As we’re gearing up for “back to school”, it seemed like a good time to revisit my interview with Dr. Lisa Donovan about her work at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) to increase access to arts education equitably in Berkshire County, Massachusetts. The college collaborates with numerous arts organizations, educators, business leaders, and social workers through a network funded by four collective impact grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. Dr. Donovan discusses collective impact as a cross-sector approach to addressing complex problems such as increasing for equitable access to arts education for students across all 13 districts in the Berkshire region as well as the significance of school-based access to arts and cultural experiences for both students and the community. She also talks about the C4 initiative (Creative Compact for Collaborative Collective Impact), which encompasses career readiness, her commitment to arts integration (which she defines as learning in, through, and with the arts in collaboration with other content areas), and the power of networks and the potential for collective impact to open and sustain artistic and cultural opportunities in rural regions like Berkshire County. Let us know what you think about Art Works—email us at artworkspod@arts.gov. And follow us on Apple Podcasts

Programs discussed in the podcast:

It's Back to School--Let's talk about Arts Education