Arts education and learning are vital to the development of creative, well-rounded, independent thinkers. An ideal arts education curriculum for children and youth consists of the literary arts, dance, folk arts, theater, music, storytelling, media and visual arts in ongoing, sequential instruction from kindergarten through grade 12.

Beyond the classroom, arts learning enriches the lives of people of all ages, and is a vital means to strengthen communities, encourage cultural and generational engagement, stimulate economic activity, and enrich the lives of individuals of all ages.

Through the arts, we aid in nurturing intelligent, capable, compassionate individuals who will be tomorrow’s artists, arts patrons, innovators, creatives, and engaged citizens.

UA&M offers many arts education programs and resources to support Utah educators, teaching artists, and learners. Here are just a few.

Sign up for our UA&M Arts Ed & Learning newsletter, as well as our other agency newsletters, at this link. 

Our Teaching Artist Roster and Native American Teaching Artist Roster are excellent resources for connecting qualified teaching artists with learners statewide. All artists on these rosters are reviewed for artistic and educational excellence. Visit the teaching artist page to learn more about engaging these artists for your arts education event.

Arts education offers many connections to resources for professional development offered through universities, school districts, arts companies and organizations of arts professionals. Visit our Arts Education Professional Development page to learn more.

We also highlight links to toolkits, lesson plans, curriculum development and funding to strengthen school arts programs.

The UA&M arts education program offers several funding opportunities aimed specifically at fostering arts learning activities in Utah.

• Teacher Initiated Project (TIP) grants
• Arts Education Professional Development Sponsorships
• Collaborative Arts Education Projects (CAEP)
• Utah PTA Arts Education Grants
• For FREE folk arts workshops for your school or community group check out the  Chase Home Museum page.

Find out more on our funding opportunities page.

Poetry Out Loud is a partership between the National Endowment for the Arts and The Poetry Foundation. We facilitate the statewide competition for this national initiative. We also administer Poetry Ourselves, a writing competition for Utah high schoolers. To learn more about these exciting opportunities check out our Poetry Out Loud page.

We offer an extensive toolkit with links to lesson plans, curriculum development information, and funding sources to strengthen your school arts programs.

Our online resources page has even more great material for arts learning from anywhere.

Find out what else we've been up to on our Look Who's Been Making Art page.

Our staff provides technical assistance to schools and organizations interested in applying for grant funding, developing arts education plans for their sites, identifying potential artists, locating resources, and obtaining guidance on how to inform stakeholders about the importance of arts education. Please call Jean Tokuda Irwin at 801.979.0398 to schedule an appointment.