Thirteen elementary school classrooms will have access to quality arts education programming thanks to two programs provided by the Arts Council for Long Beach: Eye on Design and Passport to the Arts. This year, the programs will serve every council district in addition to the cities of Lakewood and Signal Hill! These educational programs inspire students using dance, music, theatre and visual arts and focus on global arts practiced locally.

Passport to the Arts is a six-week experience for Long Beach third and fourth graders that teaches interdisciplinary arts education and cultural enrichment through dance, visual art, music and theatre. The 2015–16 elementary schools are Alice Birney, Bixby, Bobbie Smith, Harte, Holmes, Lee, Mann, McKinley, Roosevelt, Signal Hill and Willard.

Eye on Design is a 15-week public art education program for third graders that encourages civic involvement, critical thinking and creative problem-solving through a customized residency program, culminating in the creation of a school mural. Students apply their learning to solve real life problems and utilize art theory, reading, writing, speaking and math skills through the work they do. The 2015–16 schools are Burbank and Emerson elementary schools.

Funding for these programs is provided by the generous contributions of the California Arts Council, Employees Community Fund of Boeing, Green Foundation, Los Angeles County Arts Commission, Miller Foundation, Supervisor Knabe’s office, California State University Long Beach’s University Art Museum and the Weingart Foundation.

For more information about our arts education programs, please visit www.artslb.org/services/education.