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Arts Every Day Equips Baltimore City Teachers Ahead of the School Year with Creative Teaching Strategies Through the Baltimore Arts Integration Project

Special to the Baltimore Times
BCYF-funded summer professional learning initiative prepares educators to integrate the arts into the school year curriculum, fostering student engagement, collaboration, and academic success.

BALTIMORE, MD — As educators prepare for the upcoming school year, Arts Every Day is empowering Baltimore City Public Schools teachers with innovative strategies rooted in neuroeducation to create more engaging, collaborative, and creative classroom experiences through its Baltimore Arts Integration Project.

Taking place throughout July and the beginning of August, the Baltimore Arts Integration Project brought together Baltimore City Public School educators and local artists to co-create arts integrated lessons aligned with the district's curriculum. Through collaborative workshops and hands-on learning, participants develop ready-to-use classroom resources that strengthen student engagement and seamlessly integrate into academic instruction.

“Arts integration creates opportunities for every student to learn in meaningful and engaging ways,” said Julia Di Bussolo, Executive Director of Arts Every Day. “Research in neuroeducation and embodied cognition reminds us that learning is not simply about absorbing information—it is an active process that engages the brain, body, emotions, and senses. By advocating for resources that support creative teaching strategies and encouraging collaborative planning between teachers and local artists, we’re helping build classrooms where students can move, make, explore, and think creatively while actively participating in their learning.”

Through this initiative, Arts Every Day empowers Baltimore City educators to create learning environments where academic achievement, creativity, and student engagement work hand in hand. By investing in educators and advocating for the resources they need, the organization expands access to arts-integrated learning, ensuring more students across Baltimore City can experience its benefits throughout the school year. Educators leave the program with practical, lasting resources including free, high-quality lesson plans, teaching strategies, and materials available through the Arts Integration Digital Resource Library that they can adapt and use year after year.

The Digital Resource Library includes arts integrated materials aligned with various subjects across the school curriculum like ELA, social studies, science, and math. The library accommodates educators across the city by including features that filter lesson plans by subject, grade level, art form, curriculum, unit, text, topic, author, and standard.

The Baltimore Arts Integration Project reflects Arts Every Day's ongoing mission to ensure every Baltimore City student has access to high-quality arts education. By investing in educators, the organization expands the reach of arts learning, allowing students across Baltimore City to experience the benefits of arts integrated instruction throughout the school year. The initiative is made possible through collaboration with Baltimore City Public Schools, local teaching artists, federal funding, and the support of community funding organizations like the Baltimore Children and Youth Fund committed to advancing equitable access to arts education.

“Arts education plays an important role in creating opportunities for young people to explore their creativity, build confidence, and develop skills that extend far beyond the classroom. We are proud to support organizations like Arts Every Day that are working alongside Baltimore City Public Schools to make meaningful arts experiences,” said Alysia Lee, BCYF’s president and CEO. “Investment in initiatives like the Arts Integration Digital Resource Library creates more equitable pathways for Baltimore’s young people to learn, create, and thrive.”

For more information about Arts Every Day, the Baltimore Arts Integration Project, and BCYF, visit artseveryday.org and bcyfund.org. For media inquiries, please contact Ca-She’ Mitchell at [email protected]

About Arts Every Day:

Arts Every Day is a nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding access to high-quality arts education across all Baltimore City Public Schools. Arts Every Day provides arts integrated training, workshops, and professional development that equip educators with creative, research-informed approaches to teaching and learning. The organization also fosters meaningful connections among educators, local artists, and community organizations, strengthening the network of support around arts education. Through its programs, partnerships, and resources, Arts Every Day creates opportunities for students to engage deeply with the arts, build confidence, develop creativity, and see themselves as active participants in their learning.

About the Baltimore Children & Youth Fund:

The effort to create a dedicated fund to support programs for Baltimore’s young people was launched in 2015 by then-City Council President Bernard “Jack” C. Young — a response to the unrest in Baltimore following the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody, an event that sharply illuminated longstanding inequities in public funding in Black communities. Supported by Baltimore City residents’ tax dollars, since 2020 BCYF has awarded over $31M to Baltimore programs serving children and youth