ArtsNOW Awarded GCA Vibrant Communities Grant to Launch Visual Arts Residency

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ArtsNOW Awarded GCA Vibrant Communities Grant to Launch Visual Arts Residency

Two logos: Left, a dotted swirl with "artsNOW" in orange and pink, highlighting ArtsNOW's recent grant renewal; right, "Georgia Council for the Arts" in orange, green, and pink with a leaf above the "G" in "Georgia.

ArtsNOW and Holsenbeck Elementary School have been awarded a Georgia Council for the Arts (GCA) Vibrant Communities Grant, receiving $5,000 in support of a new visual arts residency. ArtsNOW is providing $2,500 in matching funds, strengthening this innovative partnership aimed at fostering creativity and literacy.

Out of 62 applications submitted statewide, this project was selected as a meaningful investment of GCA Vibrant Communities grant funds. The grant will support a six-day Visual Arts Residency at Holsenbeck Elementary in which students will explore the children’s book Maybe Something Beautiful through the lens of visual arts.

ArtsNOW Consultant Shannon Green will guide students in drawing connections between the text, real-world muralists, and the creative process. Students will design and produce individual art pieces that will be combined into a large, mixed-media installation in a school hallway, providing a lasting visual celebration of creativity and collaboration.

The residency will also focus on developing skills beyond the arts, including teamwork, critical thinking, and literacy comprehension. By analyzing the text, discussing the story’s themes, and reflecting on the role of art in the community, students will strengthen both academic and social-emotional learning.

“Arts integration is about making learning come alive,” said ArtsNOW President & CEO Pamela Walker. “Through this residency, students will connect literacy and visual arts in a tangible, collaborative way that leaves a lasting mark on their school community. We are looking forward to creating something beautiful together.”

With the support of the Georgia Council for the Arts, ArtsNOW continues to provide innovative learning experiences that expand students’ academic growth. By combining literacy and visual arts, the project embodies ArtsNOW’s mission to empower students and teachers to explore, imagine, and collaborate in ways that extend far beyond the classroom.

About ArtsNOW

ArtsNOW is a nonprofit organization dedicated to transforming education through arts integration and innovative learning experiences. By empowering educators with the tools and strategies to integrate the arts across the curriculum, ArtsNOW inspires creative and critical thinkers equipped for success in school and beyond.

ArtsNOW Receives Grant Renewal from the Carlos Foundation

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ArtsNOW Receives Grant Renewal from the Carlos Foundation

Two logos side by side: on the left, the ArtsNOW logo with colorful dots forming a swirl—reflecting creativity in classrooms—and “artsNOW” in orange and pink; on the right, the Thalia & Michael C. Carlos Foundation logo in blue script and block letters.

ArtsNOW has received a $15,000 grant from the Thalia and Michael C. Carlos Foundation to support their mission to transform teaching and learning through arts integration. This marks a renewed commitment from The Carlos Foundation, demonstrating a shared commitment to advancing teaching and learning through arts integration.

The funding will support the final year of our three year strategic plan. The grant provides backing for our mission, helping to strengthen ArtsNOW’s organizational infrastructure and ensure sustainable growth and continued innovation in arts integration. With this support, more educators will have access to professional learning opportunities and online resources that integrate arts into core academic standards.

“We’re honored by the Carlos Foundation’s support,” said ArtsNOW President & CEO Pamela Walker. “Students will benefit from creative experiences that promote literacy, critical thinking, and classroom engagement.”

The Thalia and Michael C. Carlos Foundation, a private foundation based in Atlanta, Georgia, was established in 1980 to support initiatives in arts and education. This funding will help ArtsNOW continue expanding access to arts-integrated learning experiences that support both students and educators in developing creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking skills.

About ArtsNOW

ArtsNOW is a nonprofit organization dedicated to transforming education through arts integration and innovative learning experiences. By empowering educators with the tools and strategies to integrate the arts across the curriculum, ArtsNOW inspires creative and critical thinkers equipped for success in school and beyond.

Arts Integration in Schools: What a Partnership with ArtsNOW Looks Like

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Arts Integration in Schools: What a Partnership with ArtsNOW Looks Like

A collage highlighting Arts Integration in schools: top left, women with sticky notes on their foreheads smiling at a table; top right, two women writing together; bottom right, two women drawing colorful designs. ArtsNOW logo and text appear.

At ArtsNOW, strong partnerships with schools are the engine behind arts-integrated learning. These relationships help us build lasting capacity for educators while creating engaging learning experiences for students that blend the arts with core academic content.

