ODE Arts Education Updates 

Arts Ed Spotlight:

Honoring Arts Educators!

Our schools depend on the connection, vibrancy, and community that arts educators make possible. Arts educators, this is for you. 

Dear media arts teachers, you push students to envision new possibilities, explore, and discover new intersections in the arts fields. You have the patience to deal with spinning wheels on the screen, lost files, and downloading two thousand frame stop motion animations. Without you, our students would be missing so many opportunities to grow and expand their future artistic endeavors. 

Dear music teachers, you capture the essence of the moment and inspire communities with the performances you work so hard with your students to prepare. You teach students the importance of practice, perseverance, and the power of collaboration. You help students with quiet voices sing out, and students who live in the spotlight learn to listen. 

Dear theater teachers, you help our students explore the range of human emotion and experience. You give students the opportunity to think about the world through different perspectives, promoting compassion and understanding in our schools. You manage it all - lights, sound, acting, costumes, choreography - and students make lifelong memories.  

Dear dance teachers, you help your students develop a deep sense of who they are, at the core. You make physical space for students to show up and be seen and celebrated for their true selves. You provide ways for your students to not just express themselves, but embody their thoughts, emotions, and learning in universal languages that can be understood across space and time.

Dear visual arts teachers, you help students reflect and take time to understand the many layers of their identity. You've washed your hands thousands of times in the past two years, and you've given out just as many constructive compliments. You connect students to their visual world to help them discover their power and speak, make, sculpt, weave, carve, sketch, and paint their truth.

Gratitude to all of the teachers, counselors, and education professionals who are bringing the arts into your classrooms and work, in whatever capacity you are able.

Thank you all a million times for making space for creativity and expression in Oregon’s schools and being an anchor for your students. Thank you for bringing your communities together to experience art and through this, connect and have some time to process all that has happened and is happening in our world. Your work is essential and deeply appreciated. 

Shannon Johnson, ODE Arts Education Specialist

Photo by Budgeron Bach

It’s Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month! Honor and recognize the contributions of our Asian American and Pacific Islander community members in your classroom with some of these resources or events:

• Explore art by Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander artists in the Smithsonian Asian American Artists and Selected Works Collection

• Oregon Rises Above Hate | AAPI Heritage Month Festival | May 14 | In Person, Flanders Festival Street, Portland, OR | Free
• National Dance Education Organization | The Struggle Continues: Claiming Identity, Practice, and Joy | May 16 | 3 - 4:30 ET | Online | Free

Educator Opportunities

Oregon Department of Education: Latino/a/x and Indigenous Student Success Grants

2022-2023 Latino/a/x and Indigenous* Student Success Grants are being made available to Community-Based Organizations, school districts, early learning hubs or early learning providers, Tribes, education service districts, and post-secondary institutions of education to address the goals and objectives in their Grant Application for the Latino/a/x and Indigenous* Student Success Plan.

National Endowment for the Arts Grants for Arts Programs

Grants for Arts Projects is the National Endowment for the Arts principal grants program for organizations based in the United States. Through project-based funding, the program supports public engagement with, and access to, various forms of art across the nation, the creation of art, learning in the arts at all stages of life, and the integration of the arts into the fabric of community life.

We fund arts projects in the following disciplines: Artist Communities, Arts Education, Dance, Design, Folk & Traditional Arts, Literary Arts, Local Arts Agencies, Media Arts, Museums, Music, Musical Theater, Opera, Presenting & Multidisciplinary Arts, Theater, and Visual Arts.

Learn more and apply here. For those interested in the arts areas of Theater & Musical Theater, NEA offers a Grant Workshop on May 23rd to learn more about how to apply. 

Art Center East: AiRS Program brings Artists to your School

Since 1982, Art Center East’s Artists in Rural Schools (AiRS) Program has increased access to arts education for K-12 students across ten counties in Eastern Oregon! The program pairs teaching artists from a variety of artistic disciplines - the visual arts to music, literature, theater, and dance - with rural schools. Schools select artists from ACE's Artist Roster and ACE takes care of all the administrative work!

The AiRS Program's experienced teaching artists enrich rural schools’ regular curricula by sharing their passion for art with K-12 students, bringing years of professional experience into the classroom. AiRS artists develop sequential and developmentally-appropriate arts lessons based on Oregon Department of Education’s Oregon Arts Content Standards.

For more information about AiRS, contact ACE Outreach Coordinator at outreach@artcentereast.org

Youth Opportunities

Student Advisor to the Oregon State Board of Education

The Oregon State Board of Education welcomes upcoming high school seniors to apply for a one-year appointment as a student advisor to the Board. This appointment begins August 2022 and ends July 2023. To qualify, students must be a current high school junior (senior during the 2022-23 school year) in good academic standing. As a State Board Advisor, students are expected to attend board meetings beginning in August 2022 and assist the Board in analyzing the policies, proposals and requests before it.

