What We've Learned

Our community and school have changed considerably over the past five years. When we started, our school population had more low-income and Latino students. Many of these students have moved to other parts of the region because of the cost of living. We had to pivot to make our programs more accessible to students who started with us and then moved out of the area. Therefore, we shifted our entire sustainability plan to include all students in the district. This is a direct result of and response to evolving community contexts and needs.

Arts organization administrator

Cigar-box guitars in Hood River (Arts in Education of the Gorge).

Because Studio to School was place-based, each project was different by design. Project teams devised and implemented programming in ways that worked for their students, school, arts organization and community. Different contexts and forms of artistic expression presented disparate possibilities, hurdles and needs, necessitating 18 unique approaches. The Hood River project couldn’t have happened the same way in Ashland, and the Portland-based Open Signal/Open School project wouldn’t have looked the same in Coos Bay. Teams remained responsive to local needs, evolving alongside students, schools and communities.

In a small town, the team has a lot of overlaps in roles (parent/teacher/board member/nonprofit leader/donor), so it is not difficult to find one another or understand where the other is coming from. The coziness of our small town might be to our benefit.

Project team member

We incorporate place-based learning and education. One project this past year focused on telling the story of home: “What does home mean to you?” We included projects with and about local elders and local environmental resources. Students worked on projects related to their family histories; parents are becoming more involved and interacting more.

Project Report

Our advice to other arts education programs who want to build program quality, equity and sustainability has been the same from the beginning: Strong partnerships and relationships are what move us forward as we continue to evolve.

Arts organization administrator

Project teams work together at a learning community rendezvous.

The adaptability, feasibility and sustainability of arts education programs in schools were driven by strong relationships and a commitment to collaboration. Organizational relationships are ultimately relationships between people—diverse, complex and ever-changing. Arts organizations found that forming strong relationships with teachers and administrators opened new prospects and broke down bureaucratic barriers. Relationships between arts educators and students took student learning to new heights while also inspiring arts educators to reimagine their own artistic practices. Relationships among project team members brought clarity, professional and personal sustenance, and a shared sense of community and purpose.

We’ve made it a priority in our teaching artists to bring on bilingual artists and artists from a variety of cultures and races, so they can be present in the classrooms, especially because we know that the demographics of our teachers aren’t necessarily reflective of the students they are teaching.

Arts organization administrator

Family cultural night in Hood River (Arts in Education of the Gorge).

Arts programming can introduce many ways of knowing, learning and being. In many projects, culturally specific and culturally responsive programming attracted new partners and possibilities, brought diverse perspectives into schools, and advanced inclusivity while centering, celebrating and honoring various cultures and languages through the arts.

It was especially important for students of color to see themselves reflected and celebrated as artists, and to interact with professionals, teachers and creatives who looked like them. Bringing diverse artists and experiences also expanded learning in homogeneous, rural and predominantly white communities. Across programs, teams found success by connecting with students around real-world issues, amplifying and honoring student voices and cultures while remaining open and responsive.

For kids of color—and Black kids specifically—a lot of the role models that they see in the media are really in a tiny pigeonhole of the experience of Black people and our capacities: what we are able to go into and think and imagine. Students see me do what I do, and talk the way that I talk, and this automatically gives them permission. It’s showing them something else, and that’s very important.

Teaching artist

I know every year the kids are going to have more and more previous art education, vocabulary and experience, which means that I don’t have to teach the basics over and over again. We can go deeper faster.

High school art teacher

Gilbert Heights students perform in Portland (Oregon Symphony Association).

Scaffolding or sequencing arts education opportunities across multiple terms or years—or connecting them across disciplines—embeds the arts within students’ educational experiences, promotes long-term learning, and sets higher expectations for the role of the arts in education. Some project teams connected new and existing arts education offerings, linking opportunities across multiple grades or entire districts to forge an arts pathway for K-12 students.

