Our Bloggers

Sam Hope is Executive Director of the National Office for Arts Accreditation which serves the National Associations of Schools of Music, Schools of Art and Design, Schools of Dance, and Schools of Theatre, and of the Higher Education Arts Data Services. The members of these five organizations total over 1,100 postsecondary institutions and programs in the United States. Mr. Hope is an executive editor of Arts Education Policy Review magazine. He was a member of the national committee that served to oversee development of the national voluntary K-12 standards in dance, music, theatre, and the visual arts. He served on the steering committee concerned with specifications for the National Assessment of Educational Progress for the Arts. For many years he was an editorial consultant to the Journal of Aesthetic Education. He assisted the Music Teachers' National Association in developing its teacher certification program. Mr. Hope has served as a consultant to many arts, education, and accreditation organizations, and he writes extensively on arts, education, and evaluation policy.

Jack Lew, Manager, Global Art Talent Resources, Electronic Arts; Jack has been with Electronic Arts for 4 years. EA is the world leader in developing and publishing video games. His roles have included developing relationships with art schools and strategies for identify and recruiting top student talent. He has visited close to 50 colleges throughout the US and Canada identifying top digital art programs where EA has had collaborations and curriculum development. Currently, he is part of the Global Talent Acquisition Team developing strategies and sourcing key creative talent to EA's worldwide studios.

Laura Zakaras is an arts researcher and communications analyst at RAND. She co-authored (with Julia Lowell) the study that is the catalyst for our blog: Cultivating Demand for the Arts: Arts Learning, Arts Engagement, and State Arts Policy. She has also conducted research on a range of other topics, including strategies for building arts participation, the state of the performing arts, the benefits of the arts (Gifts of the Muse), changing roles and missions of state arts agencies, and the formation of collaborative networks in support of arts education in six urban areas across the country. Dr. Zakaras also serves as the Communications Director for the RAND Institute for Civil Justice, where she helps researchers communicate effectively to policy audiences and develops dissemination strategies to expand the reach of RAND research. She holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Washington.

 
James Cuno, Director, Art Institute of Chicago

Richard Kessler is executive director of The Center for Arts Education (CAE), dedicated to ensuring that every K-12 student in New York City's public schools is provided with high-quality arts learning as an essential part of the K-12 education. At CAE, Kessler has focused on developing significant efforts in advocacy, government affairs, media relations, and coalition-building. Kessler was previously executive director of The American Music Center. From 1993 to 1997, Kessler was vice president of Artsvision, an arts education consulting company, where he helped create and implement programs for school communities, arts organizations, and foundations including The Center for Arts Education, The Center for Creative Education, and Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education. A trombonist and alumnus of The Juilliard School, Kessler was a Naumburg Award winning chamber musician and former faculty member of the Manhattan School of Music. He is a trustee of Common Core, the DC-based education-advocacy organization, the American Composers Orchestra, the Festival of New Trumpet Music, and Sequitur. Kessler's arts education blog, Dewey21C, appears on artsjournal.com.

Eric Booth In arts learning, Eric Booth has been on the faculty of Juilliard (13 years) where he co-Founded the Arts and Education program and the Mentoring Programs, Stanford University, NYU, Tanglewood, and Lincoln Center Institute (for 25 years), and teaches at the The Kennedy Center (12 years). He was the Faculty Chair of the Empire State Partnership program for three years, held one of six chairs on The College Board's Arts Advisory Committee for seven years. He serves as a consultant for many organizations, cities and states and businesses around the country. Formerly the Director of the Teacher Center of the Leonard Bernstein Center, he is a frequent keynote speaker on the arts/arts education to groups of all kinds, and was asked to deliver the closing keynote speech to UNESCO's first ever worldwide arts education conference, and to the first world conference on orchestras and community connections. As an actor, he performed in many plays on Broadway, Off-Broadway and around the country. As a businessman, he started a small company, Alert Publishing, that in seven years became the largest of its kind in the U.S. analyzing research on trends in American lifestyles. As an author, he has had five books published. The Everyday Work of Art (1997) won three awards and was a Book of the Month Club selection. He has written three dozen magazine articles, was the Founding Editor of the Teaching Artist Journal, and his new book The Music Teaching Artist's Bible will be published by Oxford University Press in February.

 
Midori made her historic debut at the age of 11 when she was introduced as a surprise guest artist by conductor Zubin Mehta at the New York Philharmonic's annual New Year's Eve concert in 1982. Since that night over 25 years ago, she has established a record of achievement which sets her apart as a master musician, an innovator, and a champion of the developmental potential of children. In 1992 Midori founded Midori & Friends, a non-profit organization in New York, which brings music education programs to thousands of underprivileged children each year. Two other organizations, Music Sharing (based in Japan), and Partners in Performance (based in the US), also bring music into the lives of people who may not otherwise have involvement with the arts. Her commitment to community collaboration and outreach extends beyond these foundations to her work with young violinists in master classes all over the world, to her University Residencies Program, to her Orchestra Residencies Program, and to her positions as Jascha Heifetz Chair and Chair of the Strings Department at USC's Thornton School of Music. In 2007 Midori was named a U.N. Messenger of Peace by Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations. Midori has a glorious musical gift. Equally important is her generosity of spirit, which motivates her to reach out and give something back. Visit www.GoToMidori.com.

