The BYU ARTS Partnership brings arts education to schools through teacher workshops, conferences and published materials. Our programs include: Arts Express Summer Conference, the Arts Integration Endorsement, Arts Bridge and Arts Rich Schools. We collaborate with local, state and national partners on various initiatives including:

• the Native American Curriculum Initiative funded by the Utah Division of Arts and Museums and the National Endowment for the Arts,
• Arts for Life in collaboration with the 4 arts education organizations in Utah, and
• The Beverley Taylor Arts Learning Program at USBE, which provides arts educators across Utah.

Our student employees collaborate with 15 employees and 40 members of our leadership to determine the needs of our constituents and effectiveness of our work. Student employees collaborate with our staff on branding and communications for our organization. They lead marketing campaigns, manage publishing calendars, write content, update websites, support experience design and event planning, develop instructional materials, design digital and print products, and conduct evaluations and user research. Student employees who are Arts Bridge scholars collaborate with teachers in our programs on a 50-hour arts integration project in their classroom to develop skills in teaching artistry and classroom management for both the Arts Bridge Scholar and classroom teacher.

Right from the interview, we ask our employees about their long-term goals, knowing that alignment with their passions will best serve our shared goals. We provide written frameworks of our philosophy, goals, and details for implementation. Then we listen to the expertise of our students as we collaborate, reflect, and report on progress in weekly meetings. We mentor them with ongoing feedback toward established expectations. We are inspired by the intellect and ability of the students we are lucky enough to work with and enjoy following their success as they move into the world to serve.

Part of our work is to help adult learners develop their personal voice through choice-making, risk-taking, and engagement in the arts. We take this pattern into our work with students in order to honor their intention for their employee experience. We ask them before making assignments about their interest and desire in relation to the project and if there is anything we could add or revise in the assignment to meet their learning needs or wants. Often we ask, “Is there anything you would like to do that you are not currently doing?”

We practice group reflection frequently. We meet weekly with student employees for “check-ins” where we vent, celebrate, laugh, and empathize with each other’s current academic and personal experiences. We open the space for students to share their work and learning experiences from their classes and personal lives. We then ask them to report and reflect on their work from the week. We practice asking for consent to respond to all personal and work experiences. We ask students for their opinion on their work before we offer ours. We invite them to ask what they need from us.

We provide high doses of surprise, novelty, humor, nutrition, attention, and patience with developing skills. Written materials are provided for background knowledge to support student success. We invite them to meet the groups of people served by their work to see the impact of their work. They are most inspired when they exceed their own expectations and see the impact of their work in people’s lives.