The Port Townsend Community Consortium, now known as PT Artscape, has transformed arts education in local schools through eight years of advocacy, programming and creative problem solving. The Consortium began to take shape almost a decade ago, when a team of arts advocates saw potential in linking local resources with the school district, and launched this effort with a Consortium proposal to the Washington State Arts Commission.
Making Art Happen
Arts in the Schools Program
Produced by Plumb Productions
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Support for our programs is provided by the
Washington State Arts Commission
Sherri Shaw’s second graders learn about the value scale through charcoal drawing
BEGINNING
In the fall of 1998, a group of interested teachers, school administrators, and community members came together to apply for a grant from WSAC that offered funding for arts in the public schools. Visual arts, music, and drama were offered as electives only in grades 7-12. Limited levy funding supported one-shot arts activities in the elementary grades on a monthly basis. There was not a climate of collaboration between the arts specialists and classroom teachers, and arts lessons were not integrated into the curriculum.
