Since 1994, Partners in the Arts (PIA) has reached thousands of educators and students in the Richmond area. Our goal to enhance education through integrated instruction has come to life through school-based projects, experiential training with experts from various fields, and deep partnerships with teaching artists and cultural institutions.
To date, PIA has made the following impact in local schools, school divisions, and communities:
Learn more about our impact through the stories on our blog, with our most recent posts summarized below.
Students at Powhatan High School combined Art and English to create multimedia biographical portraits of members of their community. In the 2022-2023 school year, seniors in two classes at Powhatan High School worked together to interview special guests such as coaches, specialists, and the superintendent. […] 
What does professional development at the Joan Oates Institute offer teachers and students? The impacts on teachers and classroom outcomes are deep and far reaching. “I think that education should be experiences… this is going to be a vehicle for so much student buy-in.” – […] 
What happens at the Joan Oates Institute? Networking. Collaborating. Learning creative processes. Practicing art. Stretching and growing: “By coming to the Institute and doing the different activities, and working with the actual artists at the Institute, I can see myself as an artist as well. […] 
Hear from our past educator participants on how our training was unlike any other: “This was hands-on, real people, real experiences, real applications for the types of communication or the types of problem-solving or the types of thinking that we’re trying to foster and facilitate, […] 
Students and teachers at Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts spent a school year exploring the Reedy Creek Watershed while actively learning vital components of the curriculum and nurturing creative and communication skills through various art forms. In 2013-2014, Partners in the Arts supported […] 
Utilizing active music making in our classrooms is one of the most powerful tools we have to build connections, foster joyful play, celebrate diversity, and support the brain development of our young students. Current early childhood brain research and neuro-musical research show us exactly what […] 
There are many misconceptions that keep teachers from embracing this research-backed, experiential, engaging instructional method. Since 1994, Partners in the Arts has trained and supported public school educators in integrating the arts into their classrooms. Explore some of the myths surrounding arts integration, as well […] 
How do you get kids to care? How do you get students to see themselves in the world? In 2021, Partners in the Arts connected a community organization, a spoken word artist, and a science educator in a collaborative unit. Students harnessed the power of […] 
What happens when artists from different backgrounds come together to discuss societal issues and create joint public artworks addressing them? Mending Walls RVA is an ongoing public art project in Richmond, Virginia started by Hamilton Glass. It connects artists from different cultures to speak openly […] 
Ashby McNeil is an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher at Falling Creek Middle School. In the 2018-2019 school year, McNeil implemented a project to help her English learner students express themselves in the classroom by sharing their personal journeys. Together with fellow ESL […] 
In 2015, teachers in Midlothian, VA worked to develop an innovative and interdisciplinary Humanities program at Clover Hill High School. The initiative, led by Barbara Bingham and Rebekah Amato, aimed to help student academic performance and absenteeism by merging language arts with social studies classes. […] 
Dear Diary, The kids have lost it! They are bouncing off of the walls, literally. If they try to body slam each other one more time off of the sofa, I am going to lose it. Send help… Wrestlers as Storytellers Need a solution to […] 
Partners in the Arts (PIA), a program of the University of Richmond School of Professional and Continuing Studies, is pleased to announce that six schools in the Greater Richmond area have received Engaging Creative Thinkers (ECT) awards from PIA to carry out innovative arts integration projects in the 2019-20 school year.
University of Richmond’s Partners in the Arts offered two courses August 12-16 for local educators, both part of the Arts Integrated Learning Certificate (AILC) project in partnership with Richmond Public Schools and supported by a US Department of Education grant.
Partners in the Arts (PIA), a program of the University of Richmond School of Professional and Continuing Studies, is pleased to announce that four schools in the Greater Richmond area have received Engaging Creative Thinkers (ECT) awards from PIA to carry out innovative arts integration projects in the 2018-19 school year.
Partners in the Arts (PIA), a program of the University of Richmond School of Professional and Continuing Studies, is pleased to announce that five schools in the Greater Richmond area have received Engaging Creative Thinkers (ECT) awards from PIA to carry out innovative arts integration projects in the 2017-18 school year.
Partners in the Arts (PIA), a program of the University of Richmond School of Professional and Continuing Studies, is pleased to announce that six schools in the Greater Richmond area have received Engaging Creative Thinkers (ECT) awards from PIA to carry out innovative arts integration projects in the 2016-17 school year.
Partners in the Arts (PIA), a program of the University of Richmond School of Professional and Continuing Studies, is pleased to announce that four schools in the Greater Richmond area have received Engaging Creative Thinkers awards from PIA to carry out innovative arts integration projects in the 2015-16 school year.