It’s super important that these activities begin in middle school, and that students are supported and valued, so that when they leave here, they move on to the next level. We did some outreach to the elementary school last year because they didn’t have a music teacher. We worked with their enrichment teacher ensure that there were some significant musical activities happening to underpin what we do here at the middle school. We’re getting students started in music before they come to middle school, so they can be successful here.

Retired teacher and volunteer

These efforts sometimes took project teams far beyond their initial goals. In general, teams wanted to ensure that all students were equipped with basic arts knowledge, skills and abilities. For example, they recognized that students who entered sixth grade band with a basic grasp of music theory and instruments could learn more and go further faster. In response, some project teams created programming for younger grades. Others found that students’ expanding interests and increasing skill demanded more advanced programming, and they accordingly expanded opportunities for advanced students and older grades.

There are a lot of benefits in having a music teacher in a small district who is hired full time—someone who gets to see all students every day for their entire careers in elementary school, from the day they start kindergarten to the day they either choose to continue music in seventh grade or to go a different route. Consistency, continuous engagement, and growth are vital to sustainability for a music program in a rural district.

Project Year 5 Report

Because of the new elementary music program, middle and high school music teachers stressed the increased skill level students are bringing to their instrumental and vocal classes. As the choir teacher explained, “The knowledge of our students has changed when they come into the choir program… I’ve been teaching for 18 years, and I have never had seventh and eighth grade classes this advanced when it comes to their music theory and sight-reading knowledge."

Project Team

The unknown barrier was that students felt like they had to be invited. When we figured that out, it was huge.

Project Team Member

Open School students learn the art of film in Portland (Open Signal).

Some projects learned the hard way that without attention to equity, arts programming can replicate existing inequitable structures, widening gaps in opportunity and leaving out the very students who may benefit most. When arts education is available in a school but access is inequitable, students with the most access to arts opportunities outside of school are also the most able and likely to opt into programming.

In order to ensure equitable access, project teams needed to think about barriers such as scheduling conflicts. For instance, after-school lessons, tutoring or practice sessions often conflicted with sports or other extracurriculars. At some schools, arts electives were offered at the same time as honors classes, or when students with special needs were receiving tutoring or speech therapy. At others, students struggling to pass general education classes or to secure enough credits to graduate could not participate in arts electives, while their more academically successful peers could. These scheduling conflicts meant that only certain groups of students had access to the arts until barriers were addressed.

In order to actively participate in arts education, students also needed to see their own potential as artists and musicians, and to feel that these opportunities were open to them. It took some projects several years to understand what equitable opportunity entailed in their schools and communities. Particularly in years four and five, many teams explored this concept deeply by conversing with students, teachers, administrators and families, and then adapting their programs to better reach and serve students. This helped ensure that arts learning was not only available to all students, but also inclusive and relevant.

We learned to be patient, build relationships, trust that the benefits of the program would become visible, and persevere through the uncertainty of navigating a system that’s based on predetermined outcomes while we were exploring a system that’s not based on predetermined outcomes.

Teaching Artist

Project teams plan together at a learning community rendezvous.

Because this was a five-year initiative, programs had room to grow, try things out and make changes. Early on, there were often surprises about which students did or didn’t participate in programs. Some initial efforts fell flat, while others took more time and energy than anticipated. Teams needed to build relationships with students and teachers as well as administrators and families. In some cases, big dreams for years 2 or 3 didn’t come to fruition until years 4 or 5.

In the first year, instead of starting with the community piece, we started with the kids and concentrated on the small piece first. Instead of saying to families, “Here's a great opportunity—you all need to come,” we started with what we can do inside the school. That caught the parents and grew the audience. I think that's a key way to effect change: The best thing you can do is to start small and within, and work your way out.

Retired school administrator and volunteer

Many project teams found that they needed to lay additional groundwork for programming to be successful. For example, one program offered free one-on-one tutoring for student musicians. The music teacher was surprised when families didn’t take advantage of this opportunity. Once she took the time to reach out to families individually and describe the benefits of working with a professional musician, however, every tutoring slot was quickly filled.

