute: Activating Learning through the Arts | Department of Theatre and Dance - The University of Texas at Austin

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The University of Texas at Austin Department of Theatre and Dance is pleased to host the Summer Institute: Activating Learning through the Arts. Pre-service and in-service teachers, and arts educators interested in using drama-based pedagogical strategies across the curriculum are encouraged to apply for the 2019 program.

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What a drama therapist does is quite similar to what a traditional therapist does: assess a patient or client's mental health needs, consider approaches that would best serve those needs, and implement them in therapeutic sessions. But unlike traditional therapists, who usually use talk therapy as the basis of their approach, drama therapists use processes from the theater-among them role-playing, storytelling, and performance-to pursue their therapeutic goals. Drama therapy can have many different aims, including revealing something about a client's inner life, providing them the freedom to experiment with different social roles, allowing them to tell their own stories, and helping them confront traumatic experiences, any of which can lead to catharsis.

Drama therapy, sometimes used with individuals but more often in group settings, is an active and experiential approach to therapy, which means there's little sitting around. It's based around facilitating social and interpersonal play and experimentation, allowing participants to rehearse desired behaviors, practice certain interpersonal relationships, confront fears, and explore the roles they play in their own lives. Common activities in drama therapy include improvisation, theater games, group play, enactment, and performance. Drama therapy can help people from a wide range of backgrounds, including members of dysfunctional families, abuse survivors, developmentally disabled individuals, those with behavioral issues, and anyone suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

At a Glance

After earning a bachelor's degree, most drama therapists start out in the theater world as actors, playwrights, directors, teaching artists, and more. From there, there are two ways to become a registered drama therapist: receive a master's or doctoral degree in drama therapy from a program accredited by the North American Drama Therapy Association (NADTA), or receive a master's or doctoral degree in theater or a mental health profession with additional drama therapy training through NADTA's alternative training program.

As a form of professional advancement or in order to work in a certain setting, drama therapists might also pursue licenses and certifications, which vary from state to state in procedure and requirements. Drama therapists could go on to establish their own private practices or nonprofit organizations, become engaged in research or academia, or incorporate other art forms like music or dance into their practice, becoming creative or expressive arts therapists.

Drama therapists might work part or full-time positions at mental health facilities, schools, hospitals, substance abuse treatment centers, adult day-care centers, correctional facilities, community centers, after-school programs, shelters, group homes, or nursing homes. Drama therapists might also work out of a private practice. Those who work with groups such as prison inmates, ex-cons, the homeless, and at-risk youth likely do so as an employee or leader of an arts-based nonprofit organization .

Role-play and storytelling as therapeutic techniques

Developing a therapeutic approach

Guided improvisation

Teaching

Empathy

Verbal communication

Leadership

Drama therapists are, above all else, passionate about helping others. Ideally, they are comfortable around all kinds of people and dealing with a wide range of personal issues and challenges. Patience, empathy, and great communication skills, as well as a strong interest in drama, are vital.

Drama therapists might work on a freelance basis, piecing together a schedule out of part-time jobs in a variety of settings, or be employed full-time by a large institution, such as a hospital. Work days generally fall within standard business hours, and involve a lot of standing, moving, and directing. Drama therapists likely only find themselves behind a desk while filling out paperwork, scheduling clients, or maintaining a client database.

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What a drama therapist does is quite similar to what a traditional therapist does: assess a patient or client's mental health needs, consider approaches that would best serve those needs, and implement them in therapeutic sessions.

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Design new facilities with a thought towards how to monetize them - rental facilities

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Design new facilities with a thought towards how to monetize them - rental facilities

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Community classes and workshops could be monetized. Facilities could be rented.

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Above and beyond copiers there is a need for image and content printing. We could create a large format and screen printing company, staffed by kids from the neighborhood working through the learning lounge, with a focus on local businesses. This could be in coordination with Canyon Angels and the Innovation Center.

This serves the one offs and smaller jobs that are too small for Canyon Promotions. Also we can run classes where students from the neighborhood can learn these skills.

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I am interested in creating a production company that produces video content for the university and potentially, for the community. Other universities host channels within the local hotels; we could create a channel for the GCU hotel with content produced by GCU students and staff. I know ASGCU hosted a talk-show a couple years back; we could do this as well as other types of shows. Potentially, we could take on jobs from companies within Canyon Ventures for small fees as well as possibly create programs which could then be sold to other distributors (like PureFlix).

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Another option to a "facility" would be some sort of public art space like the Mesa Amphitheatre. It could be a gathering place for community events, and GCU could host some annual festivals like the Peoria Arts Festival, but for this part of town. Peoria Arts has local artists, but it is primarily focused toward the Peoria School District. We would have to decide who would run it, GCU or the city. It would help if we had a regular presence there through dance concerts and theatre performances or band concerts. It would be West Phoenix's own Hollywood Bowl.

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Another option to a "facility" would be some sort of public art space like the Mesa Amphitheatre. It could be a gathering place for community events, and GCU could host some annual festivals like the Peoria Arts Festival, but for this part of town. Peoria Arts has local artists, but it is primarily focused toward the Peoria School District. We would have to decide who would run it, GCU or the city. It would help if we had a regular presence there through dance concerts and theatre performances or band concerts. It would be West Phoenix's own Hollywood Bowl.

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Alumni Christina McSheffrey was working with SWAN therapists and patients.
Anecdotally it lifted spirits and was successful in many ways. Covid shut it down, but this may be an opportunity for growth.

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Partner with counseling and health sciences. Also can help the Sportscasters and Sports marketing in keeping their voices healthy.

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National Summer Music Education Certification programs

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National Summer Music Education Certification programs

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Offered as an idea by Paul Koch, to connect with the historical culture of our state.

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Create a community "board" so we listen to their needs and desires.

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What does the Neighborhood Need and Want?

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What does the Neighborhood Need and Want?

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Increased competition by other universities who are devoting millions of dollars into facilities. For the COFAP student or tech-focused students, innovative facilities are a draw.
We should stay focused on what we do best - creating students of character - and be aware of the competition in facilities - and consider enrollment sustainability within our 10 year plan.
How many students do we want to have?
Do we have the facilities to serve them all?
What are those "magic" numbers?

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•	We could hold cultural music festivals collaborating with schools in the area 

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Be a resource to the community for how tech is integrating to the arts.
Develop an innovation lab for these technologies and become known as the expert in the connection between art and tech.

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Reference LA program
https://icyola.org/

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Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles

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"Provides inner city youth with the opportunity to learn and perform the great orchestral music of the world in the greatest settings of the world. It aspires to prepare its members for advanced study - musical and otherwise - and high caliber success for life."

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Home - Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles

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We are the Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles (ICYOLA),the largest majority African American orchestra in America. Founded in 2009, ICYOLA is a California 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation that transforms the lives and minds of young people in Inner City Los Angeles through high quality music education.

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Cross discipline minor in a COFAP with a focus on art and cultural awareness

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Music Therapy Degree – Collaborative Degree

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Music Therapy Degree – Collaborative Degree

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Bachelors of Music and Music Education

·       Redesign with more 4 credit hour courses

·       Combine Western European training with contemporary

o   Film Score

o   Commercial music.

o   Ethnomusicology

o   Church Music

o   Nashville Numbers AND Roman numerals

o   In Education: prepare teachers to engage students in pop culture as well as traditional training expectations.

o   Emphasis on technology

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I see integrating online music programs as the future of music education.
•	Online Masters of Music Education
•	Online Masters of Worship Arts 
•	 Could use version 14 courses as a starting point
o	WSA: 323, 330, 416, 321