Arts Education

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Arts education is chronically underfunded and has been in steady decline in the United States for decades, despite the arts being integral to a well-rounded education and art’s proven positive impact on students’ self-confidence, sense of belonging, and other important social and emotional measures. Arts education also enhances skills, knowledge and creativity that can transfer across other academic areas and into many kinds of work. Nonprofit organizations have long attempted to fill the gaps in arts education in classrooms, after-school programs and community initiatives, particularly for historically underserved communities. Community arts programs further expand the positive impact of the arts, engaging community members of all ages in the power of art as a tool for healing, for personal growth or for social change. This brief offers advice about how donors can make a difference in arts education and community arts. It highlights the leading philanthropic strategies that aim to advance this issue and offers guidance for donors new to this space to get started with their giving.  

Strategies for Impact

Nonprofits are engaged in a range of programs relating to arts education and community arts. All this work is important and could benefit from greater donor support. Below, we discuss areas where donors might focus their funding and spotlight organizations in each that represent the kind of nonprofits that donors might consider supporting.    

  • Prioritize youth art instruction. Childhood education that includes the arts can strengthen social, emotional, academic, language and motor skills, and enhance learning, problem-solving and creativity. Art in Action is a national nonprofit that makes arts education accessible to students in hundreds of schools and organizations across the country. In Texas, Creative Action provides holistic youth arts education in schools, community settings and summer camps. In San Francisco, ArtSeed offers arts instruction and leadership development through projects that explore links between classical and cutting-edge fine arts disciplines. 

  • Make the connection between arts education and social justice. Arts education isn’t available to everyone. Students in low-income, high-poverty schools are more than twice as likely to not have access to the arts. Donors can help bridge this gap. In Oakland, California, Yeah, Art! is a Black-founded nonprofit that strives to make art education more equitable, inclusive, accessible and relevant in communities of color. Also in California, P.S. Arts — which began with seed funding from musician and philanthropist Herb Alpert — provides thousands of public school children with arts education in communities where it was largely nonexistent due to poverty and systemic racism. 

  • Think beyond school arts programs. In Atlanta, Georgia, Alternate Roots is a nonprofit network of artists and cultural organizers supporting art that grows organically from the community. In Boston, Artists for Humanity provides under-resourced urban youth with an avenue to self-sufficiency through paid employment in art and design. Lifetime Arts is a national nonprofit that engages older adults in a range of senior settings.

  • Support art as a tool for healing. Art has a profound ability to improve health and heal emotional wounds. Arts Ed Newark brings trauma-informed training and healing-centered practices to that city’s youth-oriented arts educators and community leaders. Arm of Care employs art to restore and empower those who have been commercially sexually exploited and those at risk for exploitation.​ The Art Therapy Project offers free group art therapy to adults and youth affected by trauma. 

Insights and Advice 

In considering which impact strategies to support, donors should take into account their personal interests and outlook to find the best fit. They should also keep an eye out for emerging opportunities to give with maximum impact to improve arts education and community arts. Here, we offer a few insights and suggestions:

  • Don’t go it alone. Intermediaries and philanthropy-serving organizations can do a huge amount of the leg work of identifying opportunities in the field, and getting involved with one of these groups is a great way for donors to save time and give more effectively. Notable groups include Grantmakers in the Arts, Americans for the Arts, SMU DataArts, Culture Track and Arts Funders Forum. 

  • Keep intersectionality in mind. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to arts education and community arts. If there is a particular community where you hope to bolster the arts, seek out a nonprofit dedicated to that community. The Armed Services Arts Partnership provides free art, improv and storytelling classes to military veterans, service members, military family members and caregivers. In Irvine, California, the Hope Center for the Arts partners with adults with intellectual disabilities to nurture and reveal their artistic talents. Art + Practice provides educational programs for youth transitioning out of the foster-care system in Los Angeles as well as for children and families experiencing forced migration and poverty worldwide, through a partnership with PILAglobal.

  • Consider collaborative approaches. Partnerships between foundations, government agencies, community-based nonprofit organizations, corporate donors, local businesses and individual donors are often key to sustaining arts education and engagement programs — particularly in public schools. Creative Advantage is a public-private partnership designed to reinvest in Seattle’s students and the city’s economic and creative future by funding quality arts learning in high-need public schools. Houston's Arts Access Initiative is a partnership between the nonprofit Young Audiences of Houston, the Houston Independent School District, and more than 200 community organizations. In Chicago, the collaborative nonprofit program Ingenuity is designed so that every child in every grade in every school has access to quality arts education. The public-private partnership BPS Arts Expansion in Boston brings together local foundations, the school district, arts organizations, institutions of higher education and the mayor’s office to support quality arts education in public schools. 

For Donors Getting Started

While nonprofits that support arts education and community arts are often underfunded, there are many nonprofit and funding intermediaries working in this space that can provide helpful information for funders. Donors who are new to this area of philanthropy should take the time to learn about the landscape.

A good place to start is by reading recent articles IP has published about philanthropy for the arts and community. Some of the funding intermediaries mentioned above also offer reports and articles to help donors understand the giving terrain for arts education, especially Grantmakers in the Arts and Americans for the Arts. Other helpful resources include Arts Funders Forum’s interview series The Path Forward and Cultural New Deal for Cultural and Racial Justice.

To find local charities working in arts education and community arts that are well-respected, Charity Navigator is a reputable place to search for worthy organizations around the country.

But the best way to get started giving for arts education is to make some initial gifts, get to know the work of the groups you’re supporting, and connect early with a funding intermediary that can help you learn more about this giving area and increase your giving in a thoughtful way. 

Have suggestions for improving this brief? Please email us at editor@insidephilanthropy.com.