A NYC Public School Arts Report Card:

JUST ART believes that visual arts education in public schools improves academic performance. In fact, what might be considered a "report card" on how NYC public schools are doing in arts education is produced annually by the Department of Education (DOE) and seems worthy of attention.

The NYC Department of Education "Annual Report on Arts in Schools for 2020-2021"

noted that partnerships with NYC's cultural institutions are dependent upon grant funding and school budgets. Given the post pandemic uncertainty of NYC's tax revenues, the prospect of reduced funding for visual arts programs makes the need for philanthropic support from JUST ART all the more pressing. In fact, the report for year 2020-2021 points out that the number of partnerships between cultural arts organizations like museums and public schools can vary widely. Given the city's current uncertain finances, it seems likely that there may be far fewer of these valuable partnerships and programs. JUST ART Board members are currently considering the details of prior museum partnerships for future JUST ART programs.

"The Annual Report on Arts in Schools for 2020-2021" describes some successful programs run by partnerships between world class NYC museums and NYC public schools. JUST ART plans to model future programs on successful partnered programs which have resulted in student exhibitions, like the PS ART program run by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which resulted in an exhibition at the MET of 152 works by public school students and the production of a gallery guide for visitors.

NYC's public school students are a population in which people of color form the majority, and among that population 71.9 percent are classified as economically disadvantaged. Exhibitions by students from these groups not only promote self confidence, achievement and hope, but also afford NYC's premier cultural institutions one way to move towards accomplishing the social justice goal of exhibition gender and racial parity.

In reviewing DOE's report on the partnerships between museums, non profits and NYC public schools, JUST ART also sees a template for future philanthropy in the scholarship portfolio competition run by the Dedalus Foundation. Still another template for JUST ART future programing might be the Art History Research Fellowship program administered by the Studio in a School and MoMA.

The Annual Report on Arts Education by the NYC DOE offers valuable insights, facts and food for thought about arts education. What do you think about arts education? JUST ART believes it is invaluable. In New York, a city with so many world class museums, art is valuable treasure and an educational resource to be shared and discovered by all.