Partnerships in Creative Activities Among Schools, Artists and Professional Organizations

"This is a complex book addressing complex issues, and worth the reading time. Mitchell's book gathers together documentary and anecdotal evidence on numerous arts partnership education programmes, including the more well-known such as the Getty, Artsvision, and Lincoln Center and the more regional or local, such as Calgary Arts Partners in Education or the ABC in south Carolina. . . Mitchell brings two novel ideas to his analysis of arts partnership education programmes: one comparison to sectarian religion and another to social justice movements. The analogy of competing artistic and pedagogical ideologies to religious groups is effective, pointing out the counterproductive aspects of passionate and orthodox commitment to a belief. . . . The chapter suggesting that arts partnerships education could learn from social movements, particularly those related to civil rights or ethnic diversity, fascinated me. . . Mitchell may be quite right in pointing out the gains to be made through political work. . . . This book makes an important contribution to our understanding of how arts partnership education functions." - Roberta Lamb in The Canadian Journal of Higher Education

" ... filled with stories of successful arts programs as well as a detailed history of arts partnerships throughout Canada and North America. Professor Mitchell provides us with a complete and complex overview of what can be accomplished by promoting the arts through partnership, and sets out the path for future advocacy work." - The Journal of Educational Thought

" ... well developed and integrates personal experiences into the text. . . . The author has done a good job in pointing out the importance of the arts for minorities, diversity, and post modernism. These are important themes for educators as we face a new century. The index and bibliography are good. The challenges of art education are at times overwhelming as the search for private funding will continue in the field." - James J. Van Patten

"Mitchell offers a creative look at arts education and partnerships and contends that social activists are the most important allies for arts education. Recommended for upper-division graduates and above." - CHOICE

Table of Contents:
Charts; Foreword; Preface by Bernard H. Baum
1. On the Edge
2. Variations on Marginality
3. Interplay of Power and Prayers
4. Surprising Solutions
5. Moving towards Arts Advocacy
6. Arts Alliances
7. Recommendations
Selected Bibliography; Index