The Artists in the Schools program is funding arts education residencies in 97 Hawai‘i public and charter schools across the state for the 2021-2022 school year
More than $650,00 will go to schools to bring the arts to Hawaiʻi students.
PDF: Press Release Artists in the Schools 2021-2022
HONOLULU, Hawai‘i—The State Foundation on Culture and the Arts is excited to announce that the 2021-2022 Artists in the Schools arts residency program is supporting arts residencies in 97 Hawai‘i public and charter schools. Each school will engage with Teaching Artists to receive in-class residencies and professional development, bringing visual arts, drama and theater, music, dance, and literary arts directly to Hawaiʻi students.
Founded in 1967, the Artists in the Schools program is one of the largest subsidized arts education residency programs for public and charter schools in Hawaiʻi. Every year, the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts (SFCA) and the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation (HCF) allocate more than $600,000 to increase access to arts opportunities for students throughout the state.
Danica Rosengren, SFCA Arts Education Program specialist, says programs promoting arts in the schools are sorely needed. “Of the 97 schools that are receiving funding, 39 have no arts educators on staff, 9 have no full-time arts educators on staff, and an additional 13 schools only had one full time arts educator on staff teaching one discipline,” she says.
The funding from this year’s Artists in the Schools program will support residencies with qualified teaching artists and nonprofit arts organizations from the Artistic Teaching Partners Roster, providing engaging, creative, and fun learning experiences based on fine arts standards for all grade levels. Each school applies with an Artistic Teaching Partner to develop a residency specific to the needs of the students, teachers, and place.
Many of the Artistic Teaching Partners also integrate their art form with other core curriculum areas, such as language arts, math, social studies, and science, meeting both fine arts and other core standards.
Since 2007, Hawai‘i Community Foundation’s partnership with SFCA has increased access to arts education throughout Hawaiʻi, especially in Title I schools. This aligns with HCF’s CHANGE Framework within the Arts and Culture Sector.
“Due to the pandemic, opportunities for students to engage in arts to explore, learn, and express themselves are even more important,” says Elise von Dohlen, HCF program officer. “We look forward to seeing the great impact this year’s arts residencies will have on Hawaii’s keiki.” In total, HCF has awarded more than $5 million to schools statewide through AITS, supporting arts residencies for thousands of students.
Jonathan Johnson, SFCA executive director, says, in a global economy driven by knowledge and ideas, arts education is a necessity for Hawaiʻi’s students. “Arts education provides skills critical to 21st-century success: critical thinking, creative problem-solving, collaboration, communication, and information literacy,” he says. “The best-paying jobs require workers with creativity, higher-order thinking and communication skills—companies are increasingly looking for these qualities in the individuals they recruit.”
As an example of how an Artists in the Schools residency can work, Kamaile Academy recently worked with teaching artists to create a two-week-long art residency for students in second and third grade. Students attended a connected series of dramatic presentations that told stories of Waiʻanae, where Kamaile Academy is located.
Kanoe Cadina, curriculum specialist at the school, says, “These experiences helped deepen their comprehension when reading and/or listening to texts read aloud. Our mentor texts were Akua Manō o Mauna Lahilahi, Pōkaʻi and Kāneʻīlio, The Magic Whistle, and Puhinalo and the Great Fire. These texts gave voice, body, and life to the stories of our Waiʻanae moku (district).”
All of the lessons in the arts residency were aligned to common core standards and included engaging activities in which students worked in groups to discuss solutions to posed questions or challenges. Cadina says this approach allowed for 100-percent participation from students, compared with more traditional strategies where only those eager to raise their hands participate in coming up with the answers.
Artists in the Schools is a program of the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, Hawaiʻi’s state government agency tasked with supporting Hawaiʻi arts and culture. Funding for Artists in the Schools is made possible through an appropriation by the Hawaiʻi State Legislature, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Robert Emens Black Fund of the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation.
Learn more about Artists and the Schools and watch video lessons on the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts website: SFCA.Hawaii.gov/AITS. The deadline for schools to file an “Intent to Apply” for School Year 2022-2023 is April 18, 2022.
Complete List of Artists in the Schools Residency Recipients for 2021-2022
Hawaiʻi Island
- Connections Public Charter School
- Ernest Bowen DeSilva Elementary
- Haʻaheo Elementary
- Hawaiʻi Academy for Arts and Science Public Charter School
- Hawaiʻi Technology Academy, Kona Public Charter School
- Hilo Union Elementary
- Holualoa Elementary
- Honaunau Elementary
- Hoʻokena Elementary
- Innovations Public Charter School
- Kanu o ka ʻAina New Century Public Charter School
- Kaʻu High and Pahala Elementary
- Keaʻau High
- Kealakehe Elementary
- Konawaena Elementary
- Konawaena High
- Kua O Ka La Public Charter School
- Volcano School of Arts and Sciences Public Charter School
- Waikoloa Elementary and Middle
- Waimea Elementary
West Hawaii Explorations Academy Public Charter School
Kauaʻi
- Hanalei Elementary
- Hawaiʻi Technology Academy, Kauai PCS
- Kalaheo Elementary School
- Kanuikapono Public Charter School
- Kapaʻa High
- Kawaikini PCS
- Kilauea Elementary
Lānaʻi
- Lānaʻi High and Elementary
Maui
- Hana Elementary
- Hawaiʻi Technology Academy, Maui PCS
- ʻIao Intermediate
- Kihei Elementary
- King Kekaulike High
- Kula Elementary
- Lihikai Elementary
- Lokelani Intermediate
- Makawao Elementary
- Maui Waena Intermediate
- Pāʻia Elementary
- Pōmaika‘i Elementary
- Pukalani Elementary
- Puʻu Kukui Elementary
- Waiheʻe Elementary
- Wailuku Elementary
Molokaʻi
- Kaunakakai Elementary
- Kilohana Elementary
- Kualapuʻu PCS
- Maunaloa Elementary
Oʻahu
School District: Central Oʻahu
- Ala Wai Elementary
- Āliamanu Elementary
- Haleʻiwa Elementary
- Mililani Mauka
- Mililani Uka Elementary
- Waialua Elementary
School District: Honolulu
- Hahaʻione Elementary
- Hokulani Elementary
- Kāhala Elementary
- Kaimukī Middle
- Kalihi-Uka Elementary
- Lanakila Elementary
- Linapuni Elementary
- Mayor Joseph J. Fern Elementary
- Niu Valley Middle
- Nuʻuanu Elementary
- Pālolo Elementary
- Prince Jonah Kūhiō Elementary
- Princess Kaʻiulani Elementary
- Princess Likelike Elementary
- Queen Kaʻahumanu Elementary
- Red Hill Elementary
- Salt Lake Elementary
- Voyager Public Charter School
- Waiʻalae Public Charter School
- Waikīkī Elementary
School District: Leeward Oʻahu
- DreamHouse ‘Ewa Beach PCS
- James Campbell High
- Kamaile Academy Public Charter School
- Kapolei High
- Makakilo Elementary
- Mauka Lani Elementary
- Pearl City High
- Waiʻanae Elementary
- Waiau Elementary
- Waikele Elementary
School District: Windward Oʻahu
- Aikahi Elementary
- Blanche Pope Elementary
- Enchanted Lake Elementary
- Heʻeia Elementary
- Kaʻaʻawa Elementary
- Kaʻelepulu Elementary
- Kailua Intermediate
- Kāneʻohe Elementary
- Kaohao Public Charter School
- Ke Kula ‘o Samuel M. Kamakau Laboratory Public Charter School
- Mālama Honua Public Charter School
- Maunawili Elementary