The Artists in Education Residency Grant Program is a co-sponsored project of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and Young Audiences Arts for Learning NJ & Eastern PA. The program is carried out in partnership with regional partners, including Appel Farm Arts & Music Campus, Count Basie Center for the Arts, and Morris Arts.

This school year, the Artists in Education Residency Grant Program (AIE) is pleased to announce that it will be sponsoring thirteen long-term residencies throughout the state of New Jersey. This year’s residencies range from Latin dance to Bollywood, buddy benches to drumlines, and many different art forms in between.

AIE grants (in value of $10,000) place professional teaching artists in classrooms for long-term residencies that can be offered in all arts disciplines and at all grade levels. AIE grants are available to any New Jersey School, PreK – 12th grade. The twenty-day residency provides professional development in the visual, performing, and literary arts, in-school workshop days with a professional teaching artist, and a community-based culminating event. AIE residencies focus on direct learning about the arts and the processes of creating art, including the skills, techniques and concepts of the art form.

The 2019 – 2020 schools who received the grant are:

• Bradley Beach Elementary School (Bradley Beach)
• Broad Street School (Bridgeton)
• Farmingdale Public School (Farmingdale)
• Hawkins Street School (Newark)
• Middle Township High School (Cape May Court House)
• Morris-Union Jointure Commission (New Providence)
• Mott ElementarySchool (Trenton)
• PG Chambers School (Cedar Knolls)
• Stony Brook Elementary School (North Plainfield)
• Sussex Avenue School (Newark)
• Washington Avenue School (Pleasantville)
• The Willow School (Gladstone)

US Wiggins College Preparatory Lab Family School (Camden) has been selected as the participant in the Bridge to AIE program. The Bridge to AIE Program was started by Young Audiences in 2015 to help prepare schools to join the AIE program. It provides additional support for schools during the residency and as the school prepares for the following year’s application. During this year’s residency, US Wiggins will work with step dancer and teaching artist Maxine Lyle of Soul Steps to learn the history and technique of stepping.

AIE has had a profound effect on students throughout New Jersey. “I discovered what I stand for, who I am, where I am from…what I really feel like,” says one student from Tuscan Elementary. Tuscan Elementary had received an AIE grant in the 2018 – 2019 school year and was able to work with media artist Barbara Bickart to create a multimedia art instillation with the students.

A student at Broad Street School said this of their 2018 – 2019 mosaic mural residency with Resident Teaching Artist Gail Scuderi: “I love this residency. For a young kid like me, this would be an amazing way to discover some new artists. I felt more creative and passionate about art because art could be so many things in life.” 

As of October 1, the Artists in Education Residency Grant Program (AIE) is pleased to announce that the application for the 2020 – 2021 school year is now available. Schools requiring assistance in the grant writing process can join the AIE team at several technical assistance workshops throughout the state of New Jersey. The first technical assistance workshop will be held on October 22, 2019 at Young Audiences’ offices in Princeton. Details about workshops and how to sign up are available on the AIE website, under Grant Application Assistance.

This year, the AIE Residency Grant Program created an additional resource to help support schools who would like to request a mural or permanent art installation. The Mural Arts Addendum is found on the website and is built to help guide the expectations of schools applying for a mural or permanent art installation. The Mural Arts Addendum provides a guideline to preparing and budgeting for a residency of this type, while explaining additional requirements and responsibilities of schools requesting this type of grant. 

Schools that wish to receive feedback on the application should submit a strong, completed first draft of their application to the AIE Administrator via e-mail (sclarke@yanjep.org), using the subject line: Early Bird Application. Applications received by e-mail by January 17, 2020 will be reviewed by the AIE Administrator. The school will then have the opportunity to update the application prior to the final deadline. The final deadline for the 2020 – 2021 AIE application is February 7, 2020. Schools that are interested in applying can go to AIE’s website www.njaie.org to learn more about the grant program, access the application, and connect with resources to assist with the application process.

To keep up to date on AIE, follow us on Facebook and Twitter (@NJArtistsinEd).

Young Audiences is also excited to co-sponsor a new project with the New Jersey State Council on the Arts: the Arts Professional Learning Institute (APLI). APLI is the state’s arts education professional development program for arts specialists, classroom teachers, teaching artists, and school administrators.

The 2019 – 2020 school year will be the pilot in which selected participants will act as a collaborative cohort, participating in professional learning and advising the APLI team as we develop session content, delivery methods, communication strategies, virtual communities, and more.

The pilot year will feature workshops such as Social Emotional Learning in the Arts (in partnership with FEA and Arts Ed NJ), Creative Curriculum Institute (in partnership with Young Audiences), and Trauma Informed Instruction (in partnership with Arts Ed Newark). Additional workshops and follow up webinars will be scheduled.

To keep up to date on APLI, follow us on Facebook and Twitter (@NJAPLI).