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Royal Animal Refuge

Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta

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Atlanta Writers Club

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ArtsNOW is a nationally recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit with more than 20 years of experience reshaping education . Through programming that integrates visual arts, music, dance, digital arts and drama into academic lessons, we set the stage for educators to become effective in their teaching, and for students to achieve greater academic and personal success.
The mission of ArtsNOW is to transform lives through customized solutions to meet educational needs utilizing arts integration and innovative strategies.
ArtsNOW is the leading professional learning organization for resourceful and innovative approaches which engage students, equip educators, and grow school communities for meaningful impact on the future.
The mission of ArtsNOW is to transform lives through customized solutions to meet educational needs utilizing arts-integration and innovative strategies.
“I want folks to know that integrating the fine arts through ArtsNOW programming works very well as a means of educating our students, the results speak for themselves! We outscored the state CRCT average in every area for 3rd grade, and perhaps most importantly, we had the highest student attendance average of any academy or Title I school in the district.” – Former principal, Oak Grove Elementary School Fine Arts Academy

Arts Integration 101

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Now Hiring: Project Coordinator

National Arts in Education Week 2026: Why the Arts Belong in Every Classroom

Watch: ArtsNOW Celebrates South Carolina Governor’s Award

ArtsNOW Receives Support from The Joanna Foundation to Deepen Arts Integration at H.E. Bonner Elementary

How ArtsNOW Prepares Educators for the School Year Ahead

Why Student Engagement Matters for Learning & What’s Working in Classrooms Today

Now Hiring: Director of Marketing & Development

8 Academically and Creatively-Engaging Arts Activities for Your Family This Summer

Why Professional Learning?

ArtsNOW Receives Grant from Milliken & Company Charitable Foundation for a Second Year

2024 2025 Arts NOW Annual Report

2023 2024 Arts NOW Annual Report

2022 2023 Arts NOW Annual Report

Pamela Walker

Crystal Collins

April Duffey

Lane Hall

Delores McDaniel

Kim Mercer

Kristin Mumford

Shakura Conoly

Regi Strickland

Shawn Williams

Bo Robinson

Chris Crabb

Katy Betts

Stephanie Lancaster

Melissa Dittmar Joy

Laurin Dunleavy

Julie Galle Baggenstoss

Simone Liberty

Tamara Irving

Barry Stewart-Mann, MFA

Susie Spear Purcell

Rue S. Lee-Holmes

Maribeth Yoder-White, PhD

Lyn Koonce

Shannon Green

Debi West, Ed.S, NBCT

Are you in the Atlanta area and looking for a more hands-on way to give back to ArtsNOW? This opportunity is for you! This season of gratitude, lend a hand to support students and families.📚 💌 A few hours of your time helps ArtsNOW get ready for the work ahead. Join us at our Duluth, GA office to assemble book kits for students and families and help with administrative projects, including preparing mailers. Bring a friend, meet others, and give back together! 📅 Tuesday, November 17th | 10:00 am - 12:00 pm 📅 Thursday, December 3rd | 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm Sign up for a volunteer session - link in bio 📄 Can't make these dates? We plan to offer volunteer opportunities throughout the year. Email Shakura at shakura@artsnowlearning.org with your name and email address to hear about future dates. #nonprofit #volunteer #givingback #networking #artsintegratedlearning

Step inside East Aiken School of the Arts @eastaikensota and see arts integration at work...✨ Engagement in every classroom. Rising test scores. Teachers that love their job. This is the impact of arts-integrated teaching practices, evident school-wide at East Aiken!💛 Educators and school leaders: come see it for yourself. Join us Friday, November 13th for a Demonstration of Learning Day in Aiken, SC! Tour classrooms, connect with students, hear from Principal Lisa Fallow, and leave with ideas you can bring right back to your own school. Registration closes November 9th. Save your spot at the link in bio! #ArtsNOW #ArtsIntegration #artsintegrated #InspiringLeaders #VisionaryLeadership

Imagine what one great lesson can unlock for a student in your classroom. ArtsNOW provides over 500 arts-integrated resources to support educators in bringing learning to life. The best part? They are all FREE and easy to access through our website. With your support, we can keep creating and sharing more. Be one of our first 50 Founding Innovation Catalysts. Your monthly gift of $10, or an amount meaningful to you, helps bring more creative learning opportunities to classrooms and beyond. Pass the possibility forward. Link in bio! #nonprofitsupport #artsintegration #education #monthlygiving #artsintegrationworks

SAVE this to try in your classroom: Hear-Think-Wonder! 🎶 Turn on a piece of music and let your students' curiosity do the rest! Here's how it works: 👂 I HEAR: Students name the sounds they hear: instruments, lyrics, loud or soft, long or short. They can write the word or draw a picture! 💭 I THINK: What does the music make them think about? How does it make them feel? ✨ I WONDER: What questions does the music spark? Then students pair up, share their ideas, and support their claims with evidence from the music. One student described a piece as “suspicious… because the music is low and deep.” That’s critical thinking in action! 🙌 This exercise builds listening skills, vocabulary, and evidence-based reasoning, and it works across subject matters. 💛 Save this to use in your classroom, and share with an educator who needs to try it! #ArtsNOW #artsintegratedlearning #artsintegration #artsintegrationworks #teachersofinstagram

