 In This Edition of Arts Ed Connections:
- Arts Education Updates: New Arts, Care & Connection and Native Arts Lessons
- Arts Ed News & Research
- Educator Opportunities
- Youth Opportunities
- Artist, Arts Organization, and Partner Opportunities
- Upcoming Events and Training Opportunities
Photo by Tamanna Rumee on Unsplash
Dear educators,
This will be our last Arts Education Newsletter for the summer. Best wishes for a beautiful summer break and keep an eye out for our fall edition when we return for the new school year.
New Arts, Care & Connection Lessons available!
Arts, Care & Connection: Oregon is leading the way in arts-integrated education with the launch of the Arts, Care & Connection (ACC) initiative, a free resource providing K-5 educators with high-quality, artist-led learning modules.
Developed by Arts for Learning Northwest in collaboration with ODE, arts partners, and teaching artists across Oregon, the ACC project will culminate in 96 stand-alone, one-hour learning modules, each including a detailed lesson plan, instructional videos, and a slide deck. New modules are currently available online, with additional lessons added throughout summer 2025.
Check out this new featured lesson for some puppetry and songwriting fun with teaching artist Andy Ferguson, also known as Red Yarn!
Already using these lessons? Through August 2025, educators implementing Arts, Care & Connection lessons can receive free classroom art materials for providing feedback from students and families through the Well-Rounded Courses Access Grant funds.
Our feedback guide explains the process to gather feedback and request your free art materials! Please take the time to complete the few easy steps, so we can share our gratitude for your participation!
For more information or to schedule a site visit, contact us at ODE.WRCoursesGrant@ode.oregon.gov.
Native Arts Update: Coquille Indian Tribe Arts Lessons Available!
We’re excited to announce the newest addition to our Native Arts Lessons collection—educational resources developed by the Coquille Indian Tribe are now available!
These lessons are part of a broader Native Arts initiative designed to support educators and students in deepening their understanding of the rich cultural and artistic traditions of Oregon’s Tribes. Rooted in collaboration, respect, and authenticity, this work highlights both historical and contemporary practices of local Indigenous communities.
These lessons do not replace, but rather supplement, the required Tribal History/Shared History lessons for schools, and offer powerful opportunities for educators to bring culturally rich, respectful, and meaningful learning into their classrooms, while helping students of all backgrounds connect with and learn from Indigenous creative and artistic traditions.
Tribal History/Shared History Community of Practice
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Community of Practice - The Office of Indian Education at ODE has created a TH/SH Community of Practice, which may be supportive to educators implementing TH/SH and Tribal developed curriculum. Meetings will be held virtually each month and will provide a platform for educators to share best practices when delivering the TH/SH lesson plans. This will be a great resource for educators to share experiences. These meetings will be held on the second Wednesday of the month from 3-4 pm.
Check out the Office of Indian Education Tribal History/Shared History website for the Zoom link!
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Teaching high quality, inclusive, and culturally relevant content through the arts is essential to increase equitable access to arts education for all students.
Please see below for related news and resources that may be relevant to your practice.
News and Research
Educator Resources
- Looking for ways to make summer learning fun, hands-on, and connected to real-world skills? ODE's new STEAM and Summer Learning one-pager offers an overview of practical strategies, all designed to boost creativity, deepen understanding, and keep students engaged - useful for programs and educators sharing out to the field about well-rounded summer learning. This resource is a part of the Well-Rounded Access Program's larger STEAM Access Toolkit project - look ahead for a release of the toolkit in Fall of 2025!
- Music Workshop provides FREE, culturally responsive music education resources for K-8 students: 36 courses on instruments, genres, careers, musical cultures (including Hip Hop, South Asia, and our upcoming K-2 courses). Great for subs, too! Join 760+ Oregon teachers—create a free account at musicworkshop.org.
Arts Resources for Pride Month
It’s Pride Month! Honor and recognize the contributions of our LGBTQ2SIA+ artists in your classroom with some of these resources and events:
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GLSEN’s Rainbow Library is a program that sends LGBTQ+ affirming K-12 text sets to schools across select states — for free!
- Check out the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Pride Family Zone for art activities and resources!
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Pride Northwest is a great place to find Pride events in your area, including art contests, live music, and plenty of ways to celebrate Pride!
Photo by Peter Steiner 🇨🇭 1973 on Unsplash
Note: Unless hosted, facilitated, or published by The Oregon Department of Education (ODE), these resources have not been endorsed by ODE, but are being shared as relevant opportunities for arts education professionals to consider.
