MCGUINTY GOVERNMENT INVESTS
IN ARTS EDUCATION
Partnership Matches Money Raised By Arts And Community Organizations
The Kingston Arts Council thanks Steve Rockel,
from the Regional Services Branch office of the
Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration
for
sending us this information.
The
McGuinty government is supporting arts education
across the
province
by
partnering
with more than 100 arts and community organizations
through the Arts Education Partnership Initiative,
Minister of Culture Caroline Di Cocco announced
today.
“The McGuinty government is investing in arts
education to ensure the success of our students,” said
Di Cocco. “Arts education is a necessity and
raises academic achievement in all areas.”
“An arts education makes a big difference
in helping children excel intellectually, physically
and emotionally,” said Minister of Education
Kathleen Wynne. “By studying the arts -- such
as dance, drama, music, and media and visual arts
-- students learn to work more effectively with others
and think more creatively and critically.”
The Arts Education Partnership Initiative matches
money raised by 119 arts and community organizations
from private donors to support new or enhanced arts
education projects. The initiative is administered
by the Ontario Arts Foundation. Successful applicants
were selected by a review team managed by the Ontario
Arts Council. The organizations have until March
31, 2008 to raise funds from the private sector.
“This program recognizes the important role
of arts education in Ontario,” said Dr. Murray
Frum, Chair of the Ontario Arts Foundation. “These
organizations’ programs can help keep students
in school, while building their self confidence,
problem solving skills and creativity.”
“We are very encouraged to receive support
for an arts education project that we believe in
so strongly,” said Margaret Boyd, Executive
Director of Festival of the Sound in Parry Sound. “The
matching funds will go a long way towards turning
a pilot project that brings professional musicians
into Parry Sound area classrooms an ongoing program.”
Premier Dalton McGuinty announced the program in
May 2006. The program has a total of $4 million in
funding support from the Ministry of Education and
the Ministry of Culture.
This is just one more example of how, working together,
Ontarians have achieved results in arts education.
Other initiatives include:
• Learning Through the Arts - A classroom-based
initiative developed and delivered by the Royal Conservatory
of Music. Launched in 1994, this innovative program
provides teachers and community artists with training
and tools to integrate the arts into the learning
process. The province invested $2 million in Learning
Through the Arts in 2005-06, with a further commitment
of $1 million per year over the next four years.
•
The Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) - Between April
2004 and March 2006 the OTF has awarded 138 grants
worth over $10 million to arts education initiatives
throughout Ontario.
• The Ontario Arts Council (OAC) - From April
1, 2004 to March 31, 2006 the OAC has invested more
than $2 million in the Artists in Education and Aboriginal
Artists in Education programs, where professional
artists provide hands-on creative learning workshops
for young people in the classroom. The OAC has also
awarded nearly $2 million in grants to arts education
organizations and projects.
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