Partners in the Arts update

30th Anniversary

Partners in the Arts (PIA) was founded in 1994 to support making the arts integral to teaching and learning ALL subjects, aligned to how we learn. PIA is a membership consortium of the six area public school divisions, independent schools, and the arts and cultural community. PIA has provided training for over 2,200 educators, project implementation support for 224 in-school projects, and engaged over 500 community artists/experts, with all this work directly impacting over 115,000 students.

Joan Oates Institute Summer Course

The Joan Oates Institute Foundations of Arts Integration (JOI) course will be held in person across five days, June 10-14, from 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. daily, on the University of Richmond campus. This experiential course will help participants integrate community and culture into their PK-12 instructional practice through the arts and technology. Educators from all levels and content areas, teaching artists, and community experts from a variety of fields are invited to enroll for academic credit or for continuing education units. For more information, contact pia@richmond.edu. Registration is now open.

Institute for Integrated Learning Model

Partners in the Arts is excited to continue building on the pilot phase of the comprehensive Institute for Integrated Learning model, in which educators plan their curriculum alongside artists at the Joan Oates Summer Institute. This model of learning, planning, and implementing academic units with community experts is partially funded by an REB Foundation Award. Each PIA Consortium school division can select a team (2-5 educators) to attend JOI 2024 and implement their work during the 2024-25 school year at no cost.