When learning looks like THIS, you know something special is happening! 🎨✨ Just look at those proud smiles! When students get to learn through the arts, they aren’t just creating something beautiful. They’re exploring ideas, solving problems, and showing what they know in a whole new way. 💛 That’s the magic of arts integration: every song, dance move, scene, and creative idea becomes part of the learning. And when students see what they’ve created, that sense of pride is something they carry with them long after the lesson ends. 🌟 At ArtsNOW, we love equipping educators with ready-to-use lessons and hands-on professional learning to bring moments like these to life in their classrooms. Explore free arts-integrated lessons at the link in bio! 🎭🎶 Tell us in the comments: what’s a moment when the arts helped a student shine in your classroom? 👇 #ArtsNOW #VisionaryLeadership #artsintegratedlearning #artsintegrationworks #artsintegration

Your students will have fun learning about the parts of a plant (for example, pumpkins🎃) while you assess their deeper understanding of vocabulary words! Here's how this arts-integrated lesson works: 1. Each table or group of students gets assigned a vocabulary word (seeds, roots, nutrients, ripe, etc.). 2. Groups then receive a kit of materials to use in their art, including things like pipe cleaners, paper towel rolls, and dried beans. Use items you already have in your classroom or recycled supplies from home! 3. Ask each table or group to create an art piece that illustrates their vocabulary word. Students get to decide what materials to use from the kit, but must be prepared to explain their creative choices based on texture, color, shape, etc. This is a fun and creative way to assess student's understanding, and a perfect fit for an October or November lesson. ✨ Explore more arts-integrated lessons at the link in bio! 📌 Save this for your fall plans, and share it with an educator you know! #ArtsNOW #artsintegrated #artsintegratedlearning #schoolteacher #teachersofinstagram

Every day, your students are creating, moving, imagining, and discovering in incredible ways. And the best news? Sharing those moments is easier than you think. You’re probably already doing most of it! When you document arts integration, you give families, school leaders, and your whole community a front-row seat to the magic happening in your classroom. Swipe > for four fun and simple ways to get started: Your students shine every single day, and these stories deserve to be seen. Let’s celebrate them together.🌟 📌 Save this for later, share with an educator friend, or read the full blog for inspiring examples from our partner schools. Link in bio! #ArtsNOW #artsintegratedlearning #artsintegration #classroomsofinstagram #teachersofinstagram

Exciting news: ArtsNOW is proud to again partner with @Crayola for Crayola Creativity Week 2027! 🌟🖍️ So, what is Creativity Week? It’s a FREE, global celebration (Jan 25-31, 2027) designed to spark imagination in every school. 🌍 Last year, over 20 million students from 160,000+ schools and 146 countries participated - and this year is set to be even bigger. Here’s what you’ll get when you register: 🎨 Daily, standards-aligned creativity activities for grades K–5 🎥 A live virtual assembly + on-demand videos featuring celebrity guests 🎁 Exciting school giveaways 📚 Ready-to-use resources you can bring straight into your lessons Creativity matters because it builds confidence, strengthens problem-solving, and makes learning joyful, and every student deserves that spark. Learn more & register today at the link in our bio! #CrayolaCreativityWeek #CrayolaLearning #ArtsNOW

Looking for a quick way to bring creativity and movement into your classroom? Try this theatre game!🎭 What Are You Doing? is a game of cooperation, coordination, and creativity. Here’s how it works: 🎬 Partner A silently mimes an activity, anything from shooting a basketball to washing the dishes. The more descriptive, the better! ❓ Partner B asks, “What are you doing?” 💡 Partner A names a different activity. Partner B immediately begins acting out that new activity while Partner A keeps doing the original one. Then they switch! It sounds simple, but it requires creative thinking, listening, quick decision-making, and physical expression. It's also a great stepping stone into arts integration! You don’t need a full arts-integrated lesson plan to start building a classroom culture where students are comfortable creating, moving, imagining, and thinking in different ways. Sometimes, you just need to ask: What are you doing? 👀✨ 📌 Save this for your next brain break, and share it with an educator friend! Find more arts-integrated ideas at the link in bio. #ArtsNOW #artsintegrationworks #schoolteacher #teachersofinstagram

When fifth graders ask to spend recess rehearsing, you know something's working.🎭 At Cannons Elementary, @cannons_elem, ArtsNOW has provided job-embedded professional learning to support the school-wide arts integration journey, and students have fully embraced it. They're using the arts in their regular classrooms daily, rehearsing standards-based performances and proudly calling themselves artists. According to Principal Elizabeth Phillips, the impact of arts integration shows up everywhere: "It's evident in our school, it's evident in our classrooms, and it's evident in our test scores." 💛 See arts integration for yourself! Join us Wednesday October 21 for a Demonstration of Learning Day at Cannons Elementary. ⏰ Final call: registration closes this Friday, October 16. Grab your spot at the link in bio! #ArtsNOW #artsintegratedlearning #artsintegration #teachersofinstagram

This is your sign to bring the arts into your classroom this fall! 🍂🎨 From creating plant cell choreography to personifying fractions to building soundscapes for a classroom text, our free Lesson Library is packed with ready-to-use, arts-integrated lessons for grades K–12. Save this for your next lesson plan, and tag an educator who needs a sign today! 💛 Explore every lesson at the link in bio. #ArtsNOW #artsintegratedlearning #teachersofinstagram

Every clap, chant, and drumbeat in the classroom is doing something pretty amazing inside a child's brain. 🎶 Researchers at @uofsc and @nucasll have spent years studying what happens when kids learn music, and what they found is so exciting! Music helps tune the brain for listening. It sharpens the sound skills that support reading, and it strengthens the networks kids use to focus. Best of all, the biggest gains showed up when children were actively making music themselves. That's why we help educators weave rhythm, song, and all kinds of beats into their core subjects, right alongside other mediums like dance, theatre, and visual arts! 💛 Want to bring the beat into your classroom? Explore free arts-integrated lessons in our Lesson Library at the link in bio. Save this for your next lesson plan, and share it with an educator who loves a good beat! #ArtsNOW #artsintegratedlearning #teachersofinstagram #lessonplanning

