Arts Partnerships
School and Community Arts Partnerships in Seattle Public Schools
School and community arts partnerships are valued in Seattle for their power to engage students in a wide variety of arts learning with professional artists, inspiring teachers to integrate the arts into their classrooms and creating bridges between cultural communities and schools. The Creative Advantage supports expanding arts partnerships in all Seattle schools so that every student and teacher has opportunities to make, experience, create, and learn with Seattle’s amazing and diverse arts community every year.
Planning an Arts Partnership
Collaborative work between community organizations and schools can take many forms. The Creative Advantage has prioritized multi-session teaching artist residencies that provide integrated and/or cultural arts learning, as well as professional development for school staff that supports integrated arts learning. Schools access the Community Arts Partner Roster for cultural institutions, community arts organizations, and individual teaching artists to provide programs aligned with their arts learning goals.
The following tools can guide teachers and arts partners to design work that improves student learning and contributes to a culture of collaboration in our schools and in our city. These tools were developed to support the phases of such a collaboration.
These tools were developed by a team of SPS teachers, school leaders, teaching artists and arts organization administrators. The team was facilitated by Seattle Art Museum and funded by The Wallace Foundation.
1. Partnership Project Design Tool (Fillable PDF Form)
Schools and partners can use this tool to create a high-level overview of the partnership. Use it to generate ideas and plans for your project, create common goals, and build an understanding of roles and responsibilities of all involved. This form should be completed in collaboration with the partnering classroom teacher, arts partner, and other essentials, such as school arts team representatives.
2. Arts Partnership Budget Tool (Fillable PDF Form)
3. Partnership Lesson Planning Tool (Fillable PDF Form)
Community Arts Partners complete a lesson plan for a school-based residency that includes a timeline of activities, learning objectives, and check-ins to assess student learning.
4. Partnership Reflection Tool (Fillable PDF Form)The classroom teacher and arts partner use this form to reflect on the work they have completed and draw out lessons that can inform their collective and individual work in the future.
Funding an Arts Partnership
To ensure that students at all schools have consistent access to engaging arts learning from Seattle’s teaching artists and community arts and culture organizations, The Creative Advantage has two ways for schools access funds for classroom arts residencies during the school day and professional development for school staff in arts integration.
- The Creative Advantage Funds : Each school receives $15,000 for arts partnerships over the first three years of Creative Advantage arts planning and implementation to help them realize their arts plan vision and goals. In 2019-20, schools in cohorts 3, 4 and 5 are receiving Creative Advantage arts partnership funds.
- The Creative Advantage Arts Sustainability Funds : Once a Creative Advantage school has spent their initial funds, they are eligible for up to $5000 each year to support sustaining and growing the arts beyond the initial three years. These are non-competitive grants for planned partnerships between a school and a community arts partner from The Creative Advantage Roster . In 2019-20, school in cohorts 1 and 2 are eligible for these funds.
Next Step: Once you know who your arts partner is and how you funding your partnership, create a Personal Services Contract .
Arts Sustainability Funds
What is it? The Creative Advantage Arts Sustainability Funds are a new non-competitive funding source to help schools to sustain the student benefits that come from long-lasting arts partnerships beyond their initial 3 years of the Creative Advantage arts planning.
Who is eligible? Schools with a Creative Advantage Arts Plan that have spent their initial arts partnership funds and current Creative Advantage Community Arts Partner Roster members are eligible to apply for up to $5000 to fund a specific arts partnership (in-the-school day arts residency or school staff professional development) that a school and partner have already agreed upon. Update: Schools that are in SPS Equity Tiers 1-3 are eligible to apply for up to $10,000 in the 2020-21 school year. Check this list of Creative Advantage schools to see which schools are eligible.
How do I apply? There is a brief application form. Applications can be submitted at any time and will be considered at the end of each month. A school can apply for funds for multiple partnerships in one year, but the total cannot exceed $5000 or $10,000. Once the application is approved, the school and partner will be notified at the email addresses provided in the application. If you have any questions at all, you may contact Audrey Querns akquerns@seattleschools.org and/or Tina LaPadula tina.lapadula@seattle.gov.
Arts Sustainability Funds Application Form (Microsoft From)