Farzin Dehgan Manshadi immigrated to Nashville in 2011. This is his story — from his arrival at age 15 to earning advanced music degrees at two prestigious institutions. It is also a story of the adults who supported him along the way. And his growing belief that artists must step up and embrace responsibility for the health of their communities .

In the world of the arts in education, we feel the greater societal upheaval. We are uncertain about our work, the arts education field, and the education sector itself. Advocacy—and a relentless focus on positive outcomes for youth-- will help us feel less alone, less lost as we navigate the storm.

ArtsEd Tennessee has a free online course, Building a Strong Voice for Arts Education in Tennessee. The course is designed to advance knowledge and understanding of arts education advocacy and provide immediate action steps for engagement.

A key component of any social change effort is in the engagement and participation of stakeholders.

In the Introduction to Case-making and Systems Change, I shared an emerging model for how practitioners – such as artists, educators, community leaders, and more – can make the case for and also advocate through arts and culture to drive systemic change and address the complex challenges we were facing.

I am excited to join with colleagues at Creative Generation to launch a new series on case-making and systems change in arts and cultural education.

There comes a time for honest reflection in the life of every arts educator and arts education program.

Who’s ready for 2021? I’m so ready that I’m starting early on my New Year’s Resolutions. I resolve to stop doom-scrolling, be kind, turn outrage into action, laugh more, and go easy on the _______. (Fill in the blank.)

In an earlier post, I describe sustainability in arts education as the result of interactions among like-minded stakeholders within a complex landscape. This post investigates the keystone of sustainability in arts education.