🚨 LAST CALL, friends! 🚨 Join us Tuesday, October 13 at 11 AM ET, when we'll be sharing brand-new research from ArtsNOW partner schools across Georgia, South Carolina, and Alabama. In just one hour, you'll discover what research reveals about relationships, classroom climate, and problem-solving when the arts come alive in the classroom. Our CEO and President Pamela Walker will host, joined by three research guests: Dr. Ashlee A. Lewis and Dr. Dalisha Shingler of the @uofsc Research, Evaluation, and Measurement Center Dr. Melinda Mollette, external evaluator for our @usedgov grants There's a seat with YOUR name on it! Register now for free at the link in our bio. Tag an educator, school leader, or arts champion who needs to be there! 💛 #ArtsNOW #artsintegrated #artsintegratedlearning #artsintegrationworks

Want to open a lesson in a way that gets kids moving AND makes math click? Here's a simple activator that does both, no fancy prep required! Start by building a dance together using simple moves like jump, hop, clap, and turn. Then comes the magic moment: tell your students that the dance they just created is actually a set of data! Turn it into a chart or graph, then show them how to represent it as a fraction (3 jumps out of 9 total moves = 3/9, or 1/3!). Watch it click in real time. 🤯✨ We LOVE this because it makes the connection between movement and math so visible, so joyful, and so easy to grasp before diving deeper into a lesson! Interested? You'll love the full lesson even more - Movement by Chance: Exploring Dance and Data Patterns (Grades 2-3)! Students take it even further, exploring chance choreography inspired by the legendary Merce Cunningham, rolling dice to build their own dance sequences, then collecting and analyzing their data. SO much creative, hands-on math fun packed into one lesson!! 💃 Full lesson linked in bio, go check it out! 🔗 #ArtsNOW #artsintegrated #schoolteacher #teacherresources #artsintegratedlessons

We're growing, and we'd love for you to grow with us! 🎉 ArtsNOW is hiring a Project Coordinator based in our Columbia, SC office. This role keeps our work moving across three states: coordinating school visits, organizing professional learning sessions, and collecting the data that shows what arts integration makes possible for students and educators. If you have a background in education, a love for arts integration, and a gift for keeping lots of moving pieces beautifully organized, we'd love to hear from you! Applications close October 31. Send your resume to Senior Director Regi Strickland at regi@artsnowlearning.org. The full job description is at the link in bio. Know someone who'd be a great fit? Tag them below! 💛 #ArtsNOW #InspiringLeaders #VisionaryLeadership #artsintegratedlearning #artsintegration

POV: You're building a #makerspace! 🎉✨ This one is just getting started, but we're so excited to see it come together. A maker space isn't about having everything perfect, it's about giving students a place to build, invent, and experiment through hands-on learning! A few things we love about this space: 🪑 Tables made for collaborating and dreaming up ideas together 🤖 Robotics station just waiting for its first invention 🎬 Green screen and tech station ready to turn imagination into film 🎨 Art supplies, recycled materials, a piano, and space for movement...creativity around every corner! What would make YOUR dream maker space? Drop it below or save this for inspo! 💡 #ArtsNOW #InspiringLeaders #artsintegration #artsintegratedlearning #artsintegrationworks #teachersofinstagram

SAVE this simple arts-integrated strategy to try in your classroom! ⭐️ See, Think, Wonder can be done with any subject, any image (video/media), and is great for introducing a new unit, starting a lesson, and/or getting students in the frame of mind to think creatively. It also helps them refine focus, think critically, and, like this teacher did, practice writing complete sentences! Here's how it works (screenshot this!): ➡️ Show students an image (or video, or object, etc.) related to your current vocabulary or curriculum, and let them respond in three steps: 1️⃣ I see... green. 💚 2️⃣ I think... there is fog. 😶‍🌫️ 3️⃣ I wonder... if it is spring or summer. ☀️ (We love how this teacher used sticky notes - brilliant idea!) 🙌 See, Think, Wonder comes from the incredible team at @projectzerohgse. Visit the link in our bio to learn more about the strategy and how to use it with your students! Let us know if you'll be trying this in the comments ⤵️ #ArtsNOW #artsintegratedlearning #freelessons #teachersofinstagram

Your classroom is already full of music. You just haven't heard it yet. 🎶✨ A lot of teachers hear "integrate music into your lesson" and immediately think "I don't have instruments." We get it! But here's the thing: you don't *need* that to bring sound into your classroom. This is called found sound, and it's exactly what it sounds like, making music with whatever's already around you. Pens on a foosball table. A basket and some stomping. A notebook and a water bottle. That's it. That's the whole toolkit! Pro tip: Control the chaos by limiting your students to creation of an 8-count phrase, or containment to one section of a lesson. A little found sound goes a long way! Try this with your class and tag us, we'd love to see what sounds you find! #ArtsNOW #artsintegrated #artsintegratedlearning #artsintegration #artsintegrationworks #teachersofinstagram

Looking to make arts integration more accessible in your classroom (or at your school)? Try this! One of our partner schools, Vickery Mill Elementary, came up with what they like to call "The Bucket Lesson." Here's how it works: 1️⃣ Pick a lesson from our free Lesson Library. 2️⃣ Customize it to fit a specific grade level and standards. 3️⃣ Pack everything needed for the lesson right into a bucket. Materials, printed lesson plan, all of it. This makes it simple and easy to start integrating the arts! This is exactly the kind of thinking that makes arts integration something every classroom can actually do, not just something that sounds great in theory! 💛 Tag a teacher or school leader in the comments who needs to know about this (or send them this post!) #ArtsNOW #InspiringLeaders #VisionaryLeadership #artsintegratedlearning #artsintegration #schoolteacher #teachersofinstagram

