Culturally Responsive Arts Ed

Culturally Responsive Arts Education Action and Learning Program 

The Culturally Responsive Arts Education program is designed to advance equity and improve quality in arts education in Minnesota classrooms, schools and districts through the development and implementation of culturally responsive and anti-racist arts curriculum, instruction, policies, and practices. The program is funded by a U.S. Department of Education Assistance for Arts Education grant and is led by the Minnesota Department of Education’s (MDE) Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Center. 
 
This program is comprised of three separate cohorts that include teachers, administrators, and district leaders participating in ongoing professional development. Two of the cohorts are open for registration for the 2024-2025 school year.  

Culturally Responsive Arts Curriculum Institute and Cohort – Registration Open 

  • Summer Institute: July 9-11, 2024; location to be announced in the metro area
  • 2024-25 School Year PD: Three days (two virtual, one in-person, dates TBD) 
The Culturally Responsive Arts Curriculum Cohort will kick-off with a 3-day summer institute taking place Tuesday, July 9–Thursday, July 11, 2024, in the Twin Cities metro area. The institute lays the foundation for a yearlong professional development opportunity and will support arts educators in identifying inequities in their current arts curriculum and ways to make it more culturally responsive by using MDE’s Culturally Responsive Arts Education Curriculum Audit. 
Cohort participants will receive a stipend for participation and can be reimbursed for mileage. Cohort participants traveling further than 75 miles will also be eligible for hotel reimbursement.
 
If you have any questions about the Culturally Responsive Arts Curriculum Institute and Cohort, please reach out to Arts and Equity Specialist, Rae Fox-Charles, 651-582-8582.
 

Native Arts Institute and Cohort – Registration Opening Soon 

  • Summer Institute: July 23-25, 2024; location to be announced 
  • 2024-25 School Year PD: Three days (two virtual, one in-person, dates TBD) 
This cohort supports K-12 arts educators to design meaningful and authentic learning experiences about Dakota and Ojibwe arts. Participants will take a deep dive into Dakota and Ojibwe arts and cultural expression as well as essential understandings about contemporary Native arts, learning with Iyekiyapiwin Darlene St. Clair, artists, makers, and performers from Tribal Nations in Minnesota, and MDE arts specialists. 
 
This year-long learning opportunity kicks off with a three-day summer institute. Participants will have an opportunity to put their summer learning into action by developing and piloting at least one unit of study aligned to the 2018 arts standards that integrates Dakota and/or Ojibwe arts during the 2024-25 school year. Continued support during the following school year for this curriculum development will consist of three professional development days. 
 
Cohort participants will receive a stipend for participation and can be reimbursed for mileage. Cohort participants traveling further than 75 miles will also be eligible for hotel reimbursement. Check back for registration information in late April or early May. 
 
If you have questions about the Native Arts Institute and Cohort, please reach out to Arts Specialist Alina Campana.

Professional Learning + Action Cohort – Applications Closed 

From June 2023 through September 2026, the Professional Learning + Action Cohort will engage in ongoing professional learning culminating in the development and implementation of local Pilot Action Initiatives. These participant-created initiatives will be focused on culturally responsive and anti-racist arts curriculum, practices, and policies at the K-12 classroom, school and/or district levels. This cohort is not open to new participants. Cohort members were chosen through in an open application process in the 2023-24 school year.  
 
If you have any questions about the Professional Learning + Action Cohort, please reach out to Nora Schull, 651-582-8585.