Arts Every Day and our Bmore Youth Arts Advocacy Council (BYAAC) took part in both days of the Maryland Arts Summit hosted by Maryland Citizens for the Arts and the Maryland State Arts Council. Day 1 kicked off with a presentation from BYAAC titled “Ready to Act: Youth-Led Panel on Arts Advocacy”. Four members of the council were present to share their experience over the year advocating for the arts in their schools and at the district and state levels.
Amari Davenport, Myra Hicks, Ky’Mera Pauling, and Chole Zheng each took turns sharing their experiences, highlighted their efforts throughout the year, and answered questions from the audience about youth engagement. With their mentor by their side, Sheena Morrison, Arts Every Day’s Baltimore Arts Education Initiative Manager, guided the discussion by prompting the students to individually describe challenges and successes when it comes to advocating for the arts in the Baltimore City Public School System, who they met that were allies, and things that surpised them throughout the year.
This presentation was one of the last commitments for these students as all were seniors who have now graduated. One student- Myra Hicks, has been a part of BYAAC since it first started 3 years ago. The program is very excited to see what the next cohort of young arts advocates will bring!
You can view this panel discussion below!
Sheena Morrison also presented on Day 2 of the Summit during the session titled, “Knowledge is Power: Using Data to Inform Arts Ed Advocacy” where she shared statistics surrounding the state of arts education in Baltimore City Public Schools and how to use that data to advocate for arts funding and policy change. During this session, attendees got a sneak peek at the National Arts Education Data Project that will soon include Maryland starting this summer.
We want to thank Maryland Citizens for the Arts and Maryland State Arts Council for welcoming young voices to the Summit and we look forward to sharing the next year of arts advocacy with everyone again!
Are you or do you know a high school student interested in our Bmore Youth Arts Advocacy Council? You can learn more by visiting https://artseveryday.org/bmoreyoutharts or by contacting Sheena Morrison at Sheena@artseveryday.org.