Say hello to the newest addition to our toolkit: the ChompSaw, @itschompshop! 🎉 It's a cardboard-cutting tool that nibbles through material with tiny, rapid punches instead of a spinning blade. It is so fun to watch in action, with no safety glasses needed! Just clean, precise cuts through cardboard - useful for teachers and safe for students too. Watching an idea go from "just a cardboard box" to a real, finished build in minutes is pure magic. If you're running a STEAM classroom or Makerspace, this is one of those tools that makes the whole "idea to build" moment so much faster and so much more fun! What would you build first? Let us know in the comments! ✨ #artsintegrated #artsintegratedlearning #artsintegration #schoolteacher #teachersofinstagram

The arts belong in every classroom - and the research backs it up. 🎨 As we wrap up National Arts in Education Week, swipe through for three of the many reasons to keep arts integration front and center: students who engage more, students who understand more, and teachers who stay. Every student deserves that kind of learning, no matter their ZIP code or their school's budget, and making that possible takes all of us. 📣 Help us put the evidence in more hands. Join us October 13 for a live virtual Research Briefing, where we'll unpack the findings and what they mean for students, educators, and school communities. Register at the link in bio! #ArtsNOW #artsintegratedlearning #artsintegration #NationalArtsInEducationWeek #NAEW2026

Students sitting in today’s classrooms will enter a world that demands flexibility, creativity, and strong problem-solving skills. Enter: arts integration! Through arts integration, learning becomes more active, meaningful, and memorable for students. Educators feel it too. In research from USC's REM Center evaluation of ArtsNOW partner schools, 89% of teachers said arts integration positively impacts their classroom environment, and 91% said it strengthens their relationships with students. This National Arts in Education Week, we wanted to show you what that looks like - classrooms where creative learning is part of everyday instruction.🎨⭐️ Here's to integrating the arts into *every* classroom! #ArtsNOW #artsintegratedlearning #artsintegration #NationalArtsInEducationWeek #NAEW2026

The arts belong in every classroom! 🎨🎶🎭🪩 And the research backs it up. In ArtsNOW partner schools, educators reported: ⭐️ 95% saw increased student engagement ⭐️ 92% saw students better understand academic concepts In celebration of #NationalArtsinEducationWeek, we're sharing the data and the stories behind those numbers. 📣 If you love numbers (and data!) as much as we do, join us October 13 for our free Research Briefing. We'll unpack what the findings tell us about arts integration's impact on students, educators, and school communities. Save your seat at the link in bio! #ArtsNOW #artsintegratedlearning #artsintegration #NAEW2026

Looking for an example of an ArtsNOW lesson translated to a real classroom? You found it! 🟡🟧🔷 “When a Line Becomes a Shape” is one of our K-1 lessons pairing geometry with the book When a Line Bends…A Shape Begins. Students don’t just draw a triangle, they build one with tangible materials, bending, reshaping, or arranging until they can feel what actually makes a triangle a triangle. The lesson plan calls for pieces of yarn that students can arrange to make shapes. But once she got into it, the teacher running this lesson swapped in pipe cleaners instead; they hold their form better for little hands. That’s the kind of on-the-fly call we want teachers making. Our lessons are a jumping-off point, not a script, and she knows her students better than any lesson plan does. Want to try this one yourself? Full lesson (materials, standards, and all) is linked in our bio. #ArtsNOW #artsintegrated #artsintegratedlearning #schoolteacher #teachersofinstagram

Every arts-integrated classroom starts somewhere. For @emoon76 at @DowellElementary, it started with training, and it's since reshaped how she plans her classes altogether. [Thanks, Mrs. Moon, for allowing us to share your thoughts!] She's watched her own students light up when academic content comes alive through arts integration. Once you see it work in your classroom, it changes how you teach. If you're a teacher wondering whether arts integration is right for you and your students, consider this a sign! Curious where to start? We've got free lessons, videos, and tools waiting for you, link in bio. 💛 #ArtsNOW #InspiringLeaders #artsintegrated #schoolteacher #teachersofinstagram

What if your students could step inside a 90-year-old mural and become part of its story? 🎭 "Stories on the Wall: Bringing Hale Woodruff's Murals to Life" is a grades 9-12 lesson that combines theatre and ELA through the analysis and physical reenactment of two Hale Woodruff murals at Talladega College, one depicting the Amistad captives' return to Africa, the other showing the building of Savery Library. Students research how purpose, audience, and historical circumstance shape each mural's meaning, then work in small groups to build a tableau, or frozen scene, that captures what their mural represents. They close it out by writing an artist's statement that backs their creative choices with evidence from their research. It builds visual literacy, historical analysis, collaboration, public speaking skills, and persuasive writing, all in one lesson! 💛 Click the link in our bio to download the full lesson (for free!) or tag a teacher who might find this helpful in the comments! #ArtsNOW #artsintegrated #artsintegratedlearning #highschoolteacher #teachersofinstagram

