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This is a good paper about how teachers can use art criticism as a critical thinking process in the elementary curriculum. Focus is on developing "meaningful dialogue."

SInce my project involves getting art educators together to show their work publicly, I am checking into other groups who have done this. I am also interested in looking at how these events are advertised and how they are received by the public and news media.

Umass Boston is included in the awards recipients! I found this through http://www.artsusa.org/about_us/ which is an organization geared towards promoting and advancing the arts in the U.S. The site seems to have a lot of research and advocacy information, with a focus on ACTION. Warrants further inspection.

As a higher education employee, it's interesting to me to hear about what the new trends are in terms of programs at other universities compared with our own. This article both saddens and inspires me, because it discusses how the study of humanities may be in danger, because it is not considered "practical" and does not always lead to a definite career path. I am reminded of how some K-12 administrators are taking away programs in the arts, to free up more time for math and science, subjects that are considered more important because of statewide testing. The article inspires me, because it goes further, to mention what some specific colleges are doing to increase focus and enrollment in humanities fields, and how the colleges and universities are trying to hold on to these fields, despite the low enrollment. I would be interested to see how these techniques end up working, and how the schools plan on evaluating them.

U.S. senators were "graded" on their support for the arts. Interesting to look at who is a strong supporter and who isn't. For example, John McCain received a failing grade. He argued that the National Endowment for the Arts be cut by $50 mil- which is a 3rd of its entire budget! He suggested the NEA has no significant impact on jobs. About 80% of the NEA budget is allocated for grants, which employ thousands of artists. Some suggest that there should be zero public funding for the arts. Well, NASA's budget for 2009 was over $17 BILLION, while the National Endowment for the Arts received $161 million. NASA's budget included $170 mil to invest in entrepeneurs to develop COMMERCIAL transit programs. That's more than the entire NEA budget. Food for thought.