Progressive Arts Alliance

VISION Progressive Arts Alliance envisions a transformed field of education in which a community of educators, schools, and professional artists work collaboratively using arts-integration to develop and nurture critical thinking, creative problem solving, collaboration, and communication skills.

MISSION Progressive Arts Alliance deepens the learning experience for students, educators, and artists by designing and implementing innovative, arts-integrated, project-based learning programs.

PAA'S BUILDING AND INTEGRATING FRAMEWORK

Progressive Arts Alliance achieves its aspirations through:

BUILDING:

• Community that brings together youth from varied backgrounds to collaborate and create high quality media and artistic expressions;
• Collaborations with other organizations to deliver unique learning experiences across a wide array of art forms in diverse settings;
• Expertise in the best artists as partners to a diverse network of schools, including those focused on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).

INTEGRATING ARTS AND TECHNOLOGY:

• Into learning experiences that develop students' 21st century skills;
• Into a teaching method that enables students to find and use their voice;
  Into collaborative work with classroom teachers that increases academic achievement

CORE BELIEFS

Progressive Arts Alliance's work is built on a passionate commitment to positive social change that embraces the following values:

• Teaching in and through the contemporary arts and 21st century media expands the field of arts education and taps into diverse learning styles;
• Harnessing the artistic expressions of hip-hop culture as a platform for positive self-expression and critical media literacy is an essential component of an expanded arts education field;

• Nurturing creativity through arts education builds critical thinking, creative problem solving, leadership, collaboration, and communication skills;
• Integrating contemporary arts and media with STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics] subjects is a powerful way to increase academic rigor and encourage complex problem solving in a real world context.