The E. Desmond Lee Fine Arts Education Collaborative has enlisted the efforts of an expanded community, including teachers, administrators, university faculty, professional musicians, visual artists, thespians and dancers. The primary objective of the collaborative is to support fine arts teachers in the delivery and promotion of arts curricula by providing high quality experiences in the arts. This program is unusual in that it does not charge students or schools where money is already a problem.

Currently, the collaborative provides services for 122 schools from 16 districts. Approximately 7,500 students attended in-school  programs during 2007-2008.  More than 10,900 students have attended classical concerts, opera, dance performances, jazz concerts, and toured art museums this year. Ensembles (band, strings, choral) are formed each year, providing unique opportunities for students to perform on stage at Powell Symphony Hall and the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center.  The Collaborative also provides professional development for teachers in such areas as curriculum development, coaching by professionals in the classroom, lesson planning for in school presentations, and the arts in general education.  Director of the Collaborative is Robert W. Nordman, E. Desmond Lee Endowed Professor of Music Education, 422 Music Building, UMSL, One University Boulevard, St. Louis, MO  63121-4499, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it   or  314-516-5365.

Objectives:

• Maintaining and expanding active partnerships of the highest quality

• Creating an important study in collaborative efforts for the advancement of arts education, which may serve as a model for the local as well as the national community

• Influencing student attitudes toward the study of the fine arts

• Increasing and enhancing arts education programming to an ethnically and culturally diverse population where a majority of students qualify for free or reduced cost meals

• Following the same schools and students for several years

• Providing services for the schools, including in-school music and theatre programs, concerts and performance opportunities (music festivals, student showcases, master classes, clinics, etc.), field experiences in visual arts, and professional development

• Supporting professional development for teachers

• Supporting local, state and national arts standards

• Focusing on children