The slow and steady growth model we have adopted has allowed us to test programming to see if it will work, make adjustments and move forward.

Project Team Member

I felt a shift at our last team meeting. There was excitement in the room. The collaboration I saw between the two principals—that genuine digging in together—felt really strong to me. And it’s partly the result of having had enough time with this project.

Arts Organization Administrator

The school community experienced several significant transitions over the grant period. For one, changes in school leadership with distinct perspectives on how art is integrated into the school environment shifted the way the team could implement their work. This required time for both learning and adjustments.

Project Year 5 Report

Open Signal and Open School team talk at a learning community rendezvous.

Over the five years of Studio to School, almost every project saw turnover of teachers, teaching artists and/or school administrators. Several projects experienced massive restructuring within partner schools, including grade-level changes and multiple building moves. Administrative turnover made sustaining a culture of arts education difficult as vocal champions left, new relationships were established, and pedagogies and priorities continually evolved. Many teams–especially those in rural areas—had trouble finding and retaining qualified teachers and arts instructors.

Nothing lasts unless you have a history. It’s great to have equipment, but with teacher turnover, it’s always someone new, every year. I’m not sure how we will do this. I can see it lasting a couple years but can’t see it being sustained if key folks leave.

Project team member

At the same time, there were changes and upheavals at many arts organizations, including shifts in organizational priorities or structures. New staff brought different relationships, ways of working and priorities. Sometimes, these changes brought fresh perspectives, creative ideas and renewed enthusiasm. But it also happened that new staff who inherited the work didn’t have the same connection to the Initiative. This sometimes interfered with project momentum and made sustaining programming even more difficult.

The shared plans we developed have deep ties and commitment to the district, and this is both one of our greatest strengths and a challenge. School district budgets are inconsistent year to year, and this is coupled with changing administration and staff. We set a road map with the district for creating sustainable programs. We still need to be flexible and accommodating to the changing needs of the schools while advocating for our programs.

Project Year 5 Report

Teaching in a high-poverty area is extremely rewarding and can be very exhausting. There are so many needs, tangible and intangible.

Project team member

Sunset School students work on sculptures at Coos Art Museum.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic and associated economic upheaval, communities across the state were experiencing profound economic challenges and generational poverty. In many rural and urban communities, homelessness, housing instability and hunger are pervasive, and poverty defines the priorities of educators, administrators and schools. When a school’s primary concern is to ensure that students are fed, safe and warm, that leaves little room for other priorities like the arts.

The food we bring for students in long rehearsals is essential, as hunger is a common and dominant issue for our students. In the past, money has not been available for such things, but we have found in serving poor communities it is the only way our students will eat over the course of a long day.

Teaching artist

Although some arts programs have found ways to address these issues, many schools are stretched thin trying to meet students’ basic needs, and arts programming is understandably pushed to the side.

The local community provides their love of culture and diversity of talent as well as a hunger for quality education and does amazing things to support schools even under intense financial difficulty.

School administrator

Our performances are both an education tool and a participatory mechanism for imparting the values of discipline, dedication and delayed gratification in a community where hopelessness, endemic drug and alcohol use, and a quitting/fading mentality dominate.

Teaching artist

One reason our program has been successful is that before it began, we pulled together the superintendents of the four largest school districts in the region and asked them, “How do you see the arts benefiting your students? What is a natural connecting point?” They all said “reading scores.” We are always asking schools, “What are the needs of your students?” and really taking that in. The tendency, traditionally, was to go into a school and say, “Have we got a program for you!” rather than asking what the problem is.

Arts Organization Administrator

Enterprise third grade students work on digital stories (Fishtrap Story Lab).

Projects were bolstered when teams connected arts education to the priorities of teachers, schools and districts. Depending on the school, this might entail connecting the arts to the specific educational philosophies of school leaders and administrators; building students’ social and emotional skills and mental wellness; supporting trauma-informed approaches; promoting diversity, equity and inclusion; expanding possibilities for service learning; helping schools connect to Latino/x families; or preparing students for high school, college and career.