Criteria for Advisor Selection:

• Interest in serving as an advisor for one year
• Commitment to attend board meetings and any special board functions
• Willingness to participate in policy discussions
• Ability to deliberate policy issues
• Demonstrated leadership qualities

Applications will be reviewed as submitted, and the application portal will remain open until the positions are filled. If you have any questions about this appointment or the application, please review the full announcement or contact State Board Administrator Corey Rosenberg by email.

Art Submissions Sought by Blanchet House: On the Ledge Exhibition

As we confront the compounding effects of COVID-19 and Portland’s housing crisis, we’re highlighting the devastating problems of food insecurity and housing instability through art. The theme for this year’s art show and online sale is "Comfort Food.” The last few years have hit artists and houseless people particularly hard; so, we are eager to offer our support to both. All proceeds from this event will be split 50/50 between the artists and Blanchet House. More info on the entry process and how to submit a piece is here. It is free to enter and student submissions are also welcome! Pieces will be reviewed and selected by the Blanchet House Emerging Professionals Board mid-June.

World Oregon International Speaker Series

Celebrating its 22nd season, WorldOregon’s International Speaker Series puts you virtually in the room with the global leaders, visionaries, and inspiring voices that are changing our world.  This year’s series brings to WorldOregon audiences four of the globe’s brightest, boldest thinkers and advocates discussing race and social justice, sovereign rights, confronting aggression, and resilience and humanity in the face of crisis. Don’t miss Pulitzer Prize Winning Photojournalist Lynsey Addario on June 7, online, at 6:30 PM.

Please contact Samara Chism-Winfield for free tickets. samara@worldoregon.org

U.S. Department of Education Nationwide Call for Student Performing Artists

The U.S. Department of Education is seeking student performing artists (such as bands/marching bands, choirs, color guards, dancers, drumlines, poets/spoken word artists, soloists, theatrical performers) currently enrolled in institutions of elementary, secondary, or post-secondary education or accredited trade schools, who exemplify resilience, diversity, and excellence and are interested in showcasing their talent, virtually or in-person, at internal and external Department-hosted events, as well as awards and recognition ceremonies, and professional development trainings that support the Department’s programs, priorities, and initiatives and social media campaigns. No formal training or experience is necessary. 

Photo by cottonbro

Artist, Arts Organization and Partner Opportunities

Connected Lane County is in search of businesses willing to be summer internship hosts

Connected Lane County will pay the interns at no cost to your organization! Hosts must ensure 40 hours of work, per intern, per week. Hosts should have multiple projects lined up since interns often work faster than anticipated. They are especially seeking businesses within Tech, Engineering (potentially through manufacturing companies), Arts, and Medical fields

Please contact CLC if you are interested in hosting

Vernier Science Center Art in Public Places Program

Through Oregon’s Percent for Art in Public Places Program, the Oregon Arts Commission and Portland State University (PSU) seek to commission artworks for locations at the Vernier Science Center (VSC), a newly renovated building on PSU’s Campus. Learn more and apply. 

The Lewis Prize for Music: Accelerator Awards

The 2023 Accelerator Awards application from the Lewis Prize for Music is now open. 

By applying for the Accelerator Awards, organizations are also eligible for funding ranging from $15,000 to $50,000. If you are an organization that empowers youth through music in after-school and out-of-school settings, this opportunity is for you! 

Deadline: June 3 5pm PT

Learn more and apply. 

CFAR Project Incubator Residency Program

The CFAR Project Incubator (CPI) is a partnership between the University of Oregon Center for Art Research (CFAR) and Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact, which affords artists working in any medium the opportunity to explore and conceptualize new work as a part of a vibrant, interdisciplinary research community that is supported by cutting-edge facilities and technical staff. Find out more and apply here. 

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio

Job Opportunity

The Well Rounded Access Program and Digital Learning team is seeking an administrative specialist! If you are interested in the arts, STEAM, and digital learning, and passionate about helping to organize and support the work of these educational initiatives, please consider applying! 

Learn more about the position here and apply. 

Oregon Open Learning 

Oregon Arts Group on the Oregon Open Learning Hub

The Oregon Arts Group on the Oregon Open Learning Hub is a new digital resource sharing and collaboration space for arts educators. Educators are able to access resources that are standards aligned, and contribute high quality resources to the group. Check out the Oregon Arts Group and join to stay connected and share with other educators. The digital resource bank is in its early stages, and will continue to grow. New resources have been added recently, are added monthly!