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May 9, 2002

Artsbridge Regional Planning Event Held At ULM

The University of Louisiana at Monroe's School of Music, the Northern Louisiana Arts Council, and the Alliance (Louisiana Alliance for Arts Education) will meet to discuss ArtsBridge on Thursday, May 23, at the ULM Conference Center on the seventh floor from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

ArtsBridge is a project of the Louisiana Institute for Education in the Arts, LAIEA, the professional and curriculum development program of the Alliance. This area meeting will be held in preparation for Region Eight (Northeast Louisiana) to begin development of its Regionalization Plan.

This local level event encourages participation from school systems, local business, private citizen, culture and arts, higher education, and government communities to identify and articulate the diverse strengths and ongoing needs of arts education in the areas of Professional Development, Assessment, Fiscal Resources, Community Resources, and Advocacy. The results of the Region Eight ArtsBridge Planning Event will form the blueprint of support for sustained, quality, and research-based arts education best practices.

The Superintendent's Task Force for Arts Education, formed in 1999, is a joint venture of the Louisiana Department of Education, Louisiana Division of the Arts, the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Governor's Office, and the Louisiana Alliance for Arts Education (Alliance).

The highly focused efforts of the Task Force have resulted in a long-range plan to comprehensively address the education of Louisiana's youth in and through the arts. The Alliance serves as the lead coordinating and 'administrative agency" for the Task Force.

A January 9, 2002 Task Force Leadership meeting launched Phase III of the Task Forces' Regionalization Plan. A February 27, 2002 daylong event titled the ArtsBridge Regional Planning Forum was the "kick-off" event. Structured to begin the foundational work of identifying and focusing strategies and activities to implement the state plan within Louisiana's eight regions, the February event assembled over 40 representatives from seven of the eight regions.

The ArtsBridge Regional Planning events are made possible through funds from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Louisiana State Arts Council through the Louisiana Division of the Arts and the National Endowment of the Arts, the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education from the Louisiana Quality Support Fund-8(g), the Louisiana Department of Education, and Zeagler Music.

The general public is encouraged to participate in this formative process. To find out how you can contribute and/or obtain additional information, contact Dr. Andy Goodman at the ULM School of Music (342-1577) or Mr. Tommy Ushery at the Northern Louisiana Arts Council (396-9520).

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