artsBASICS is part of the Partners in Education program of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is designed to assist arts organizations throughout the nation to develop or expand educational partnerships with their local school systems. The primary purpose of these partnerships is to provide professional learning in the arts for teachers. In 1992, this program was awarded the Association of Performing Arts Presenters' Dawson Award, which recognizes innovative and successful projects.

The Partners in Education program is based on the belief that teachers' professional learning is an essential component of any effort designed to increase the artistic literacy of young people. The Kennedy Center's extensive experience with its local professional learning program, established in 1976, provides the basis for this national program.

ABOUT

artsBASICs is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that has been in continuous operation since 2011.

artsBASICS, guided by its Mission, serves students in the Davenport Community School District. We seek to provide arts education, in the form of in-depth and sustaining experiences in all of the arts disciplines. This can be an on-going experience with a community artist, a summer extended workshop, or an arts integration project involving multiple areas of art and other curricula areas.

Toward this end, we also provide arts integration workshops for teachers. We know that one teacher can provide increased arts integration with many students over their years of teaching. This makes the effects of these workshops increase dramatically. All children can benefit from the arts in their education and their lives. Today, we know that students learn in many ways; some students can grasp math concepts more easily through choreographing a dance or by creating a musical piece. Some, especially in developing early literacy skills, can learn by "reading" a painting and describing what they see to also increase vocabulary. Creating physical tableaus of historical events, can help students gain understanding, insight and empathy for the characters involved by using group dramatic skills. The skills found by being involved in all of arts education, including collaboration, creativity, confidence and global awareness will be even more needed in tomorrow's workplace and enrich these student's lives in ways we can only imagine.

As of the fall 2023, artsBASICS has opened its resources and services to all 25 schools (K-12) in the Davenport Community School District. We focus on arts integration training for K-8 educators. We provide art opportunities and scholarships to all grade levels. In the past, we were partnered with the Creative Arts Academy of the Quad Cities, Central High School, Sudlow Intermediate, McKinley Elementary, Harrison Elementary and Jackson Elementary.

artsBASICS is made up completely of volunteers. All funds come from grants, fundraisers, corporate and individual donors.

HISTORY

Our arts education advocacy organization, artsBASICS (Bridging Arts Strategies between Communities and Schools) was formed in response to the findings of an arts education audit taken of the Davenport Community Schools. This Community Audit was provided by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and served as the foundation of a grant received by our group for the school year of 2010-2011 to improve the access and quality of arts education experiences in selected schools towards the goal of becoming arts education model schools. Two elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school were selected.

A team of 10 people from the Davenport Schools and community were selected by the Co-Directors, who had written the grant and included: a representative from each of the arts education areas of the visual arts, music, drama and dance; a school board member, an administrator, a parent, a student, an arts supporter, and a community business partner. This team received training by the Co-Directors including the procedure to complete the Community Audit, the process of Strategic Planning, strategies for arts advocacy, and presentation of arts integration lessons.

Through a wider Task Force formed from the community, the audit was completed and uncovered the most specific need in the Davenport Community Schools arts education program as the lack of access and number of dance and theater experiences, especially in the elementary and middle schools. A Strategic Plan was formulated to create three major committees of Informed Leadership, Educational Content, and Community Connections to begin to address these needs. Each committee created goals and action steps with accompanying time-lines. Our projects have involved those in at least one of the three committees and community business partners, grants and individual donors have provided the funds necessary.

JOel & Diane Franken

Co-Founders & Former Directors

JOEL FRANKEN

Joel is the former Director of the Creative Arts Academy of the Quad Cities in Davenport, Iowa. He is a National Board Certified Teacher and was among the first in the nation to receive this certification in Early Adolescence and Young Adult Art. Mr. Franken was also elected to serve on the 63 member National Board for Professional Teaching Standards until his retirement from secondary art education. He has served as the Art Educators of Iowa President and selected their Secondary Educator of the Year and their Art Educator of the Year. Franken is responsible for establishing AEI’s Visual Arts All-State Competition in which the brightest and most artistic secondary visual arts students in the state are recognized. Joel has also served as the chairperson of the Iowa Department of Education “Fine Arts” Outcomes and Assessment Committee which was established. He received his BA in Art Education from the University of Northern Iowa University and his MA in Art Education from the University of Northeast Missouri State. He was an Iowa State “Da Vinci” Scholar; a US West Telephone Company initiative that created educational experiences using Visual Art teachers collaborating with Chemistry Teachers. In Davenport, Joel served on the Figge Art Museum’s Artist Advisory Committee. As an artist, Joel’s ceramics and paintings are in private collections in the Midwest.

DIANE FRANKEN

Diane is a National Board Certified Teacher in Visual Art and served as the district art coordinator for the Rockaway Township Schools in New Jersey. She was named the National Middle School Art Educator and board member of the National Art Education Association as the Middle Level Director and as their liaison to the Consortium of National Arts Education Associations, Diane joined other leaders in Dance, Theater and Music to write an Integrated Arts Guide. She became a Getty Education Foundation facilitator in Discipline Based Art Education and as president of the Art Educators of New Jersey; Diane served on the state’s Arts Assessment Committee, received an Excellence Award from the New Jersey State School Boards Association for an Arts Education Advocacy film and was awarded five Governor’s Awards for Arts Education Leadership. Diane co-authored two published art production texts for teachers and numerous art education periodical articles, co-chaired various arts teacher curriculum institutes and has given arts education presentations at Columbia University, national conventions and several state conventions. As an artist, Diane’s paintings are in private collections on the East Coast. After moving back to her hometown of Davenport, Iowa, Diane served as the Arts Resource Coordinator for the Lincoln Academy of Integrated Arts and a member of the Figge Art Museum Education Committee. Diane is the former Executive Director for the Iowa Alliance for Arts Education and former Co-Director of the artsBASICS program. She has also served as the Curriculum and Student Support Chair of the Creative Arts Academy of the Quad Cities.

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