Bau Graves, Executive director, Old Town School of Folk Music

Kiff Gallagher is Founder & CEO of the Music National Service Initiative and MusicianCorps. Growing up playing piano and writing songs by "ear and heart," Kiff's love for music remained a muse while he focused his career on systemic change. Gallagher cut his policy and public affairs teeth in Senator Joe Biden's press office. In 1991, he helped launch the Clinton presidential campaign and later served on the White House legislative team that crafted AmeriCorps. At the Corporation for National Service, Gallagher, known then professionally as Chris, ran a $18MM domestic program portfolio in education, health, public safety and the environment. After leaving Washington, Gallagher joined Odwalla, Inc. where he was lead spokesman and senior advisor for brand strategy and corporate responsibility. Later appointed President of Social Venture Network, a national organization for CEO's and investors, Gallagher became an early leader and public voice in the movements for social entrepreneurship and sustainable business. In 2002, Kiff returned to his lifelong passion for music and began promoting music as a civic and social strategy. He also wrote and produced two critically praised pop-rock albums, toured nationally, and received radio and TV placement for his songs. In 2005, Kiff was awarded a grant from the Fleishhacker Foundation to continue recording and developing his vision for a "musical Peace Corps." Gallagher has consulted internationally for the State Department and recently traveled to Ethiopia with CARE and the GatesFoundation. Kiff is an active equity investor, 2008 Aspen Institute "Ideas Fellow" and an honors graduate from the College of Letters at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT.

Bennett Reimer, Founder of the Center for the Study of Education and the Musical Experience, author of A Philosophy of Music Education;

 
Edward Pauly has been Director of Research and Evaluation for The Wallace Foundation since 1996. He leads the New York-based foundation's efforts to develop and share knowledge and solutions that have emerged from the foundation's work on expanding participation in the arts, strengthening education leadership, and improving after-school programs. He is the author of books and articles on public policy topics. From 2005 until 2007, he was Chair of Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, and is currently a GEO board member. All Wallace Foundation research and evaluations are available for free downloading at Wallace's Knowledge Center, www.wallacefoundation.org.

Moy Eng serves as Program Director of the Performing Arts Program at The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, one of the largest foundation funding programs for the arts in California. Under her leadership, the program has focused on providing more aesthetically diverse opportunities for engagement in the arts, creating new, affordable and permanent performing arts space in the San Francisco Bay Area region, and increasing opportunities for standards-based arts education as part of a quality education for 6 million public schoolchildren in California. The latter effort is conducted jointly with the Hewlett Foundation's Education program. Prior to her 2001 appointment at the Hewlett Foundation, Moy amassed over two decades of experience in the nonprofit sector, working in arts and culture, immigrant rights, international human rights, lesbian and gay rights, and renewable energy fields. She has served on a number of national committees encompassing human rights, environmental and arts issues, including Co-chair of the 2007 Arts Education conference, a Grantmakers for Education and Grantmakers in the Arts collaboration and on the national advisory committee of The Dana Foundation's Transforming Arts Teaching initiative. Moy has taught at New York University and the State University of New York at Purchase, and also has lectured at numerous national, regional and state conferences on grantmaking, organizational development and fundraising. In 2003, Moy received awards in recognition for her exemplary work in the arts from the California Arts Council and Americans for the Arts.

John Rockwell was a music and dance critic at the Oakland Tribune and Los Angeles Times before he moved to the New York Times in 1972.There he served as a classical music critic, chief rock critic, European cultural correspondent, Arts and Leisure editor, arts columnist and chief dance critic. He also founded and directed the Lincoln Center Festival from 1994 to 1998. Now he has a blog, "Rockwell Matters," at artsjournal.com. 

Susan Sclafani works with Chartwell Education Group, a national and international consulting group, and the National Center for Education and the Economy. She served as Assistant Secretary of Education for Vocational and Adult Education from 2003-2005 in the US Department of Education. Earlier she served as Counselor to the U. S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige, where she was the U.S. representative to OECD, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and APEC, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. Among the highlights of her term at the Department was the leadership role she played in the creation of the Mathematics and Science Initiative (MSI) which emphasized the need for teachers knowledgeable in math and science at every level of schooling and the importance of further research in both areas. Her international work led to her leadership of the joint E-Language Learning Project with the Chinese Ministry of Education. She also led the Department's High School Initiative to better prepare students for 21st Century education, training and the workplace. Prior to serving at the Department, Dr. Sclafani was Chief Academic Officer in Houston, one of the nation's largest urban school districts, and in that capacity perfected her diverse skills focusing on technology, curriculum development, mathematics and science initiatives, and construction management. She also has extensive state education and business experience. At Chartwell Education Group, Dr. Sclafani has continued her international education work as well as her work in improving K-12 educational systems at local, state and national levels. She also served on the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce and continues to work with NCEE on behalf of its report, Tough Choices or Tough Times.

Jane Remer, has worked nationally for over forty years as an author, educator, researcher, foundation director and consultant. She was an Associate Director of the John D. Rockefeller 3rd Fund's Arts in Education Program and has taught at Teachers College, Columbia University and New York University. Ms. Remer works directly in and with the public schools and cultural organizations, spending significant time on curriculum, instruction and collaborative action research with administrators, teachers , students and artists. She directs the Capezio/Ballet Makers Dance Foundation, and her publications include Changing Schools Through the Arts and Beyond Enrichment: Building Arts Partnerships with Schools and Your Community. She is currently writing Beyond Survival: Reflections On The Challenge to the Arts As General Education. A graduate of Oberlin College, she attended Yale Law School and earned a masters in education from Yale Graduate School.

Michael Hinojosa, was named superintendent of the Dallas Independent School District April 28, 2005. His selection brings him full circle to the school district he attended as a student and where he began his career as a teacher. His career in Texas public education spans 29 years, starting as a teacher and coach at L. V. Stockard Middle School and W. H. Adamson High School. He currently leads the 12th largest school district in the nation with a student population of almost 160,000. With a firm belief that education and not environment is the key to a student's future success, Dr. Hinojosa has embraced the recommendations of the Dallas Achieves Commission to promote educational transformation in the city and to make Dallas ISD the top school district in the nation by 2010.