As part of our new series of interviews with those shaping arts in education in New York State, I recently had the pleasure of speaking with our friends at Partners for Arts Education.

Hopefully you are all aware of our collaborators in central New York, Partners for Arts Education (PAE); a service organization which, provides information, resources, and funding to support arts in education. From their website: “Partners for Arts Education advocates for the role of the arts in every aspect of a child’s educational life. The partnerships we nurture recognize the artistic and educational integrity of teacher, artist and student. We believe this is possible and necessary for all learners, and we provide the support and evidence to make it happen.”

As many of you may already be aware on September 1, 2009, PAE undertook a strategic redirection and reorganization. What does this mean? How will it impact you and your work? Here are the answers…

The first and foremost change is an internal adjustment in the management structure. PAE is now lead by a triumvirate – three amazing women working together to advance PAE’s mission.

Triumvirate: a government of three officers or magistrates functioning jointly.

“Three heads are indeed better than one” – Laura Reeder
“Three is definitely NOT a crowd” – Beth Leibrick

Who’s Who – and their new roles at PAE

Beth Leibrick, Executive Director
For the past five year’s Beth’s engagement with PAE has been growing. Since relocating to Central New York, Beth has been working with the arts and education community. Most recently Leibrick served as Vice President, Executive Editor for Examgen, Inc., an educational software and publishing company, and served as President of the Board of Directors for Syracuse Children’s Theatre, and was a consultant to participants of the PAE ArtStart grant program.
Leibrick is an experienced educator, and school administrator working in both public and private schools as well as in higher education. Her balance of education and business backgrounds make Beth well equipped to manage all of PAE day-to-day operations, as well as leading the organization into the future.

Frances Hradil, Director of Strategic Marketing
Fran joined the PAE team two years ago, responsible for development and fundraising. Prior to PAE she was Director of Development and Marketing at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo for twelve years. Fran also had previous experience in the arts via the Syracuse Opera Company, as Director of Development and Special Events and views her move to PAE as a ‘homecoming to the arts’.
Fran is charged with ensuring the ongoing stability and sustainability of the PAE organization through fund raising, donor cultivation and relationship building. She is a valuable resource for all those seeking guidance and input on how to connect with your audience of potential funders.

Laura Reeder, Founding Creative Director
So many of us know and love Laura and think of her synonymously with PAE. She has been the driving force of the organization since it’s founding in 1999. Laura has taught visual arts at every level from Kindergarten through 12, and most recently has joined the faculty of Syracuse University.
Under the new organization structure of PAE, Laura’s new title is Founding Creative Director. This position will allow her to focus on research in the arts in education field, and sharing information on best practices and model programs. Additionally, Laura will continue to serve as a mentor and advisor to the art in education community in New York State.

This new organizational structure allows PAE to engage in a higher level of efficiency and transparency, capitalizing on the strengths of the entire management team and diversifying the ownership of the direction of the organization.
In investigating this reorganization PAE looked to the Chicago Arts Partners in Education (CAPE) for a working model of efficient and effective delivery of top quality arts in education programs, as well as information and research dissemination.

The bottom line - PAE is not going away. To the contrary, this reorganization is designed to make the resources of PAE more accessible their constituents.

PAE will continue in its core mission and remain focused on:
- direct services to schools in central New York
- expanding support services and professional development to teaching artists
- administering the NYSCA Technical Assistance Program (TAP) to further the work of those pursuing arts in education activities
- building a base of corporate and foundation funding to provide support to arts in education activities

PAE is also excited about the growing impact of the Arts in Mind initiative, which helps school districts use their school improvement plans as a source for all creative partnerships and to leverage existing funding, expertise of educators and community expertise to build better equity and quality in all arts learning. The hope is for this model to lead to a viral spread of school reform for innovative education through the arts.

NYSAAE looks forward to continuing our work together with PAE and I invite to you find out more about our friends in Syracuse by visiting their website - click here.

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