A teacher sits next to a student on bench in a crowded cafeteria. Both are looking ahead and smiling.

Blacktastic Was Fantastic!

What a day! Thank you to everyone for joining us for Blacktastic, the Children’s Festival of Maryland Black History & Culture! For the third year in a row, attendees enjoyed six engaging, arts-infused workshops that celebrated and educated viewers about…

Black and white photograph of Baba Bomani in Blacktastic t-shirt.

Blacktastic: Children’s Festival of Maryland Black History & Culture returns this February

This Black History Month, tens of thousands of Maryland students will celebrate the joy of Black history and culture through the arts at Blacktastic: A Children’s Festival of Maryland Black History & Culture—a day-long, arts-integrated, performance-packed virtual experience produced by…

A graphic with a quote from a teaching artist and her picture in a classroom seated with children. The quote reads, "Something about being a teaching artist really pulled me in–I think it was how different it was from performing with Milkshake, which doesn’t provide the intimacy that working as a teaching artist does. I am there in a circle with maybe 10 - 20 little ones, exploring books and ideas in arts-related ways. I make up songs and create strategies that fit what we are talking about. We play. We learn. And everyone gets something from our time together–the teacher, the children, and me."

Meet a few Early Learning Teaching Artists!

Dance… puppetry… music… theater… no matter the art form, our early learning teaching artists are absolutely incredible–bringing their creativity to the education and development of our youngest learners! In the process, they’re finding inspiration to support their own work and…

Student Artwork on Display at the BMA: Visual Metaphors of the COVID-19 Pandemic

What do you imagine it would be like to be a child in a global pandemic? Would your memories be linear, or would they come to you in no particular order? Would they be made of things you saw with…

A middle school-aged student ready his poem at the mic onstage with classmates behind him.

Dear Brown Skin Boy, Dear Brown Skin Girl

Middle school students had the opportunity to work with spoken word poet and teaching artist Femi the Drifish at this year’s Summer Arts for Learning at Goodnow. During the six-week-long program at the recently re-opened community center managed by Arts…

Katherine holding a sign that says,"voice" and standing next to Quynn, seated in a yellow jacket.

Arts for Learning Teaching Artists Engage Educators at UMBC Arts Integration Conference

Earlier this month, two teaching artists went back to school—but they weren’t guiding students through their creative, arts-integrated approach; this time, they were guiding educators! On October 1, the UMBC Arts Integration Conference brought together teachers, principals, district leaders, and…

A close-up photograph of DJ Brooks standing in the office space

New Chief of People, Equity, and Culture Joins Arts for Learning Maryland

Arts for Learning Maryland, the Baltimore-based nonprofit that transforms student learning in Maryland through arts integration, announced the hiring of DJ Brooks as its new Chief of People, Equity, and Culture — a new position for the 72-year-old organization. As…

Students dancing in gymnasium

Summer with Arts for Learning Maryland – A Recap

Another A4L amazing summer is in the books… and on easels, and on stage, and in lyrics…! Over the last three months, 2,265 students engaged in Arts for Learning Maryland summer programs. They got creative, explored new art forms, enhanced…

Student sitting at a desk, pencil in hand, looking into the camera and smiling.

Northeast Baltimore Community Center to Reopen as Arts for Learning at Goodnow

Community hub will offer programs in Arts for Learning’s first community-based location BALTIMORE – For 27 years, the Goodnow Community Center has been the heart of Northeast Baltimore’s Frankford neighborhood, a popular gathering place for community events, youth programs, and…

Arts for Learning Principal Fellowship is Expanding: Applications Now Open

“To commit to imagining is to commit to looking beyond the given, beyond what appears to be unchangeable. It is a way of warding off the apathy and the feelings of futility that are the greatest obstacles to any sort…

Gratitude: Year Six of the Bloomberg Arts Internship in Baltimore

This summer, up to 40 Baltimore City Public Schools students will gain impactful real-world experience with local arts institutions through the Bloomberg Arts Internship Program! We’re thrilled to partner with Bloomberg Philanthropies to manage the 7-week experience. If you are…

Early Learning Week is a Wrap!

Over Early Learning Week’s five days and 20+ hours of residency sessions, we danced, sang, moved, laughed, and learned! In total, more than 3,500 children along with 300 teachers and caregivers from 16 Maryland Counties tuned in to Early Learning…