Arts Month Toolkit
UNITE YOUR WORLD WITH THE ARTS THIS OCTOBER
It’s no secret we live in divisive times. So, for the election year and beyond, Arts Month 2024 encourages us to see arts and culture as a change-making force; as a community health initiative; and a path to improved social cohesion. By challenging you to “Unite Your World with the Arts,” we invite you to a community brimming with connective experiences. Whether it’s a community dinner, local theater production, or art gallery exhibit, you may learn something new about yourself and your neighbors.
Per Americans for the Arts: “Communities in which residents socialize with and trust each other have higher livability scores than communities with lower social trust, and the arts are a driver in building that trust. In addition, cultural participation leads to wider community participation and to increased volunteerism and increased tolerance—all of which are key to civic engagement. It also increases involvement in local issues and projects that promote community health.” When you engage with arts and culture, you are directly contributing to safer, more connected communities.
So how do you get involved? That's the easy part!
Sign up to be an Arts Advocate! By signing up with our form, you subscribe to both the Cultural Office and Colorado Arts Action newsletters. We are now SOLD OUT of our limited edition yard signs, thank you for your interest!
Attend an Arts Month Community Social with elected officials and candidates.
Download our FREE Arts Month Curriculum Guide for all your educational needs.
Engage our Advocacy Toolkit below, find new resources to get involved with the creative sector, and share our graphics, using #ArtsOctober on your socials!
Hello! Thank you for signing up for our Arts Month toolkit and yard signs! Unfortunately, our limit edition yard signs are now SOLD OUT. You can still fill out this form to join Colorado Arts Action Network. Thank you for being an arts advocate!
Advocacy Resources
Curriculum Guide: A New Arts Integration Tool For Schools!
Creating Civically-Engaged Art
How can I use art to portray the qualities of a good leader and citizen?
Overview:
Students will look at various pieces of art through a “reading art” lens to derive meaning about leadership and citizenship. “Reading art” is similar to developing visual literacy or using Visual Thinking Strategies. “Reading art” encourages students to look at certain qualities of visual art that they can then transfer to their own art. Students will take “reading art” strategies and create a piece of art that shows what they think a good leader or citizen looks like. For K-2, this could be what it looks like in their immediate classrooms. For older elementary school students, it could be what it looks like in their own school or closer community. For middle and high school students, you can look at leadership and citizenship at a state, nation or world-wide level, depending on what you are studying in your classrooms. Students can work alone or in groups for the art project piece and use any visual art materials that you have. Partnerships between arts teachers and classrooms teachers are highly encouraged to maximize knowledge in artform and subject area.
Civic engagement encompasses the many ways that people may get involved in their communities to consider and address civic issues. Civic engagement can be a measure or a means of social change. In arts-based civic engagement, the creative process and resulting art work/experience can provide a key focus, catalyst, or space for civic participation, whether it is becoming better informed or actively contributing to the improvement of one’s neighborhood, community, and nation.
