The Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts and the North Carolina Arts Council partnered with the Lincoln Center Institute for the Arts in Education (LCI) to present a LCI International Educator Workshop on the campus of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) August 2-6, 2010. Educators, arts administrators and artists from North Carolina and beyond learned how to unlock imaginative learning through engaging with specific works of art in dance and visual arts.
Over the years, LCI has developed and refined a professional development model for teachers and teaching artists using a curriculum based on “aesthetic education.” This approach to processing and discussing an artistic experience is the perfect complement to the North Carolina Arts Council’s educational touring programs and also provides the students at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) additional skills to communicate about their work and their performances to students and any other audience. In addition, the aesthetic education model fully supports North Carolina’s emphasis on 21st Century skills, especially the development of creativity, critical thinking, communication and collaboration.
The Kenan Institute for the Arts and UNCSA have a long history with Lincoln Center Institute through the William R. Kenan, Jr. Fellowship Program, made possible through grants from the William R. Kenan Jr. Fund for the Arts and the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust. Each year six UNCSA graduates in Dance, Drama and Music have the opportunity to learn practical knowledge and experience as educators in the field of arts and education and as artists embarking on a career in New York City.
The North Carolina Arts Council also has a long history of fostering opportunities for professional development for teachers, administrators and arts professionals in the state. Collaborations with national partners such as the Kennedy Center and Wolf Trap offer training in the areas of arts integration and early-childhood education in the arts. By establishing North Carolina as a regional site for the LCI International Educator Workshop, our constituents, including K – 12 educators, will have a more balanced and comprehensive mix of professional development.
In December of 2008, the Arts Council board adopted its 2009-2013 Long Range Plan. The over-arching structure of the plan is Creative North Carolina, a four-year initiative of the Arts Council that aims to establish North Carolina as the state of creativity at all levels, in all endeavors, of civic and private life. Creative North Carolina will establish our state as a base for artists and creative people of all kinds, while encouraging a culture of creativity expressed through innovative approaches to economic development, education, and government. The arts will become both a destination and a way of life deeply rooted in the same North Carolina values that have already positioned our state as a leader in the arts and a leader in finding ways that the arts can add value to every community. The Arts Council’s partnership with Kenan Institute for the Arts and with Lincoln Center Institute is a critical strategic step towards this goal.
The Kenan Institute continues to leverage its connection with the LCI program in partnership with the North Carolina Arts Council this year through four on-campus events.
• On December 8 & 9, 2009, LCI conducted workshops for faculty and students at UNCSA to introduce them to LCI’s methodology and to highlight the LCI Kenan Fellowship Program for UNCSA graduates in Dance, Drama and Music.
• To launch the 2010 International Educator Workshop in North Carolina, the Kenan Institute presented an introduction to LCI for education, arts and cultural leaders across the state, hosted by Secretary of Cultural Resources Linda Carlisle, Department of Public Instruction Superintendant June Atkinson, and UNCSA Chancellor John Mauceri in Winston-Salem on February 15, 2010.
• To introduce LCI’s innovative practices to arts and education colleagues across North Carolina, the Kenan Institute for the Arts and the North Carolina Arts Council sponsored a one-day workshop on February 16, 2010 in Winston Salem. The primary target audience for this day-long introduction included Arts in Education Directors with arts organizations, Arts Education Coordinators at the school districts, school principals, and teaching artists.
• The first LCI International Educator Workshop in North Carolina was held August 2-6, 2010 on the UNCSA campus.
This is a remarkable opportunity for the community of professional educators in North Carolina - K-16 teachers from all academic disciplines including the arts, curriculum and arts education coordinators, principals and teaching artists and arts education staff of the vibrant network of arts organizations in North Carolina. In the long run, establishing UNCSA as the regional site for the Lincoln Center International Educator Workshop will provide students with additional skills to be inquisitive, observant, analytical learners through experiences with live encounters with the performing, moving image and visual arts.
