Jennifer Allen Barron Speaking At Paramount Theater.
Jennifer Allen Barron of the Oklahoma Arts Council gave a presentation at the Paramount Theater in the Theater District in Oklahoma City on Wednesday August 22, 2019 that was sponsored by the Exchange Rotary Club. She began her remarks by explaining that the organization is an agency of state government that works with local institutions to encourage the arts in Oklahoma, and that it plays an important role in education in the state. It was first known as the Arts And Humanities Council, but the Humanities Council became an independent nonprofit entity and was separated from the Arts Council . She shared data with her audience that how every dollar invested in the arts in Oklahoma serves to generate six dollars in revenues for state and local governments, and that studies have shown that high school students who have had four years of arts education score higher on college entrance exams than pupils who have not had that opportunity. In addition, the speaker asserted that art education tends to improve performance in the fields of math and science, increases school attendance, and decreases anti-social behavior and encourages greater civic engagement among young people.
She further spoke of the programs that the Council sponsors to support art education. They include a Classroom Supply Grant for the visual and Performing Arts which allocated $500 to individual schools that allows them to purchase supplies to be used for instruction in those fields during the school day. Public, public charter, and non-religious private schools are eligible to apply for that grant, and are required to have at least one part time arts instructor on their faculty to be eligible for it. She told of another grant program that allows for the payment to public, public charter, and non-religious private schools from kindergarten through twelve grade of two payments in the amount of $2,500 to fund hands on art education to their students. Those funds can be used for payment of artists fees, artists travel expenses, and materials and supplies. In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of alternative education schools that address the needs of pupils who have difficulty in traditional schools in Oklahoma, and Barron told the attendees that the Arts Council has another program in place that allows such schools to apply for a grant up to the amount of $5,000.00 for arts education for their students. The Council’s funding goes to a variety of different organization, and approximately 40% is allocated to rural communities and 60 % to urban areas in the state. In addition, the Arts Council supports community arts events, including one that encourages the placing of art in public places. Yet another program works to develop leadership in the arts, and on an annual basis brings individuals in the arts from throughout the state together for such training. Oklahoma has a large percentage of military families, due to the number of military installations in the state, and Barron told of how another program is now working to encourage art that pays tribute to those who serve and their families. The conclusion of her presentation was greeted with applause by those present, and she then distributed papers that told in greater detail about the programs she described, and told how individual schools could apply for them.
Against the Grain 