Math and reading comprehension... through theatre? Yep, you read that right! 🎭 Across our partner schools, teachers are using the drama strategy of tableau to bring their curriculum to life. Here are some grade-level ideas for incorporating it: 💛 First graders use tableau to figure out an unknown in a subtraction/addition problem. 💛 Third graders pull theme and main idea from a text they're reading and build a tableau to represent it. 💛 Fourth graders take a decimal number and then create a tableau to express it as a fraction. 💛 And fifth graders review a chapter, then recreate its key events in tableau, incorporating characterization and dialogue along the way. Same strategy, endless ways to use it. This is what arts integration looks like in practice! If you're wondering where to start when integrating the arts in your classroom, check out our free resources library via the link in bio! #ArtsNOW #artsintegrated #artsintegratedlearning #artsintegrationworks #teachersofinstagram

Arts integration isn't just something you add to your lesson plans; it's a way of seeing your classroom differently! We sat down with Regi Strickland, our Senior Director, to talk about what that shift actually looks like in practice. Before joining ArtsNOW, Regi spent years teaching first and second grade then became an instructional coach, all at an arts-integrated magnet school. She knows about the mindset shift from the inside, not just from theory! That's part of what makes her perspective so useful: she's talking about the questions she asks and the way she approaches a lesson that isn't "working" as someone who's actually stood in front of that classroom. Her take: once you start looking for the arts connection, you can't unsee it, and neither can your students. What shifted your thinking about arts integration? #ArtsNOW #InspiringLeaders #artsintegrated #artsintegration #artsintegrationworks

What does arts integration actually look like in a real classroom? 👀🎨 Come see it for yourself! Demonstration of Learning Days are a chance to step inside ArtsNOW Leadership Schools during regular classroom instruction time, see arts-integrated lessons in action, and experience what this work looks like in practice. These events are *FREE* and open to all, but you must fill out a registration form to attend. 📍 Oct. 21 — Cannons Elementary | Spartanburg, SC 📍 Nov. 13 — East Aiken School of the Arts | Aiken, SC 📍 Feb. 24 — Dowell Elementary | Marietta, GA 📍 Mar. 31 — Deer Chase Elementary | Hephzibah, GA 📍 Apr. 9 — Ellen Woodside Elementary | Pelzer, SC You’ll tour classrooms, observe learning in action, hear success stories from school leadership, and leave with new ideas to take back to your own school. Know a teacher who should experience this? Tag them or share this post! 💫 🔗 Registration + details at the link in our bio. #ArtsNOW #CreativeClassrooms #TeachersofIG #JoyfulLearning #artsintegrated #artsintegratedlearning #artsintegration

Five grade levels. One consultant. A whole lot of learning. 🎶 ArtsNOW Music Consultant, Lyn Koonce, brought rhythm and tempo into classrooms at Warren Road Elementary - connecting music vocabulary directly to what students were already learning. The result? Math, money, history and phonics that stuck!! #ArtsIntegration #ArtsNOW #ArtsInEducation #TeacherLife #ElementarySchool #MusicEducation #ProfessionalLearning #StudentEngagement

The work is meaningful, and the team makes it joyful. 💛 Behind every school visit, every lesson plan, every professional learning day, and every relationship we build is a group of people who genuinely believe in what they're doing and genuinely enjoy doing it together! We are so grateful for our team -- who work creatively, collaboratively, and with a whole lot of heart! #ArtsNOW #InspiringLeaders #artsintegrated #artsintegrationineducation

What if your students could build their understanding of geometry, literally?📐 "Polygon Perspectives: Bringing Geometry to Life Through Sculpture" is a grade 5 lesson that combines visual arts and math through a collaborative sculpture build, inspired by artist Alexander Calder. Students use the Engineering Design Process to plan and create three-dimensional sculptures that demonstrate the properties and defining attributes of polygons, using color theory and a variety of materials. Working in small groups, they'll sketch, build, problem-solve, and reflect...ending the lesson with a sculpture that demonstrates their understanding. It builds geometry skills, engineering thinking, visual arts understanding, and collaboration tools, all in one lesson! 💛 Click the link in our bio to download the full lesson (for free!). #ArtsNOW #artsintegrated #artsintegratedlearning #artsintegrationworks #teachersofinstagram

Back-to-school season is exciting...and a lot.🍎✨ Whether you need a quick teacher brain break between classes or a calming creative activity for students, this simple Model Magic donut challenge is the perfect reset.🍩 [Thanks to Visual Arts Consultant Shannon Green for the inspo & Project Manager Kristin Mumford for the demo!] All you need: 🤍 One small packet of white Model Magic 🖍️ Markers 💭 A little imagination Color the clay by drawing on it with markers, then knead the color in until you get the perfect shade. Add more marker for deeper colors, shape your donut, decorate it, and let it dry overnight. Before you know it, you'll have a sweet little creation, and maybe even a whole collection! Beyond being fun, this tactile activity supports focus, self-regulation, creativity, and fine motor skills, making it a great addition to any classroom or a five-minute desk break. Looking to take it a step further? You could absolutely use this as a tool in your arts-integrated classroom. We’ve used it in math lessons with #addition, #subtraction, #fractions, and more! How could you integrate this into your teaching? #ArtsIntegration #TeacherBrainBreak #BackToSchool #CreativeClassroom #TeacherIdeas #ClassroomCreativity #ModelMagic #MathIdeas

Would you believe one science standard could be taught four different ways, and hit four fine arts standards while doing it? That's exactly what arts integration looks like when it's planned intentionally. This curriculum map from a recent planning session at Bryant Park Elementary School (Jefferson County, Alabama) puts classroom standards at the center and builds art form standards around them, K–5, across every subject. Same rigor. Same standard. Four ways in, so every student finds the one that clicks. Tag an educator or school who could use this for inspo! 🎨🎭🪩🎶 #ArtsNOW #InspiringLeaders #artsintegrated

