As we move forward into the second decade of the new millennium, words of T.S. Elliot come to mind. "Time present and time past are both perhaps present in time future, and time future contained in time past." While our vision of how the arts can transform education remains constant, how we work to achieve our goals constantly evolves, interweaving proven practice and innovation.

Our experience as a multi-arts organization has shown that educators and parents are interested in all the art forms and in how they can be integrated across the curriculum. The structure of the Southeast Center's professional development offerings and instructional materials explore dynamic intersections and cross-curricular connections.

Intensive summer institutes have been the foundation of our work, bringing together presenters and participants with diverse backgrounds from different places. Those institutes have evolved in national Arts & Education Forums held in Chattanooga each May. Workshops are now conducted on-site at partner schools. Engaging in sustained professional development provides connections, experiences, and learning that cannot be achieved on a fragmented basis. We also know the power of authentic work and one-on-one mentoring on-site in schools throughout the academic year.

Collaborative curriculum development, team teaching, school site visits,and teacher exchanges have sparked the interest of many educators in our partner schools. We continue to explore and provide alternative methods of dynamic professional development.

Read more about the benefits of arts education:

• Rationale For An Arts Education
• Arts Integration
• Discipline-Based Arts Education
• Advocacy