Creative Learning
Overview
The Heinz Endowments' Creative Learning initiative is a coordinated, cross-sector strategy to cultivate an equitable creative arts and cultural learning network, improve access to transformative learning experiences for young people, and support meaningful professional opportunities for teaching artists in Pittsburgh's out-of-school-time (OST)* ecosystem. For the purpose of this initiative, creative learning will be defined as high-quality arts education in OST settings, with equitable access for the social, emotional and creative development of children and youth.
The Endowments aims to support the work of existing and new grantees in this space; improve their effectiveness; and create a more powerful network of programs, organizations and teaching artists. Creative Learning grantees will go beyond arts exposure to inspire deeper, generative, transformational and participatory learning for young people with an emphasis on racial equity in the learning ecosystem.
The Endowments’ core strategies for this work are:
- Support provider organizations that work directly with young people.
- Support intermediary organizations that improve conditions for providers, teaching artists, and young people.
- Support teaching artist field-building and professional development.
- Support young artists.
- Center equity in terms of race, resources and reach.
The Endowments developed this initiative through a diligent process that engaged OST provider organizations, teaching artists, researchers, practitioners and funding colleagues for more than two years. The 2019 Creative Learning in Pittsburgh report from the University of Pittsburgh summarizes our process and findings, and serves as a starting point for our current initiative. We acknowledge the prior investments of time, expertise, funding and practice that preceded Creative Learning at the Endowments: the Transformative Arts Process (TAP), Culturally Responsive Arts Education (CRAE), and the community processes that led to the creation of the Arts Education Collaborative and APOST.
*We use the abbreviation "OST" as shorthand for the field of practice that is alternately referred to as out-of-school-time, expanded learning, informal education, enrichment and after-school. Creative Learning in the Pittsburgh region will support an ecosystem of OST providers and teaching artists focused on creative youth development – with programming delivered to children and youth in a variety of settings, including community learning centers, cultural spaces, arts facilities, parks, museums, libraries and schools.