The AIE Consortium

A Partnerhsip of Arts Education Providers

For over thirty years the New Jersey State Council on the Arts has recognized the value of partnerships. The foundation of the Artists-in-Education (AIE) program is the partnership between professional artists and educators in order to bring students excellent long-term arts education. The AIE Consortium is a partnership of the NJSCA and three of the state's most well recognized arts education providers: Arts Horizons, Institute for Arts and Humanities Education and Young Audiences of New Jersey. This collaboration between the public and private sectors provides greater resources that brings the AIE program to more schools statewide. Schools that receive an AIE grant partner with one of the Consortium members, who will facilitate the residency, provide direct technical assistance and serve as a valuable resource for networking and identifying other arts education and professional development opportunities.

The mission of the AIE Program is to make the arts a basic part of a sound, quality education for all students pre-kindergarten through grade 12 and to provide quality professional development for teachers through long-term residencies with professional teaching artists. AIE residencies focus on direct learning about the arts and the processes of creating art, including the skills, techniques, and concepts of the art form. The AIE program places highly qualified professional artists in classrooms throughout the state, presenting students and teachers with the opportunity to engage in and learn about the creative process.

At the heart of the AIE Program is the belief that an artist can make an invaluable and unique contribution to the educational process. As an agent for change within a school community, the artist is the creative spark that inspires one classroom, one teacher, one school, or an entire school district to integrate the arts into it's ongoing activities and become a vital part of the learning experience.

Research shows that arts-in-education programs have greater impact on school culture when sustained over time. The hallmark of the AIE Program is the focus on long-term (minimum 20-day) residencies. Based on work in the field and information from representative focus groups including administrators, teachers, teaching artists, and community members, the AIE Program now offers multi-year funding for artists and schools to work together in addressing critical goals. The program serves schools in different stages of readiness for a full scale residency.