If you want to integrate the arts in your classroom, but aren't sure where to start... this is for you! If you're *already* integrating the arts, and need more ideas... this is for you, too! Our FREE resource library helps you connect dance, music, theatre, and visual arts to the content your students are already learning with integrated units and lessons. Each lesson includes real classroom strategies that build engagement, deepen understanding, and make learning genuinely come to life. Click the link in our bio to browse hundreds of standards-aligned lessons and integrated units spanning every grade level, every subject, and every art form. Share the love and tag a teacher who might find this helpful in the comments! 💛 #ArtsIntegratedLearning #TeachersOfInstagram #LessonPlanning #artsintegration #ArtsNOW

We love when we get to share our story, and this one was a great conversation. 💛 Throwing it back to when Pamela Walker, our President and CEO, spoke on Business RadioX to talk about what arts integration actually looks like in classrooms across Georgia and beyond, the work, the impact, and the educators making it happen every day. For more than 20 years, ArtsNOW has walked alongside teachers, schools, and communities as a true partner in this work. And the thing that never gets old? Watching creativity open doors for students that nothing else could. Tune in to the full conversation at the link in our bio! #ArtsNOW #artsintegratedlearning #artsintegrationineducation

There are so many digital tools out there for creative learning, and honestly, the options can feel overwhelming. So we handpicked three of our favorites to add to your back-to-school toolkit. All free, and all classroom-ready!! ChatterPix by @duckduckmooseapps 🎙️ lets students give any photo a voice: snap a picture, draw a mouth, record a message, and suddenly a character from history is speaking, a scientific concept is explaining itself, or a piece of student artwork comes to life. Brush Ninja @brushninjaapp 🥷 is a web-based animation maker that needs no download and no account. Students create frame-by-frame animations right in their browser, perfect for sequencing a story, modeling a process, or visualizing an idea in motion. Chrome Music Lab's Song Maker 🎵 is one we keep coming back to. Students compose melodies using a color-coded grid that works as both a musical tool and a graphing activity, connecting pitch, rhythm, and data analysis in one place. Save this post and add at least one of these to your classroom this year. Which one are you most excited to try? Let us know in the comments! #schoolteacher #artsintegrationworks #teachersofinstagram #artsintegrationineducation #educatorsofinstagram

As classrooms fill back up and the school year finds its rhythm, we want to take a moment to remind every educator reading this: your work matters more than you know. 💛 Real change and impact starts with: One teacher. One classroom. One decision to try something different. We're here to support you every step of the way, and we wish you an amazing 2026-2027 school year! #ArtsNOW #teachersofinstagram #artsintegratedlearning #artsintegration #artsintegrationineducation

There's a reason we keep coming back to this question, and a reason the answer never gets old. ⭐️ Arts integration changes what learning feels like for students. ⭐️ When a child can move through a math concept, perform a moment from history, or paint what a vocabulary word means to them, something shifts. The content stops being something that happens *to* them and starts being something they genuinely own. ⭐️ It meets students where they are. Not every student learns the same way, and the arts open doors for the ones who have been waiting for a different way in. ⭐️ Plus, the research backs it up. We've seen ELA proficiency climb 13 points over four years in our partner schools. We've seen student engagement, confidence, and sense of belonging grow alongside the academic gains. ⭐️ And it matters because teachers feel it too. When a lesson comes alive in the room, when students are curious, collaborative, and fully present, that's not just good for students. It's the reason so many educators got into this work in the first place. Arts integration isn't an add-on. It's a way of believing that every student deserves a classroom that brings learning to life. That's why we do what we do! Why does #artsintegration matter to you? Let us know in the comments! #ArtsNOW #artsintegratedlearning

Consider this your sign to stop searching and start following @artsnowlearning! 💛 Our Lesson Library has hundreds of standards-aligned lessons that connect visual arts, music, dance, and theatre to the subjects you're already teaching- ELA, Math, Science, and Social Studies- across every grade level from K-12. Not to mention they are built by educators who understand both the arts and the classroom! Ready to bring the arts into your classroom? Head to the link in our bio today! #artsintegrated #artsintegratedlearning #artsintegration #schoolteacher

Have you been following along and wondering how to get started with arts integration? This one's for you. Arts Integration 101 is a full-day, hands-on learning session led by ArtsNOW, designed specifically for educators who are new to the profession or new to arts integration. If you're in the metro Atlanta area and ready to jumpstart your arts integration journey, we would love to have you in the room! In one day, you'll discover how dance, music, theatre, and visual arts connect authentically with core academic content, learn the difference between arts enhancement and true arts integration, and leave with ready-to-use lessons and practical strategies you can apply immediately. 📅 Thursday, November 12 | 9 am–3 pm 📍 ArtsNOW Offices in Duluth, GA 💲 $150 Registration Fee ⭐️ Register by September 30 and receive a free 32 oz. YETI Rambler! Seats are limited. Link in bio to register. 💛 #artsintegrated #ArtsNOW #artsintegrationineducation

#ICYMI: WSB-TV visited us this summer, and we loved getting to share our story with Atlanta! 📰✨ The segment features our Foundational Seminar, a look at the Hapeville Elementary team (@fultoncoschools), and our partnership with @l4lmetroatlanta, all woven together around one central idea: ArtsNOW doesn't stop when the school year does. The summer season is a time we invest deeply in educators, giving them the professional learning, hands-on strategies, and community they need to walk back into their classrooms feeling ready, inspired, and supported. All of the teachers and teams you see in this clip spent their summer choosing to grow. That says everything. We are so proud of this partnership with Learn4Life Metro Atlanta and so grateful to WSB-TV for telling this story. Head to our blog for more details about our Foundational Seminar and to view the full TV segment 👉 Link in bio! #ArtsNOW #ArtsIntegratedLearning #ArtsIntegrationWorks #ArtsInSchools

