Picturing America: A Webinar for the Field

FAIN: BA-50026-09

Americans for the Arts (Washington, DC 20005-4940)
Anne L'Ecuyer (Project Director: February 2009 to November 2009)
Randy Cohen (Project Director: December 2009 to September 2010)

The applicant requested a Chairman's grant of $30,000 to create a 90-minute webinar to support Picturing America within the broad national, regional, and local constituency of this 50-year-old organization. Tentatively scheduled for dissemination in spring 2009, the webinar will take advantage of publicity generated by the second round of Picturing America grant announcements. Participants will include a humanities scholar, classroom teacher who has participated in Picturing America, and local arts and humanities agency director. It will begin with remarks by Robert Lynch, president & CEO of Americans for the Arts, on the remarkable breadth of the Picturing America program and its strategic value in keeping the arts in public schools across the country. A noted scholar, Professor Curtis Carter of Marquette University, will discuss five Picturing America images that represent the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries and show how the art is used by history and social science teachers. He will elaborate on his innovative arts-based approach to teach democracy and government, and be followed by a third speaker, a classroom teacher from the Washington, D.C. area who will describe how Picturing America works in the classroom. Finally, Theresa Cameron, formerly with the Arts & Humanities Council of Montgomery County (now on staff at Americans for the Arts), will talk about how Picturing America has helped the participating schools maintain an arts presence by their connection to a core-curriculum area. The NEH Chairman's Grant of $30,000 will cover the total budget for creating and disseminating the webinar, including technological costs, honoraria, and association staff time.

To create a 90-minute webinar to support Picturing America within the broad national, regional, and local constituency of this 50-year-old organization.