About Us
We envision a Maryland where the arts are valued for their capacity to transform lives.
Arts for Learning
formerly Young Audiences of Maryland
is a nonprofit organization devoted to enriching the lives and education of Maryland's youth through educational and culturally diverse arts programs. Through Arts for Learning, professional teaching artists from all disciplines partner with educators, schools, and school districts to provide, on average, over 300,000 hours of learning in, through, and about the arts to more than 185,000 Maryland students annually.
Arts for Learning is a mission-driven organization that values community, innovation, and passion. Our staff, board, and teaching artists have a shared commitment to advance equity in the field of education by working tirelessly to generate opportunities for students to imagine, create, and realize their full potential through the arts.
Our Vision
One day, every student in Maryland will have the opportunity to imagine, create, and realize their full potential through the arts.
Our Mission
Transforming the lives and education of our youth through the arts by connecting educators, professional artists, and communities.
Our National Network
Arts for Learning Maryland is affiliated with the national Young Audiences Arts for Learning network. Founded in 1952, the mission of Young Audiences Arts for Learning is to inspire young people and expand their learning through the arts. Our network is made up of local affiliated nonprofits that collectively impact over 5 million young people each year. The national Young Audiences Arts for Learning network works collaboratively to advance arts in education through advocacy, communications, fundraising, program development, professional learning, and other support. Explore our national network.
We envision a Maryland where the arts are valued for their capacity to transform lives.
Our Vision
One day, every student in Maryland will have the opportunity to imagine, create, and realize their full potential through the arts.
Our Mission
Transforming the lives and education of our youth through the arts by connecting educators, professional artists, and communities.
About Arts for Learning Maryland
Arts for Learning, formerly Young Audiences of Maryland, is a nonprofit organization devoted to enriching the lives and education of Maryland's youth through educational and culturally diverse arts programs. Through Arts for Learning, professional teaching artists from all disciplines partner with educators, schools, and school districts to provide, on average, over 300,000 hours of learning in, through, and about the arts to more than 185,000 Maryland students annually.
We are a mission-driven organization that values community, innovation, and passion. Our staff, board, and teaching artists have a shared commitment to advance equity in the field of education by working tirelessly to generate opportunities for students to imagine, create, and realize their full potential through the arts.
Our National Network
Arts for Learning Maryland is affiliated with the national Young Audiences Arts for Learning network. Founded in 1952, the mission of Young Audiences Arts for Learning is to inspire young people and expand their learning through the arts. Our network is made up of local affiliated nonprofits that collectively impact over 5 million young people each year. The national Young Audiences Arts for Learning network works collaboratively to advance arts in education through advocacy, communications, fundraising, program development, professional learning, and other support. Explore our national network.
We envision a Maryland where the arts are valued for their capacity to transform lives.
Our Vision
One day, every student in Maryland will have the opportunity to imagine, create, and realize their full potential through the arts.
Our Mission
Transforming the lives and education of our youth through the arts by connecting educators, professional artists, and communities.
About Arts for Learning Maryland
Arts for Learning Maryland, formerly Young Audiences of Maryland, is a nonprofit organization devoted to enriching the lives and education of Maryland's youth through educational and culturally diverse arts programs. Through Arts for Learning, professional teaching artists from all disciplines partner with educators, schools, and school districts to provide, on average, over 300,000 hours of learning in, through, and about the arts to more than 185,000 Maryland students annually.
Arts for Learning is a mission-driven organization that values community, innovation, and passion. Our staff, board, and teaching artists have a shared commitment to advance equity in the field of education by working tirelessly to generate opportunities for students to imagine, create, and realize their full potential through the arts.
Our National Network
Arts for Learning Maryland is affiliated with the national Young Audiences Arts for Learning network. Founded in 1952, the mission of Young Audiences Arts for Learning is to inspire young people and expand their learning through the arts. Our network is made up of local affiliated nonprofits that collectively impact over 5 million young people each year. The national Young Audiences Arts for Learning network works collaboratively to advance arts in education through advocacy, communications, fundraising, program development, professional learning, and other support. Explore our national network.
The Challenge :
BRIDGING THE INSPIRATION GAP
Schools face huge challenges caused by a focus on standardized testing and the narrowing of the curriculum. These conditions do not inspire our students, do not create a love for learning, or develop the creative and problem-solving skills young people need to succeed in school, work, and life.
Our Solution :
ARTISTS & ARTS INTEGRATION
Learning in, about, and through the arts creates inspired learning environments. The arts empower students to think creatively and engage in the learning of all subjects in a new way. Research shows that all children - and particularly children at risk of academic failure - are more likely to thrive in schools that make time for the arts and utilize arts integration, the practice of using the arts to teach classroom subjects.
How We Do It
Artist and School Partnerships
We partner with more than 100 of the best musicians, dancers, actors, poets, storytellers, and visual artists and nearly 500 schools and learning centers throughout Maryland to provide hands-on arts and arts-integrated learning experiences to students in all grade levels.
Teacher Professional Development
We train more than 500 new teachers each year to use the arts to engage students in the learning process through arts integration and provide a basis for improving student achievement in the arts and other academic subjects.
Artist Professional Development
We train more than 80 new artists each year in the use and understanding of arts integration, state curriculum, and Common Core Standards, creating opportunities for artists to learn how to bring their art to the classroom and enhance the curriculum.
Customized Programs for School Districts
We partner with school districts across Maryland to design and evaluate customized arts-integrated programs that transform teaching practice and are a model for school reform.
Fundraising for Schools
Our supporters allow us to reach communities of every socioeconomic background and geographic area by covering the financial gap between what schools can afford to pay and what professional artists deserve to earn.
Our History
Nina Collier was our first change agent. Over seventy years ago she asked, "Why can’t we bring professional musicians into our schools to perform?"
Concerned that young people were completing school and living their lives without ever having heard a live performance by a professional musician, Nina answered by founding the "Young Musicians' Series," a live, chamber music series performed by professional musicians in Baltimore-area schools and cultural centers.
This experimental music series marked the beginning of Arts for Learning, formerly Young Audiences of Maryland, and sparked the formation of a national network, reaching over 5 million children each year in more than 7,000 schools and community centers across the country through its diverse network of 30 affiliates.
During our 73-year history, Arts for Learning has greatly expanded its services to Maryland students, teachers, and artists. What began as a program to introduce children to classical music grew to include jazz, opera, theatrical, and folk performances. And, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the organization created programs for in-classroom, arts-integrated learning: workshops and residencies.
ABOUT THIS IMAGE : In November 1951, Mrs. Nina Collier (upper right), founder of the "Young Musicians' Series" smiles as she watches children plead for autographs from viola-violin duo Joseph Fuchs (upper left) and Lillian Fuchs (right center) after a concert at the Baltimore Museum of Art. (Photo by Dunaway, The Baltimore Sun)
View Our ANNUAL REPORT
In our last fiscal year, we served 157,247 students, from pre-K to grade 12, with our programs, ranging from interactive live performances to long-term, classroom-based residencies. A4L's roster of 190 professional teaching artists and ensembles delivered these programs to 192 schools and community sites, providing students with a total of 584,516 learning hours through the arts.
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