Meeting Agenda
Reaching Youth Through the Arts: Building Best Practices
October 26–27, 2001
Indianapolis, Indiana

Sponsored in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs, and Broward County Board of County Commissioners

With good reason, "youth arts" has captured the imagination of arts organizations, juvenile justice authorities, social services agencies, school districts, parents, and funders across the U.S. Cross-sector partnerships have spawned rapid growth of a new field of professional youth arts "best practices." Come share your success stories—and seek solutions to those gritty challenges that every youth arts program faces. The workshop design will include interactive professional development sessions, examination of case studies of nationally recognized programs, small group learning dialogues, and opportunities for organizational/individual reflection. While individuals and single organizations will benefit from participation, the most effective application of this workshop is for cross-sector "teams" who are currently partnered on a youth arts project or contemplating a program.

Who Should Attend?
This interactive learning-exchange workshop is designed for artists, arts administrators or board members, social service leaders, juvenile justice workers, teachers, and their administrators—anyone who is currently working with youth through the arts, or who is planning to launch a program soon.

Instructors

Bill Bulick founded Creative Planning Consultants in 1999, after nearly 20 years in high-level nonprofit, public sector, and arts management positions. From 1989–99 he was executive director of the Regional Arts and Culture Council of Portland, OR, where he launched nationally recognized youth arts, neighborhood arts, and arts-in-education initiatives. He initiated the YouthArts Development Project, a consortium of local arts agencies from Portland, OR; San Antonio, TX; and Atlanta, GA, that conducted a national demonstration project to develop effective arts programs for at-risk youth, including publication of the multi-media YouthArts Toolkit. He is currently coordinating a national network of youth arts programs funded by the “Arts and At Risk Youth” program of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), National Endowment for the Arts and Institute of Civil Society. He has also conducted youth arts workshops for the Ohio Arts Council and Arts North Carolina and was a member of the design team for Creative Partnerships for Prevention of the U. S. Department of Education’s Safe and Drug Free Schools Program. In addition to their work in developing youth arts programs and networks, Creative Planning also assists communities and organizations in cultural planning and program design.

Marta Mellinger is a well-known organization change consultant and organization-learning designer in the Pacific Northwest, focusing on nonprofit organizations, advocacy, the arts, education, and cultural development. She works with organizations and groups of organizations to unravel complex issues and to develop the vision, shared commitment and/or the learning needed to pursue future agendas. Recent clients and projects include: U.S. Department of Justice “Arts and At Risk Youth” network, Santa Cruz County cultural plan, Colorado Council on the Arts strategic planning, Portland Public Schools Title I strategic planning, PacifiCorp cultural change planning, University of California at Santa Cruz Educational Partnership Center organization change design and facilitation. Previously, Mellinger was Public Affairs Director for Northwest Business Committee for the Arts from 1993–1996; a communications consultant for Consultation Services in Connecticut from 1986–1989; and Director of Communications for Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, CT from 1984–1986.

Workshop Schedule

Day One

8:00 a.m.–10:00 a.m.

Registration

9:00 a.m.–10:00 a.m.

Introductions, Establishing Workshop Learning Goals

10:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

Presentations on Essential Topics, Followed by Small Group Learning/Exchange Sessions:

• Grounding Programs in Theory, Establishing a
       “Common Language”
• Creating and Sustaining Partnerships
• Other topics as developed

12:30 p.m.–1:30 p.m.

Networking Lunch

1:45 p.m.–4:15 p.m.

Developing a Planning and Evaluation Framework

4:30 p.m.–5:00 p.m.

Day Wrap-Up

5:30 p.m.–7:30 p.m.

Evening Reception

Day Two

8:00 a.m.–9:00 a.m.

Continental Breakfast

9:00 a.m.–10:00 a.m.

Morning Welcome and Check-in on Workshop Goals

10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.

Presentations on Essential Topics, Followed by Small Group Learning/Exchange Sessions:

• Finding, Training and Retaining Teaching
       Artists
• Recruiting and Retaining Youth Participation
• Other topics as developed

12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.

Networking Lunch

1:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m.

Presentations on Essential Topics, Followed by Small Group Learning/Exchange Sessions:

• Classroom and Case Management
• Costs, Resources and Advocacy
• Other topics as developed

3:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m.

Wrap-Up and Adjournment