Allowing students space to breathe and grow through theatre

By Sherion Cosby, Theatre and Television Production teacher at Westland Middle School Middle school is an awkward stage when you don’t know who you are sometimes. I believe that theatre has a special ability that allows students room to breathe and…

Celebrate Earth Day with songs by students

In honor of Earth Day, we wanted to share some songs written last month by Hollywood Elementary second- and third-graders with teaching artist Sue Trainor during her residency at the school. During the program, students composed original songs about what they had learned…

Passing on a Baltimorean art tradition

By Elaine Eff, folklorist, author of “The Painted Screens of Baltimore: An Urban Folk Art Revealed,” and co-founder of the Painted Screen Society The recent Young Audiences artist-in-residence at the Baltimore Design School was one of those serendipitous and wonderful…

Bomani promotes the arts during morning announcements

Young Audiences artist and Hip Hop poet Bomani took to the airwaves during the morning announcements at William Paca/Old Post Road Elementary in Harford County to build excitement for upcoming SMART Days at the school. SMART Days are a key component of Young Audiences’ ongoing…

Teaching Grit through the Arts

By Katie Keddell, Young Audiences/Arts for Learning Office and Volunteer Manager This story was originally posted as a part of the Americans for the Arts Teaching Artist Blog Salon in March 2014. See all of the salon posts here. On Saturday, February…

Why the arts make the difference

By Stacie Sanders Evans, Young Audiences/Arts for Learning Executive Director I recently took a foundation representative to see what our Maryland Wolf Trap Early Learning Through the Arts program looks like when an artist is in a preschool classroom. Afterward the representative asked me…

Let’s celebrate arts education year-round

Earlier this week, Young Audiences roster theatre ensemble Single Carrot Theatre joined our celebration of National and Maryland YA Week with a dramatic reading of the gubernatorial proclamation. Today, Hip Hop musician and teaching artist Jamaal “Mr. Root” Collier is helping us close…

Part 2: Gubernatorial candidates share thoughts on arts education

Young Audiences is using Maryland YA Week as an occasion to ask those running for governor of Maryland for their views on arts education. We extended the invitation to all candidates to respond to two questions that would be shared on our blog.…

Single Carrot helps us celebrate Maryland YA Week

Young Audiences’ roster of more than 110 professional artists inspires Maryland students each day. Teaching artists bring music, dance, theatre, and visual arts into schools and classrooms throughout the state–sharing their artistic knowledge with students, but also engaging them in learning…

Gubernatorial candidates share thoughts on arts education

Young Audiences is using Maryland YA Week as an occasion to ask those running for governor of Maryland for their views on arts education. As we mentioned earlier this week, we extended the invitation to all candidates to answer two questions that would be…

Happy Maryland YA Week!

“Arts education enables students to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills…which supports academic success nationwide as well as personal growth outside the classroom.” – U.S. House Resolution As designated by a U.S. House of Representatives resolution, this week, March…

Governor issues proclamation for Maryland YA Week

We are excited to announce that Governor Martin O’Malley has issued a proclamation declaring that next week, March 16 to 22, 2014, is Maryland Young Audiences Arts for Learning Week! This follows the U.S. House of Representatives Resolution, put forward by Congresswoman Louise…