We’ve learned that you cannot go into a school and say, “This is what you need or should do.” It’s more of a conversation: “Here’s what we do—how can that help you?” I think it also takes humility, especially on the arts side, to know when you’re not the priority for a school and when to step back a little bit.

Arts Organization Administrator 

The whole project is sustainable as long as the administrators are on board, because they’re the ones that really root for us.

Teaching artist

Hood River principal Brent Emmons, project lead Shelley Toon Lindberg and teacher Rebecca Nederhiser with a student and her mask (Arts in Education of the Gorge).

School and district administrators set the tone in school. Those who proactively supported the Studio to School projects elevated and legitimized arts education, helping to integrate the arts into school culture. On the flip side, a lack of visible support from school leaders (even when they were not opposed to arts education) hindered progress in some communities and made it much more difficult for arts education to become a visible, valued part of school culture.

The first and second year, we were worried about what we were going to do when we didn’t have grant money for the music teacher. Our principal had the foresight to see if we could change the sixth grade model to incorporate the music teacher. It’s changed the way the curriculum works, but the principal changed it so it would be sustainable, and so it will work.

Arts Organization Administrator

It's easy for arts programs to be this sideline thing, but our principal has been great about putting artwork in other classrooms, prioritizing it, making it a vital part of the culture of the school—not just an elective.

Project team member

The principal is prioritizing the arts, considering arts education in hiring decisions, and making time for these activities. All of this has helped change staff attitudes.

Project team member

The most challenging thing for me is to be bold—to try something new and not get bogged down with logistics. New can be exciting, but making sure it is sustainable and contractual is necessary to make new things truly happen.

Middle School Principal

Project team members show off a collaborative art project at a learning community rendezvous.

In schools without arts programming, this isn’t necessarily due to lack of interest. Arts organizations may simply need to help teachers and administrators work through logistical, capacity or other issues. This is a matter of building relationships, aligning interests, and bringing more capacity and resources to overburdened schools.

It’s critical that arts programming not strain school faculty, who have a lot on their plates already. It can be a huge help to have an arts organization come in to help where teachers are not able. Ask how we can work together. With this model, both partners can really capitalize on their strengths and complement one another.

Project Report

To have an arts organization come in and provide those ideas, to lead the planning and the class—that’s huge. If we didn’t have that, we wouldn’t be as far along as we are. To see teachers working with the artists jump in, then co-teach, and then start leading on their own, and their excitement about it—it’s huge.

Project team member

The teachers were slow to jump on board, but once there was trust, there was no ceiling in terms of the work. They just needed a little nudge.

Project team member

For our deeper, long-term projects with schools, we work to ensure buy-in from the principal and teachers; participation is only for teachers who choose to participate. This sets the program up for success, and over time, more teachers want to participate.

Arts Organization Administrator

You cannot underestimate the value of celebration. If you’re gonna do projects with a population that’s been disenfranchised, the celebration is such a key component to the overall success of the project.

Classroom teacher

Fishtrap Story Lab Showcase at Joseph Charter School.

In cases where the arts were already part of community identity, teams were able to tap into existing values and resources to rally support for the arts. This helped teams get buy-in and find volunteers, partners and champions to amplify their program.

Community and music appreciation have been built from inside the school, and this has moved outwards. The music program helped build community pride, and the community is stepping up to support the program. Support takes a variety of forms, from cash donations from students’ families to in-kind support from instrument suppliers.

Project report

In communities that did not have this visible, shared history with the arts, project teams were able to cultivate a sense of community pride, joy and celebration that strengthened arts programming and quickly made their programs valued traditions.

In a small town, word gets around. The constant affirmation [about] what this program means to participating students is huge for the morale of teaching staff.

Project team member

A walking tour to local art galleries gave middle school art students opportunities to engage with local artists and established connections that resulted in artists volunteering their time to teach ceramics and glass lessons.

Project Year 4 Report