Call to Action on Arts Education

COVID-19 has devastated the arts and learning sector, threatening to push the arts completely out of post-pandemic school programming while limiting the impact of the sector on broader community revival. We are seeking endorsements for our Call to Action on Arts Education to help in our advocacy efforts as we seek to sustain and grow arts and learning in an emerging new normal. By adding your name, you will make a bold statement that arts and creativity are integral to the learning process, both at school and throughout life, and are fundamental to the development of the fully realized individual.

Call to Action on Arts Education - The Winnipeg Vision

The Canadian Network for Arts & Learning calls on governments, artists, educators, professional organizations, researchers, universities, communities, and all advocates of arts and learning to endorse the following principles to ensure that the arts are positioned to make an increased and sustainable contribution to learning both at school and throughout our communities.

The vision is the outcome of a major conference (Creative Convergence) held in Winnipeg, Manitoba in October of 2019 during which participating experts from across Canada and around the globe were asked to share their perspectives on the future of the sector. Their responses highlighted how the three goals of the Seoul Agenda, Goals for the development of arts education (UNESCO 2010) can be interpreted from the perspective of practitioners and learners.

We envision a sustainable future for arts and learning in which learners of all ages:

  1. Have Access

    • Access diverse and inclusive learning experiences in, through and about the arts via
      • Opportunities within the home, community, learning institutions, and workplace
      • Recognition and celebration of diverse artistic traditions and expressions
      • Digitally mediated and face-to-face engagement
      • Overcoming social, economic, geographic, and cultural barriers

  2. Experience Quality

    • Experience quality arts education via
      • Progressive development of artistic knowledge and techniques
      • Self-expression and human interaction
      • Responding to works of arts from diverse cultures and traditions
      • Balancing the potential and risks of technologically-mediated arts practice and learning
      • Moments of contemplation, curiosity, wonder, joy and delight

  3. Apply the Arts

    • Apply the arts to issues of personal, local, and global significance via
      • connecting to self, others and community
      • Building understanding, reconciling difference and mobilizing change
      • Supporting civic engagement and social good
      • Contributing to personal and community health and well being
      • Activating artistic ways of knowing within non-arts sectors

Our call to action is issued in sympathy with the provisions of the Frankfurt Declaration for Arts Education (World Alliance for Arts Education, November 2019) and is closely aligned with several of the goals and targets of UNESCO's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (UNESCO 2015).

View the Call to Action as a PDF

Add your endorsement to the Call to Action on Arts Education

Recent Endorsements

Marcine Linder

I am endorsing because The arts are an essential part of being human. They are key to our mental health both to entertain us as "passive" audience members, and as active participants (whether we are singing in the shower or jamming with friends, doodling, painting, whatever). They are a gateway to higher level thinking, innovation, and in making the world a better place.

Heidi Epp

I am endorsing because I see how much music and the arts are neglected and undervalued in our school system. This makes the arts accessible primarily to the financially elite. That situation is detrimental to our whole community and the nurture of our society. It is the arts the nuturtures our creative problem solvers and visionaries in all areas. It is the arts that helps us to empathize and understand each other and look for different perspectives. It is the arts that help us to be patient and listen with all parts of our soul, developing critical thinking with our hearts! It is the arts that help us to express and process our human experiences not only individually but corporately. This is something that everyone needs access to.

Rhonda Fenton

I am endorsing because Both as a parent and an elementary school teacher, I see the difference that quality arts education makes in a child's life - a difference that continues to impact life as an adult. The Arts complement and enrich all learning, including maths and sciences and leads to a broader as well as deeper understanding and enjoyment of life. The Arts are crucial in and of themselves, but also open pathways of learning for many students who struggle with curriculum taught without the benefit of an Arts link/focus. My statement only begins to touch on a tiny recognition of the value of the Arts, as in reality, the Arts positively impact and enrich every aspect of our lives.

Fraser Valley Children's Chorus

I am endorsing because In our more rural setting the arts are harder to get access to in so many ways and therefore very underdeveloped not only in schools but in the community as a whole.

Alison Malito

I am endorsing because My access to music education meant so much to me as a child and teen. I want my children to have the same chance to experience music, but sadly I see access to music education deteriorating so rapidly! The arts are so vital for development of community, mental health, and the strengthening of our brains.