Since 2006, ArtsNOW has worked with more than 600 schools to translate standards into joyous learning experiences that authentically combine the arts with academic subjects.

In practice, a partnership with ArtsNOW looks like engaged students, confident teachers, and measurable growth in learning. The path to that outcome is never one-size-fits-all.

Each partnership begins with strategic planning and is customized to align with the specific goals and needs of the school or district, ensuring that arts integration becomes both sustainable and transformative. Most partnerships extend over three to five years, allowing schools the time and support needed to fully implement and sustain meaningful change.

Here is how we approach that work, and what schools can expect when they invite ArtsNOW in.

Step 1: Collaborative Needs Assessment for Arts-Integrated Learning

Every engagement begins with an intentional needs assessment. This is a collaborative process with school leaders and teachers that looks at current curriculum, student work, assessment data, schedules, staff capacity, and school goals.

Typical activities during this phase include document review, classroom visits, interviews with teachers and administrators, and the collection of baseline measures.

The purpose of the assessment is to identify the learning gaps that matter most and to establish a small set of measurable goals that we can pursue together.

Step 2: Customized Strategic Planning for Your School

After the assessment, we move into planning with school leadership and teacher teams. We’ll create an actionable plan that addresses immediate needs and sets a realistic multi-year path for sustained change. That plan covers three practical elements.

  • Capacity building: schedules for professional learning sessions, digital coaching, and development of teacher leaders
  • Instructional design and delivery: sample lesson templates and modeled lessons for demonstration
  • Sustainability: staffing and budget considerations, integration with the school improvement plan, and strategies for maintaining momentum

Each plan includes clear deliverables and checkpoints so both the school and ArtsNOW know exactly what success will look like.

Step 3: High-Impact Arts Integration Experiences for Teachers and Students

We deliver a mix of seminars, professional learning, and personalized digital coaching sessions led by expert ArtsNOW Consultants. Sessions are practical and standards-driven. Teachers leave with ready-to-use strategies for integrated lesson design, assessment practices that capture student thinking, and classroom routines that support creative inquiry.

We provide:

  • Quarterly professional learning sessions each focused on different art forms that include demonstration lessons and planning sessions with classroom teachers
  • One-on-one digital coaching cycles focused on implementation, observation, and feedback
  • Professional learning through our annual Foundational Seminar, a multi-day event that supports teacher and leader learning across every stage of the arts integration journey

Preparing Your School for an ArtsNOW Partnership

Every school is unique, and our approach reflects that. ArtsNOW works alongside your team to design a fully customized plan that builds lasting capacity for arts integration in your school.

Thinking about working with ArtsNOW? Here are a few simple ways schools can prepare so the experience is as meaningful as possible:

  • Start by determining the goals that matter most for your school.
  • Pull together recent assessment data or samples of student work to help guide the conversation
  • Identify teachers and a school liaison who can help champion the process
  • Set aside time for collaboration and classroom coaching so new strategies can take root
  • Begin thinking early about how to sustain the work, including staff roles and budget

A partnership with ArtsNOW is practical, evidence-focused, and designed to change teaching and learning from the inside out. We bring expert arts consultants and a fully customized implementation framework that matches the realities of your school life.

If you are ready to explore how arts-integrated learning can address your school’s specific needs, reach out to our team to schedule an initial conversation.

ArtsNOW and Crayola Continue Partnership to Celebrate Creativity in Classrooms

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ArtsNOW and Crayola Continue Partnership to Celebrate Creativity in Classrooms

Crayola Creativity Week A collage of children and teachers engaging in various creative activities, including drawing, coloring, and crafting, surrounding a central text that reads "Crayola Creativity Week." The bottom left features the artsNOW logo. Colorful dots are scattered around the images.

ArtsNOW is proud to continue its partnership with Crayola to support Crayola Creativity Week, taking place January 26–February 1, 2026. This year’s theme, “Color Inspires Creativity,” highlights the power of color to spark imagination, inspire ideas, and connect creativity to learning.

Crayola Creativity Week is a global initiative that celebrates creativity in schools with daily activities designed to ignite students’ imagination. In 2025, over 13.2 million students participated at almost 100,000 learning sites across 122 countries. By partnering with Crayola, ArtsNOW continues to expand its commitment to bringing innovative, arts-integrated education to classrooms nationwide.

