Through its grant-making to thousands of nonprofits each year, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) promotes opportunities for people in communities across America to experience the arts and exercise their creativity.
In the second major grant announcement of fiscal year 2015, the NEA will make a $15,000 award to Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras (CYSO) to support its Music Pathways In-School Residency Program. The NEA will make 1,023 awards totaling $74.3 million nationwide in this funding round.
NEA Chairman Jane Chu said, “The NEA is committed to advancing learning, fueling creativity, and celebrating the arts in cities and towns across the United States. Funding these new projects like the one from CYSO represents an investment in both local communities and our nation’s creative vitality.”
“Our Music Pathways In-School Residency Program is committed to bringing music education back into our schools. To provide great instruction, schools need to be given the tools to succeed,” said CYSO Executive Director Joshua Simonds. “We are thrilled and excited to receive this grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to continue providing music education to the youth of Chicago.”
The grant will support professional development activities through CYSO’s award-winning Music Pathways In-School Residency Program during the 2015-2016 season. CYSO will partner with four Chicago Public Schools and provide year-long professional development activities to General Music and Fine Arts teachers in those schools. CYSO will help teachers develop curriculum specifically for 3rd and 4th grade students that introduces the basics of instrumental performance. The program is held to the standards outlined in The Chicago Guide for Teaching and Learning in the Arts and aligns with the Chicago Public Schools Arts Education Plan.
To join the Twitter conversation about this announcement, please use #NEASpring2015. For more information on projects included in the NEA grant announcement, go to arts.gov.
