The Arts Council awarded a record number of Long Beach Unified School District classrooms an Arts Education Enrichment Grant for the current 2015–16 school year. The Arts Council was able to triple the number of recipients to 32 classrooms at 24 schools.
The increased funding came from the Ruth and Joseph C. Reed Foundation for the Arts, and on-going funding is made possible by the support of Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe’s office.
The Arts Education Enrichment Grants fund elementary, middle and high school classrooms to engage in classroom art lessons and activities. Some classes choose to take fieldtrips to local cultural institutions and create artworks inspired by what they learned. For example, through a 2014–15 grant, McBride High School students visited the Queen Mary to learn about art deco design and created art deco-themed artworks in their classroom.
The 2015–16 Arts Education Enrichment Grant recipients are Barton Elementary (2 grants), Bixby Elementary, Cabrillo High, Franklin Classical Middle, Fremont Elementary, Garfield Elementary (2), Gompers K-8, Hudson K-8, Hughes Middle (2), International Elementary, Jackie Robinson K-8 Academy, Kettering Elementary (2), Lafayette Elementary (2), Lakewood High, Longfellow Elementary, Marshall Middle Academy of the Arts (2), Millikan High (2), Muir Elementary, Powell Elementary, Prisk Elementary, Renaissance High, Stevenson Elementary, Washington Middle and Wilson High (2).
Arts Council Executive Director Griselda Suárez praised the program stating, “Arts education is integral to the lives of youth in Long Beach. When we fund arts education, we invest in our future creative sector. I am pleased that, through this grant, the Arts Council will serve 3,533 students in all nine council districts.”
Photo Caption: Thanks to a 2014–15 Arts Education Enrichment Grant, McBride High School students visited the Queen Mary to learn about art deco design and created these artworks in their classroom.