The first week back sets the tone for everything that follows. These three theatre-based activities are some of our favorites for building classroom community from day one, and the best part is they don't require any theatre experience, any prep, or any supplies. 👏 Clap-Around builds the kind of focus and ensemble awareness that carries into every collaborative moment all year. 🔤 A-B-C is deceptively simple, and never fails to get the whole room laughing while building real listening skills. 🪑 Winds of Change gets students moving and finding unexpected common ground. Once your students know these games, they become tools you can use all year long. Swap in vocabulary words, story characters, scientific concepts; the structure does the work, and the content becomes yours. Save this one for week one. 💛 #ArtsNOW #teachersofinstagram #freeteacherresources #lessonplanning

We've heard this one before. 👀 "I can't find any good lessons that integrate the arts into my content area." We get it; searching for resources that actually connect the arts to what you're already teaching can feel like looking for a needle in a haystack. So we built the haystack differently. Our Lesson Library has plenty of free, standards-aligned lessons that connect visual art, music, dance, and theatre to ELA, Math, Science, and Social Studies, across every grade level from K-12. No hunting. No piecing things together. No "close enough." Just lessons that work, built by educators who understand both the arts and the classroom. Head to the link in our bio and explore what's waiting for you. 💛 #ArtsNOW #artsintegration #artsintegratedlearning #teacherresources #freelessonplans

We talk about the impact of arts integration a lot. We share the data. We show you what it looks like in classrooms. But sometimes the most powerful thing we can do is step aside and let a school leader tell you herself. Lisa Fallaw is the principal of @eastaikensota in Aiken, South Carolina, and she has seen firsthand what happens when a school commits to arts integration as a core instructional strategy, not an afterthought. It works. And it's a whole lot of fun getting there. If you've been curious about what arts integration could look like in your school or classroom next year, let this be your sign. Our Lesson Library has hundreds of free, standards-aligned lessons ready to go, no experience required. What's holding you back? 💛 Link in bio → explore the Lesson Library.

This one might not already be in your supply closet, but it's worth finding out if your school music teacher has a set you can borrow. 👀 Boomwhackers are color-coded, pitch-tuned tubes that students play simply by tapping them against a surface (palm, thigh, or hip works well😉). Each color represents a different note, making pitch and melody instantly accessible, no music background required on your end or theirs. They're not a consumable, which means once your school makes the investment, they last. One set, used well, can live in your classroom for years. Start with the basics: introducing pitch, exploring rhythm, and building listening skills. But once students get their hands on them, the possibilities expand quickly. Melody, patterning, call and response, composition... boomwhackers open a door into music that's hard to close! If you can't borrow a set, consider adding them to your class wishlist this back-to-school season. It's the kind of investment that pays off every single time you take them out. 💛 #ArtsNOW #artsintegration #artsintegratedlearning

If your school is serious about arts integration, curriculum mapping is worth knowing about. At its core, a curriculum map is a snapshot, a way to organize and visualize how the arts are being intentionally woven into classroom instruction across grade levels or school-wide. It identifies meaningful, purposeful opportunities to connect the arts with other disciplines, so the integration isn't happening by accident. It's planned, it's visible, and it's sustainable. One of the things we love most about curriculum mapping is what it does for a school community. When a teacher, an administrator, or even a stakeholder walks into a building and can see exactly how the arts connect to what students are learning every day, that's powerful. It makes the work visible, and it makes the commitment to arts integration real. Does your school use curriculum mapping? We'd love to hear how you approach it. 💛

POV: Your emoji just picked your next lesson. 🎨 🎲 = Movement by Chance - Grades 6-8 🎷 = The Blues (or Not So Blue Blues) - Grades 4-5 🦊 = Camouflage & Mimicry - Grade 3 🧚 = Exploring Themes Through Printmaking - Grades K-1 🌍 = Piecing Together Our World - Grades 9-12 All free. All ready for your classroom. Head to the link in our bio to grab yours. 💛 Which one did you get? Drop it below! 👇 #ArtsNOW #teachersofinstagram #teachertips #artsintegratedlearning

Save this for back to school! ✅ ArtsNOW Dance Consultant Julie is demonstrating an isolation warm-up, a quick movement activity that introduces elements of dance while building skills every classroom needs, regardless of subject or grade level: Fine motor skills. Attention and listening. Student choice. Yes, all in half a minute! The idea is simple: students isolate and move one part of their body at a time, following along and making their own choices along the way. It gets bodies engaged, minds focused, and students ready to learn, without any dance experience required on your end. Save this one for when you're back in the classroom or share it with a teacher who might need it. Trust us... Your students will love it! #ArtsNOW #DanceInSchools #ArtsIntegration #TeachersOfInstagram

The data is clear, but it doesn't happen overnight. When teachers commit to arts integration as a core instructional strategy, students grow. We've even seen overall ELA proficiency climb 13 points across four years in some of our partner schools. The keyword here is sustained. School-wide progress takes time, and that's okay. The teachers who stick with it, who bring arts integration into their classrooms consistently, year after year, are the ones whose students show up in the data. If you've been weaving arts integration into your teaching, we'd love to know: what results have you seen? And if you've been curious but haven't tried it yet, what's holding you back? The research is on your side. 💛 #ArtsNOW #ArtsIntegration #artsintegratedlearning