“At ArtsNOW, we believe creativity is essential for student success, and Crayola shares our vision of using the arts as a powerful tool for learning,” said Pamela Walker, President and CEO of ArtsNOW. “This collaboration gives teachers meaningful ways to engage students by connecting creativity with academic subjects through arts integration.”

For Crayola Creativity Week 2026, ArtsNOW has developed arts-integrated lesson plans that feature Crayola products. These lessons support teachers in blending creativity with math, science, literacy, and social studies, giving students opportunities to think critically, solve problems, and collaborate while making learning dynamic and engaging.

Teachers and families are encouraged to sign up early to access Crayola Creativity Week celebrity appearances, hands-on activity videos, downloadable creative resources, daily giveaways, and more.

About ArtsNOW
ArtsNOW is a nonprofit organization dedicated to transforming education through arts integration and innovative learning experiences. By empowering educators with the tools and strategies to integrate the arts across the curriculum, ArtsNOW inspires creative and critical thinkers equipped for success in school and beyond.

About Crayola Creativity Week
Crayola Creativity Week is an annual global initiative that celebrates creativity in schools by providing teachers with daily activities that engage students in fun, hands-on learning experiences. Each day, students are encouraged to explore their imagination, express their ideas through art, and develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

For more information on ArtsNOW’s partnership with Crayola or to sign up for Crayola Creativity Week 2026, visit https://artsnowlearning.org/crayola-creativity-week/

ArtsNOW Receives $460,000 Grant from Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation to Expand SmART Literacy Initiative in Fulton County Schools

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ArtsNOW Receives $460,000 Grant from Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation to Expand SmART Literacy Initiative in Fulton County Schools

Speaker in a room full of people talking about the power of arts integration at Angel Oak Elementary School

ATLANTA, GEORGIA – The Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation, an independent private foundation dedicated to supporting education, health, and economic opportunity for children in metro Atlanta, has awarded a $460,000 grant to ArtsNOW. This grant, distributed over three years, will support the expansion of the SmART Literacy initiative to four elementary schools in the Atlanta area.

SmART Literacy, originally funded by the AAEDD (Assistance for Arts Education Development and Dissemination) federal grant, has a proven track record of enhancing student achievement by integrating various art forms into literacy-focused content. Over the past five years, this initiative has significantly improved teachers' ability to blend arts with reading and writing instruction, resulting in higher reading levels, better writing skills, and increased student engagement and enjoyment of learning.

Thanks to the generous support from the Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation, ArtsNOW will expand the SmART Literacy initiative to include four elementary schools in metro Atlanta.

During the spring of 2024, ArtsNOW collaborated with Fulton County Schools district leadership to select the following four elementary schools to participate in the initiative:

  • H. Gullatt Elementary School
  • Hamilton E. Holmes Elementary School
  • Ison Springs Elementary School
  • Vickery Mill Elementary School

ArtsNOW conducted school visits to meet with each principal and school leadership teams to understand the specific needs of each school.

"We are honored to receive this generous grant from the Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation," said Pamela Walker, President and CEO of ArtsNOW. "This support will enable us to extend our reach and impact, helping more students develop vital literacy skills through the arts. We look forward to working closely with these schools to create customized plans that meet their unique needs."

After the school year ended, each elementary school sent a team of teachers and administrators to attend the ArtsNOW Foundational Seminar. These seminars provide educators (K-12) with the tools to implement arts-integrated strategies effectively, fostering a more engaging and dynamic learning environment for students. During the professional learning, an arts-integrated foundation was laid so teachers could begin planning to integrate music, dance, theatre, and visual arts into their class content for the next school year.

The Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation focuses on making grants in five program areas: early childhood education, K-12 education, children and youth, human services, and health. By investing in well-established institutions and projects with strong leadership and a broad base of support, the Foundation seeks to help organizations with a proven track record of success seize new opportunities or meet extraordinary needs.

For more information about the SmART Literacy initiative or to learn how your school can get involved, please visit artsnowlearning.org.

About ArtsNOW:

ArtsNOW is a national non-profit that offers customized solutions to improve teacher efficacy and student results through authentic arts integration into academic content.

About the Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation:

The Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation is an independent private foundation that seeks to help people in need in metro Atlanta, particularly children, by investing in education, health, and economic opportunity. The Foundation is responsive to the needs of the community and typically makes grants to well-established institutions and projects with strong leadership and a broad base of support.

 

Media Contact:

Shenley Rountree

Director of Marketing & Development

ArtsNOW

[email protected]