Successfully learning literacy by third grade strongly correlates with high school graduation rates and future self-sufficiency, reducing the financial burden on communities. However, not all students learn the same way, and traditional methods of teaching literacy may not be enough for some.
“Art is the organic method through which we learn,” says Tia Flores, program director for the Sierra Arts Foundation. A fourth-generation Nevadan and former arts educator, she now advocates for access to arts education integration in classrooms.
Studies show that arts education bolsters student achievement within the core curriculum. For example, through arts education strategy, students reinforce vocabulary apprehension by drawing an object related to a target word (e.g., a bottle for "recycling"), writing the word inside in various shapes, and crafting sentences around it outside of the shape. This strengthens retention through visual and contextual connections.
Sierra Arts brings arts education—including foundational concepts and artistic language—to K-12 schools in northern Nevada, particularly those without dedicated arts teachers. Arts education can be a powerful tool for learners, but arts education is inadequate in some schools in Nevada since the funding simply isn’t there. Only two of Nevada’s 17 school districts, Douglas and Clark, provide arts teachers. Other districts, like Washoe County, depend on PTA funding or nonprofit support to fill the gap.
Sometimes Sierra Arts is also filling those gaps with programs including the Teaching Artists Residencies, Arts in Education, Arts Integration Programs, and many more. The Foundation is passionate about supporting professional and emerging local artists since art is not only a viable and important career, but also critical to a successful and thriving community.
“Sierra Arts is a community-driven arts organization,” Flores says. “We start with community needs and use the arts to address them.”