"Artistic literacy is the knowledge and understanding required to participate authentically in the

arts," the document says. "While individuals can learn about dance, media, music, theatre, and
visual arts through reading print texts, artistic literacy requires that they engage in artistic
creation processes directly through the use of materials (such as charcoal or paint or clay,
musical instruments or scores...) and in specific spaces (concert halls, stages, dance rehearsal
spaces, arts studios and computer labs)."

The framework identifies four fundamental "creative practices" for the arts: imagination,
investigation, construction, and reflection. And as you might imagine, it makes the case that
these activities come in handy not just in artistic enterprises, but in plenty of other realms, such
as math and science.

In the forthcoming arts standards, these four creative practices are "a springboard and bridge for
the application of the artistic practices" across disciplines.

The National Coalition for Core Arts Standards is composed of nine arts and education
organizations working to develop a "next generation of voluntary, research-based arts education
standards" that build upon an earlier set created in 1994. Those organizations are the:

• American Alliance for Theatre and Education;

• Arts Education Partnership;

• College Board;
• Educational Theatre Association;
• National Association for Music Education;
• National Arts Education Association;
• National Dance Education Organization;
• State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education; and
• Young Audiences.
Scott Jones, a senior associate at the Arts Education Partnership, a member of the coalition,
highlighted a few things for me over email about the framework to help better contextualize and
understand this work.
 According to the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (NCCAS), artistic literacy is
defined as the ability to understand and contribute to the broad milieu of art -related
subjects, including visual arts (painting, pottery, drawing, and so on), theater arts, musical
arts, and dance. Students actively participate in these fields through physical engagement
and creation as well as through reading and interacting with source materials.

Art is more than an escape from traditional classroom work. Studies have found that
benefits from participation in the arts include:

 Improved student performance on standardized tests

 Stronger academic motivation

 Improved social skills

All students are automatically part of the art literacy program. If you're interested in
volunteering for this program, please log in to myvolunteerpage.com and find "art literacy"
committee under "committee volunteers."