Making Waves Blog

Among ArtsWave’s many civic partners is Agenda 360, the region’s action plan related to nurturing talent, increasing jobs, and building economic opportunity for residents. ArtsWave and Agenda 360 work collaboratively on research, strategic initiatives, and advancing collective action with other nonprofit service organizations.

Now, as a parent, naturally I think about the world our kids will inherit. Numerous studies have shown the connection between arts education and academic achievement, social and emotional development, critical and creative thinking skills, and interpersonal skills.

Every child can reap the benefits inherent in dance – discipline, self-expression, problem solving, focus, physical fitness, and team building. In 2013, the Cincinnati Ballet taught these critical life skills to 1,061 third graders in 21 Cincinnati Public Schools through its CincyDance! Program, and will reach 1,300 kids in 31 schools this school year.

Arts education can take many forms – from learning the skills related to a specific art form to using the arts as a vehicle for learning other subjects including reading, math, science, and history. This practice of bringing arts specialists into the classroom to fuel learning in core subjects is called arts integration.

In school districts with strong arts education programs, the community – parents, families, artists, arts organizations, businesses, local civic and cultural leaders – is actively engaged in the development of arts policies and instructional programs of the school district.

It’s been four years since the Fine Arts Fund changed its name, mission, and vision for building community. Like any bold endeavor, the new “ArtsWave” made a splash. What did it mean, then? And what does it mean, today?

How do you define extraordinary? We at ArtsWave mean something that truly distinguishes Cincinnati from other places and draws national attention to the region--like LumenoCity.

How can art change your neighborhood for the better? In January, ArtsWave asked this question of community development organizations for the five neighborhoods in LISC (Local Initiatives Support Corporation) Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky’s Place Matters program.

For the past two years, The Jacob G. Schmidlapp Trusts, Fifth Third Bank, Trustee, has provided special funding that allows ArtsWave to “go broad” and “go deep” in its support of arts activities in different locations across the region.

As more and more people find themselves changing locations for work or family reasons, it’s not unusual for newcomers to communities to wonder how to get connected. It takes a while to put down the proverbial “roots” at the same time you are navigating a new environment.