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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Shanta Thake, Chief Artistic Officer of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
2:51:27
ยท
3 min
Shanta Thake, Chief Artistic Officer of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, testified on the importance of equitable access to arts education in NYC public schools. She emphasized the need for increased funding, partnerships with arts educators, and integrating arts into the core curriculum to support students' social-emotional learning and development.
- Lincoln Center has developed various programs to serve students, including middle school arts audition boot camps, young artist pipeline initiatives, and collaborations with NYC Schools Arts Office.
- The organization focuses on creating a culture of belonging through initiatives like Access Ambassadors and Passport to the Arts, as well as highlighting diverse cultural legacies.
- Lincoln Center invests in teacher development through programs like Summer Forum, offering free admission to NYC Public School Educators.
Shanta Thake
2:51:27
Yes.
2:51:27
Hello.
2:51:28
Hi, everyone.
2:51:29
Sorry to not be there in person.
2:51:31
Good morning, members of the committees.
2:51:32
My name is Shanta Thaig, the Aaron Krantz Chief Artistic Officer for Lincoln Center at the Performing Arts.
2:51:38
We appreciate you taking the time to emphasize the importance of equitable access to arts education.
2:51:44
Today's education landscape is different with the pervasiveness of technology, information overload, and the ongoing impacts of the pandemic on student learning.
2:51:53
Yet the need for truly deep arts education experiences for everyone has never been more essential to the social emotional learning of students.
2:52:02
This requires an increase in funding for arts education in all public schools, more partnerships with arts educators, and elevating arts education within the core curriculum.
2:52:12
We are constantly evolving how our programs can better serve students, including leveraging new technologies.
2:52:18
Lincoln Center is considered by many as the birthplace of teaching artistry.
2:52:22
We developed a system a systematic approach to student centered discovery based arts learning, which has since grown nationally and internationally.
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The Lincoln Center campus is home to 11 resident arts organizations serving the entire life cycle from infants participating in WeBOP at Jazz Lincoln Center to older adults enrolled in the Juilliard School's extension program.
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Exposure to the arts improved skills like language acquisition, memory, motor coordination, spatial awareness, and support social emotional learning.
2:52:53
A few examples of our work.
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In collaboration with the NYC School's Arts Office, middle school arts audition boot camp served over 400 students, representing a 73 public schools across five boroughs last summer.
2:53:06
For the inaugural season of the festival orchestra of Lincoln Center, nearly 300 Summer Arts Institute students received free coaching, observed a rehearsal of the orchestra, attended a performance, and selected student chamber ensembles performed at Lincoln Center.
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Building off that success, we launched the free young artist pipeline to serve students as early as sixth grade in developing skills in the arts with nearly a hundred students enrolled from title one schools.
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We also recognize visibility as part of creating a culture of belonging.
2:53:36
Initiatives like Access Ambassadors and Passport to the Arts recognize that access needs must be integrated in the creative process and not an afterthought.
2:53:45
The legacies of San Juan Hill work with Centro and the Schomburg Center underscores the importance of those whose stories are told.
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Last summer, we worked with United Way to host the Black Studies bookmobile and integrate San Juan Hill into New York City's school's Black Studies curriculum, sharing the stories of creative New Yorkers like Thelonious Monk, Josephine Baker, Arturo Schomburg, and many more.
2:54:07
And lastly, we invest in teachers and invite educators to imagine the next fifty years of teaching artistry at Summer Forum this July.
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Participants will leave with new tools, fresh ideas, and an expanded community to propel their creative vision for the arts education forward.
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Current New York City Public School Educators will be granted free admission.
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The resident arts organizations at Lincoln Center share a vision for encouraging an exploration of human creativity
UNKNOWN
2:54:33
Your time has expired.
2:54:34
Thank you.
Shanta Thake
2:54:36
Thank you.
Julianne Buenaventura
2:54:37
Can I
Shanta Thake
2:54:37
have just one more second?
Carlina Rivera
2:54:40
Yes.
2:54:40
Please finish finish your last thought.
Shanta Thake
2:54:42
Yes.
2:54:42
Okay.
2:54:43
Great.
2:54:43
We look to the arts to bridge divide, celebrate differences, and encourage us to question what is and imagine what can be.
2:54:49
Thank you so much.