Looking to bring theatre into your classroom but don't have any experience? This one's for you. ArtsNOW Theatre Consultant Barry Stewart Mann is demonstrating "Word Passing" - a simple activator that builds concentration, cooperation, and vocabulary all at once. Choose a word from your current content, pass it around the circle with eye contact, and add gestures and voice to make it stick. That's really all there is to it! This is a low-prep, high-engagement way to get students focused and present while reinforcing content they're already learning. Perfect for teachers who want to dip their toes into theatre strategies without overhauling anything. Any grade level. Any subject. Any word list. Tag a teacher who might find this helpful! 💛 #ArtsNOW #ArtsIntegration #TheatreAtSchool

This one's a game-changer, and we think every classroom should keep a bag on hand... Biodegradable packing peanuts! 🌱 The kind that dissolve in water and bond together when they get damp. No glue, no mess - just packing peanuts and water. Press two together with a wet sponge, and they stick instantly! Students can build sculptures, three-dimensional models, structures - you name it. And when the lesson's over, cleanup takes about two minutes. Best part? Even the colorful ones are inexpensive and easy to find in bulk. Oriental Trading, Amazon, and most office supply stores carry them. Biodegradable, affordable, and endlessly versatile in an arts-integrated classroom. We'll be sharing more of our favorite low-lift, high-impact classroom supplies all summer long. Save this one for your back-to-school list! 🌟 #artsintegration #teachertips #classroomideas

Let's talk about the Engineering Design Process! 🛠 Not every arts-integrated lesson uses it, but the two often go hand in hand. Both ask students to think creatively, take risks, and learn through trial and error - the same skills an artist uses when they sketch, revise, and revise again. Here's how it works: ✏️ Ask: Define the problem. 💭 Imagine: Explore all the possible solutions. 📐 Plan: Think, draw, and label. 🔨 Create: Build a model and test it. 🔁 Improve: What changes would make your design even better? When you pair this process with the arts, students aren't just solving a problem, they're designing, performing, building, and expressing along the way. That's where the magic happens. So tell us: do you already use the Engineering Design Process in your classroom? Or can you picture bringing it in next year? Drop a comment below! 👇 #artsintegration #artsintegratedclassrooms #teachersofinstagram

As we approach the July 4th weekend, let’s celebrate how the arts can bring history to life for students!🎆 Arts integration provides a vehicle for students to be transported back in time – whether it’s enactment of historical figures, analyzing music & dance of days gone by, or stepping inside photos from the past. ArtsNOW is proud to support teachers with countless resources that connect with our country’s history, like this American Revolution lesson that integrates theatre & visual arts with social studies. Using historical images, students write, then enact poems collaboratively with their peers - building literacy, understanding, and empathy along the way. Head to the link in our bio to grab this one and explore hundreds more integrated lessons for your classroom. Happy July 4th! #ArtsNOW #artsintegrated #artsintegratedlearning

This is one of our favorite strategies for introducing movement into the classroom, and it works across grade levels and content areas.🪩🛠️📐 'Magic Machine' starts with one student choosing a movement they can repeat. One by one, classmates join in, each adding their own movement that connects to the whole group. Before long, you have an entire class working together as one big, living machine! The leader can speed it up, slow it down, or stop it completely, and everyone has to adjust. It's a beautiful way to build ensemble, practice the elements of dance, and get students genuinely invested in each other's contributions. The best part? You can adjust your 'Magic Machine' theme according to your classroom content: ⚙️ ELA? Sequence a story. ⚙️ Science? Represent the building of a storm. ⚙️ Math? Bring a word problem to life. And so much more! Put this one in your back pocket for back to school. 💛 Save this post or share it with someone who might like it! #ArtsNOW #ArtsIntegration #ArtsIntegratedLearning

A common misconception we hear about arts integration is that it requires an end product - a full scale performance, a gallery display of artwork, or a perfectly polished showcase. But we know better! Arts integration is all about the process – with learning happening (and sticking!) at every step along the way. Students are exploring, questioning, collaborating, and creating together, putting themselves at the center of the learning process to give them real ownership over it. Creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking – *that’s* the end product. What does process-driven learning look like in your classroom? #ArtsNOW #ArtIntegration #ArtsIntegratedLearning

Try this artful thinking strategy at home this summer! 🎨 All you need is an image, a video clip, a piece of music... honestly, anything that catches your child's eye or ear. Then work through these three simple steps together: 👀 Name: Look closely for 1-2 minutes, then take the image away. How many things can you remember? List them all. ✏️ Describe: For each thing you named, add a describing word. What does it look, feel, or sound like? 🎭 Act: Now give each thing a verb. What is it doing? What's its role in the whole picture? BONUS: Have your child/student demonstrate the verb through pantomime or dance! That's it. Three steps. Any image/clip. Any age. And suddenly your child isn't just looking - they're observing, analyzing, and building the kind of language and memory skills that carry them straight into the classroom. 💛 This activity comes from Project Zero at Harvard Graduate School of Education @harvardeducation - and it's one of our favorites for a reason. Save this post and try it this week! #ArtsNOW #ArtsIntegration #SummerLearning

Kindergarteners don’t have to sit still to understand place value. 🎶 When students move, listen, and create, math becomes something they experience, not just memorize. Tens feel (and sound!) bigger. Ones feel smaller. Numbers make sense. That’s the power of arts integration. Not extra. Just smarter learning. ✨ Music strengthens understanding. Movement builds memory. Creativity builds confidence. 🌟 Know a teacher who could use more strategies like this? Share this post with them! #ArtsIntegration #KindergartenMath #MusicIntegration #CreativeClassrooms

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