“The arts and humanities are critical building blocks for a child’s development and they provide a strong foundation for a lifetime of learning . . . The study of the arts and humanities gives children the chance to be extraordinary—the power to be themselves.” First Lady Laura Bush, Coming Up Taller awards ceremony, 2004

In New York City, various disciplined attitudes and behaviors were observed among disadvantaged youth and young adults (ages 10–26) with no prior arts instruction who were selected for study in an art form. The effects of their study—artistic, academic and personal achievement, and states of mind—were tracked over a two-year period. Common characteristics across all age groups were: self-regulation, constructive identity, resilience and flow (the ability to experience total focus and absorption in a task). Champions of Change, 63-78

“True art is the intermediary between man’s ordinary nature and his higher potentialities.” E. F. Schumacher, economist, A Guide for the Perplexed, 1977

A decade of nationwide research has shown that troubled students involved in after-school arts programs achieve more in school and in their personal lives than others in the same socioeconomic group—more than those involved in sports and community programs. Even though the students observed and studied in after-school arts organizations were twice as likely as those in a national sample (U.S. Department of Education, NELS:88) to be undergoing insecure family situations and attending violent schools, they were:
    •  Four times more likely to have won school--wide attention for their academic achievement.
    •  Three times more likely to be elected to class office.
    •  Four times more likely to participate in a math and science fair.
    •  Four times more likely to win an award for writing an essay or poem.
    •  Three times more likely to win an award for school attendance.
Critical Links, 78-89   

“As a prosecutor, I know that crime prevention pays far greater dividends than prosecution. To this end, I make funds available to after-school arts and social programs for at-risk children that stimulate imagination, develop skills and contribute to character development. Children whose hearts and minds are nourished and challenged in wholesome ways—such as by art, dance, theatre and sports—are much less likely to succumb to the lure of crime.” Richard M. Romley, as District Attorney, Maricopa County, Arizona, 1997

The Youth Arts Development Project, a research initiative of the US Department of Justice, offered arts opportunities to at-risk youth in three cities (Portland, San Antonio and Atlanta) and found decreased delinquent behavior and improved cooperation and attitudes about school. In Portland, at the start of the 12-week program, 43 percent of the participants demonstrated an ability to cooperate with others; 100 percent did so by the end. Attitudes toward school also improved: 31.6 percent of the youth involved with the arts program showed improvement, whereas only 7.7 percent of the non-arts group did. In San Antonio, 16.4 percent of the arts program participants had a decrease in delinquent behavior in contrast to only 3.4 percent of the non-arts comparison group. In Atlanta, despite the fact that the arts program participants on average had more court referrals than the comparison group at the start of the program (6.9 and 2.2 referrals, respectively), they averaged fewer court referrals during the program period than the comparison group (1.3 and 2.0 respectively). Heather J Clawson and Kathleen Coolbaugh, YouthARTS Development Project, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice, 2001.

“The arts teach children that problems can have more than one solution and that questions can have more than one answer.” Elliot Eisner, Beyond Creating: The Place for Art in America's Schools. Getty Center for Education in the Arts,1985

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Funding for Woodruff 's Education Initiative was generously provided by The Goizueta Foundation, Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, Inc., The Kendeda Fund & an Anonymous Donor.

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