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Save the Date: Oregon Arts Education Association (OAEA) Conference
Save the Date! Join OAEA for our fall conference of "Crafting Community" on October 18th, 2025 in Eugene, Oregon. Earn PDUs and connect with arts educators!
Conference partners include:
- Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art
- Maude Kerns Art Center
- University of Oregon Craft Center
Find out more at their new website oregonarteducation.org!
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Arts Education Partnership (AEP) Working Group Opportunity
AEP is currently recruiting members for a new working group! The working group will explore what it means to provide an excellent arts education in all settings, including homes, schools and communities.
The working group is open to all members of the arts education ecosystem including:
- In- and out-of-school educators
- Arts supervisors
- School, district and state leaders
- Policy makers
- Teaching artists
- Arts organization administrators
The group is scheduled to hold its first meeting in July. Please email Mitra Chamanbahar, AEP project manager, if you're interested in joining.
Computer Science Education Feedback Request: Calling ALL Oregon elementary school teachers, principals, and district superintendents!
Your feedback is crucial. Help shape the future of computer science education in our state by participating in our survey. The survey will take about 15 minutes and you’ll have a chance to win a $30 Amazon gift card!
Take the survey now and make a difference!:
National YoungArts Competition Opportunity
Every year thousands of performing, visual and literary artists age 15-18 apply to YoungArts through their national competition. Award winners with distinction attend National YoungArts Week to collaborate with peers and develop their crafts with internationally recognized leaders in their fields. Award winners with distinction in their senior year are further eligible for nomination as a U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts—one of the nation’s highest honors for high school students.
Award winners at all levels receive mentorship and financial awards; gain access to a lifetime of creative, professional development and funding opportunities; and become part of an uplifting, inter-generational community that helps artists connect, create and collaborate.
The YoungArts Application Opens on Tuesday, July 22: 2026. See site for details and application.
Apply Now: Student Success Advisory Groups
The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) is currently seeking applicants for:
These groups advise ODE on education matters affecting these groups of students and families. Please follow the links for each opportunity for details about eligibility and application deadlines.
Contacts:
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Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Advisory Group: Reach out to the NHPI Student Success Coordinator at ODE.NHPI@ode.oregon.gov with any questions regarding the Advisory Group application process.
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Latino/a/x and Indigenous* Advisory Group: If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Susy Mekarski, Latino/a/x and Indigenous* Student Success Coordinator at susan.mekarski@ode.oregon.gov or call (971) 720-3444.
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LGBTQ2SIA+ Advisory Group: To apply by phone call, video call, written letter, or to request translation services or accommodations, please reach out to the LGBTQ2SIA+ Student Success Coordinator at LGBTQ2SIA.success@ode.oregon.gov or 503-931-9118.
*Indigenous Mexican, Central, South American, and Caribbean
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Oregon Community Foundation 2025 Community Grants Program
Community Grants from OCF provide flexible funding for organizations addressing the most pressing needs in communities throughout Oregon. For the 2025 Fall Community Grants Cycle, we are funding new or expanding programs and projects, capacity building and small capital (under $500k). For more information, please check out our Program Guidelines below.
Arts and culture nonprofits are welcome to apply as the Arts and Culture Rebuilding Program is closed to new applications.
See site for details and application.
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All trainings are listed in Pacific Time zone unless otherwise noted.
ODE Professional Learning Opportunities for the Summer 2025 and 2025-26 School Year:
ODE Professional Learning Opportunities Page
Relevant educator opportunities:
- Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation | First Saturdays at The Schnitzer Collection | June 7, July 5, and August 2 2025 | The Schnitzer Collection, 3033 Northwest Yeon Avenue Portland, OR 97210 | Free and open to the public
Unless hosted or facilitated by The Oregon Department of Education (ODE), these events and training opportunities have not been endorsed by ODE, but are being shared as relevant opportunities for arts education professionals to consider.
Questions? Connections?
We welcome your submissions to ODE's Arts Education Newsletter! If you have information about events or opportunities for arts educators or students, please contact Shannon Johnson, Arts Education Specialist.
In an effort to streamline the communication process, newsletters will be sent out once a month. To ensure that we can equitably share announcements from everyone, please submit your Newsletter posts no later than the 1st of each month.
Did someone forward you this newsletter? Want to stay connected with arts education at the Oregon Department of Education? Subscribe to the ODE Arts Education Newsletter today!
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