Read the latest research, news, and policy in our arts education RECAP for October 2026.
“Arts education can change lives, but we must invest in people who make it possible”
Published on September 7, 2026 by The Hechinger Report
A powerful piece reminding us to value and invest in the arts educators who provide invaluable learning experiences to their communities. “Teaching artists do far more than provide instruction in an art form. They bring different ways of seeing students, valuing skills and behaviors that are dismissed in the traditional classroom, like creativity, risk-taking and physicality. A teaching artist is a working artist — a dancer, a muralist, a spoken word poet — who works in partnership with classroom teachers to bring arts learning into schools..” The Hechinger Report
“The future of the performing arts depends on strategic partnerships”
Published on September 9, 2026 by Stanford Social Innovation Review
A recent article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review tackles a particularly thorny issue facing arts organizations nationwide: staying afloat in an increasingly precarious environment for the arts. “The performing arts sector is paradoxical: deeply innovative yet structurally resistant to change. While endlessly inventive onstage and behind the curtain, the organizational structures that support the creative work are notoriously slow to adapt, relying on legacy models ill-suited for today’s complex funding challenges.” Stanford Social Innovation Review
“OpEd: No one to teach and $1B in hand”
Published on September 14, 2026 by Los Angeles Business Journal
P.S. ARTS’ CEO John Lawler recently penned an op-ed for the LA Business Journal in which he discusses the current art teacher crisis affecting schools across California. “The obstacle is not a shortage of talented artists. It is a pipeline that was never designed for today’s demand. California has historically credentialed only about 1,100 new arts teachers annually, far below what Proposition 28 requires. Unpaid student teaching, limited credential programs and outdated pathways continue to keep talented artists from entering the profession.” Los Angeles Business Journal
“Students missing out on arts education because of transportation, cost, access barriers”
Published on September 21, 2026 by The Business Journal
Erin Burd, executive director and founder of Arts Enrichment for All, spoke to The Business Journal about inequity in arts education and one of the overlooked aspects of the importance of arts education: workforce development. “Burd said many employers today are looking for people who can communicate clearly, work effectively with others, adapt to change, and think creatively as technology and artificial intelligence continue to reshape the workplace. Burd believes arts education helps students develop those skills long before they enter the workforce.” The Business Journal
“With arts educators in short supply, California teachers weave arts into academics”
Published on September 24, 2026 by the EdSource
Some schools in California are turning to arts-integrated strategies in academic subjects as they struggle to hire credentialed arts teachers. “At Cal State San Marcos in San Diego County, prospective elementary school teachers learn to integrate the arts into core academic teaching through the Collaborative Residency for Education in the Arts and Teaching Excellence, known as CREATE.” EdSource
