The Louisiana Office of Cultural Development has formed a collaborative partnership with the George Rodrigue Foundation and Louisiana A+ Schools to continue the arts integration movement in Louisiana. This partnership will provide teach artists residencies in selected A+ and the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities Turnaround Arts Schools in Louisiana. Funding for this project is made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts

South Arts has released the results of multi-year research investigating arts education in the South. The reports, Arts Education in the South Phase I: Public School Data and Principals’ Perspectives and Arts Education in the South Phase II: Profiles of Quality, look at access to and quality of arts education in K-12 public schools in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee through a set of quantitative and qualitative research. The reports were commissioned by South Arts with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and nine participating state arts agencies. For the complete report, click here, and for Louisiana's results, click here. More arts education research can be found at National Association of State Arts Agencies Art Education Research page and the Americans for the Arts.

Imagination, Creativity and Innovation Initiative supports schools with a mission of nurturing creativity in every learner through an integrated arts education. Schools that are part of this initiative inspire the entire community toward increased student engagement by committing to child-centered, experiential, arts-integrated teaching and learning. In ICI Initiative schools, the processes of creating, performing and responding to art lead to increased student achievement, increased attendance by students and staff, lower rates of retention, higher self-esteem, decreased discipline problems, greater parent participation and a growing sense of community. These schools use strong evaluation practices. For more information please see our ICI Pilot Program: Arts Integration in Schools to Reform Education press release.

Create a culture of student achievement and school improvement through arts integration practices that engender quality, achievement and learning for everyone.