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FAQ

Core facts from the Corps.

What does Arts Corps do?

Arts Corps is an arts education organization offering classes in diverse art forms to young people in grades K-12. We hire professional teaching artists and place them in school and after-school sites in King County. Their impact is profound, facilitating a creative journey for over 2,800 students at 40 program partner sites a year. Through emerging leadership and advocacy efforts through the Seattle Arts Education Consortium, the Corps has also worked to elevate the status of arts education as a potent and fundamental learning experience in and out of the school day.

Where do you offer your classes?

Arts Corps offers classes at schools, community centers and other youth-serving organizations throughout King County. We work closely with our program partners to best shape classes to the needs of the young people at their site. Program partners contribute to the cost of our classes based on a tiered pricing structure that allows us to partner with any school or organization in need of arts programming while ensuring access to our programs serving youth from low-income families. In the 2006-2007 school year, four out of five Arts Corps classes were delivered at partner sites where between 60 and 100 percent of the youth received free or reduced-price lunch. To view a list of program partners, click here.

What art forms does Arts Corps offer?

We offer a diverse array of art forms in our classes, including performing arts, dance, poetry, music, digital media and the visual arts. Our offerings include culturally relevant and popular forms such as break dancing, African drumming, hip-hop production, cartooning and multi-media. Our offerings also represent the varied artistic and cultural backgrounds of our teaching artists.

Who teaches your classes?

Arts Corps classes are taught by a dynamic and talented faculty of teaching artists, representing a range of cultural and artistic backgrounds. A teaching artist is a practicing artist who is passionate about his or her creative process and helping others find theirs. Teaching artists are professionals committed to the artistic development of young people, facilitating a creative journey for them while modeling and helping them practice creative habits of mind such as imagining possibilities, critical thinking, persistence & discipline, courage & risk-taking and reflection. Aside from these practices, their passion for their art and creative journey serves as a powerful model for our students. We offer a mentorship program and professional development opportunities for our teaching artists as we continually work to enhance their skills and elevate the status of teaching artists locally and nationally.

Where does your funding come from?

Arts Corps' funding comes from a broad range of individuals, government, foundation and corporate donors. Earned revenue through our program partners fees accounts for roughly 20% of our annual funding.

How is Arts Corps different from other programs?

Arts Corps has quickly become the largest nonprofit arts education organization in the region. In addition, the Corps is unique among other arts education providers because we offer real, long-term engagement in in the process of art-making rather than solely field trips to museums and other one-time experiences. We work with professional teaching artists and invest in their development. We build long-term partnerships with other youth-serving organizations and schools, bringing our classes to places where students naturally congregate and actively strengthening our programs with our partners. Our long-term commitment to students, diverse class offerings, teaching artists and strong partnership model make Arts Corps a pioneer in the arts education arena.