Arts Education Connection San Diego

Delivering a rich variety of arts education programs to San Diego students and communities since 1963.

aka Arts for Learning San Diego   |   San Diego, CA   |  www.artsedsd.org

Mission

Arts Education Connection San Diego (AECSD) engages professional teaching artists to provide high-quality arts education programs in all genres for students, families, and communities; advocating for, leading, and advancing education through the arts.

Ruling year info

1969

Executive Director

Ms. Adrienne Valencia

Main address

1286 University Avenue #267

San Diego, CA 92103 USA

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Formerly known as

Young Audiences of San Diego

Arts for Learning San Diego

EIN

95-2464304

NTEE code info

Arts Education/Schools (A25)

Nonprofit Management (S50)

Youth Development Programs (O50)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

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Communication

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Arts Education Connection San Diego is committed to advocating and providing for the arts in education and enriching the lives of all children of our region through an extraordinary range of high quality performances, residencies and workshops to help our young people identify their cultural roots and discover their creative wings.

Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

Residencies

RESIDENCIES are 6- to 32-week partnerships with schools. Teaching Artists (TAs) instruct students in weekly lessons that are focused on discrete art or arts integration. Students learn art vocabulary, techniques, and concepts; cultivating imagination, critical thinking, and crucial life skills needed to succeed in today’s world. Residencies are customized to meet schools curriculum and budgetary needs.

Population(s) Served
Children and youth

In-School PERFORMANCES connect age-appropriate educational content to the performing arts in an assembly/virtual format. The programs are engaging, inspirational, and feature top-quality, local artists that reflect the diversity of our community. Through a combination of artistry and audience participation, students and teachers alike experience the magic of live music, dance, theater, and storytelling.

Population(s) Served
Children and youth

A4LSD has partnered with Lincoln Military Housing to provide onsite, hands-on programs for our service personnel and their families. Art experiences for the whole family include a 30-minute performance by top quality A4LSD artists, followed by a 50-minute hands-on art-making activity.

Population(s) Served
Families

A4LSD brings quality art experiences for the whole family to schools and community sites. Family Arts Nights feature a 30-minute performance paired with a 50-minute hands-on art project. These multidisciplinary events promote family bonding, parent engagement and cultivate a more positive campus culture just by the sheer fun of doing something creative together. Family Arts Nights can be combined with other events like fundraisers, celebrations, and organizational milestones.

Population(s) Served
Families

LEARNING THROUGH THE ARTS utilizes an arts integrated curriculum to narrow the achievement gap and improve academic performance in Title 1 schools in partnership with San Diego Unified School District. A4LSD oversees the placement of TAs from local arts organizations who collaborate with classroom teachers to create innovative and engaging lessons. Through this program, the classroom teacher and Teaching Artist develop and co-teach rich, arts-integrated units of study in a 20-week residency.

Population(s) Served
Children and youth

The PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT opportunities are designed to help classroom teachers discover meaningful and manageable ways to integrate a variety of art forms into their lesson plans. In these sessions, they are guided by our Master Teaching Artists, and learn to infuse their daily teaching practice with innovation and creativity, imparting skills that will nurture their students’ academic achievement and classroom engagement.
TEACHING ARTIST INSTITUTE OF SAN DIEGO supports the development of informed, reflective, and culturally responsive TAs through a series of intensive workshops with renowned specialists in the arts
education field. Topics include classroom management, trauma-informed practices and arts integration.

Population(s) Served
Adults

A4LSD has a solid role in the San Diego community as a collaborator and advocate for arts in the schools. As a member of the Steering Committees for county organizations such as AERO (Arts Education Resource Organization), Arts Empower and other arts education/arts integration initiatives A4LSD values its leadership role. Staff also lends their expertise to granting organizations by serving on panels for California Arts Council, California Humanities, US Department of Education and local cities.

Population(s) Served
Adults
Children and youth
Family relationships
Social and economic status

Where we work

Affiliations & memberships

Americans for the Arts 2010

Videos

Our results

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.

Number of children served

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Adults, Children and youth, Social and economic status

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Decreasing

Context Notes

Annual Performance Impact The number of students served during FY20 was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent school closures.

Number of professional artists employed

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Age groups, Social and economic status

Type of Metric

Input - describing resources we use

Direction of Success

Decreasing

Context Notes

Annual Program Impact

Number of youth programs offered

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Age groups, Family relationships, Social and economic status

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Decreasing

Context Notes

Annual Program Impact

Our Sustainable Development Goals

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

Arts Education Connection San Diego envisions a world where every young person will have opportunities to imagine, create, and grow through experiences with the arts.

We continue to push forward and bring the arts into classrooms and community centers across the United States. And we are more committed than ever to the service of our parents and teachers and to teach a fourth generation of our nation's schoolchildren about the arts. Our vision for Arts Education Connection San Diego goes beyond simply providing quality arts-in-education programs – but to inspire young people and to expand their learning through the arts, so that they can lead healthy, fulfilling and productive lives.

Strong name/brand recognition combined with a 52+ year history of service to the community and an affiliation with a 32+ National YA Network backs up our experienced and passionate team. Young Audiences Arts for Learning has accomplished so much and has a rich and prominent history from the establishing of the National Young Audiences Week in 1971 to winning the National Medal of Arts Award in 2004. Last year alone, Young Audiences’ programs reached five million students in our nation’s schools through performances, workshops and residency programs in music, theatre, dance and visual, literary and digital arts.

Arts for Learning San Diego provides unique programs that lead the community in quality service and we are well respected leaders in the arts education field. We have a history of programmatic innovation and growth and hosts the largest and most experienced roster of professional artists in San Diego County.

AECSD launched a major initiative with SDUSD and Title I in April 2015 to impact 13,000 students in 22 schools for the next two years. In addition we launched two Military Arts programs at 3 new sites in 2015.
In 2018, we began a partnership with the Juvenile Court and Community Schools, serving our most vulnerable students - those who are pregnant/parenting, incarcerated, emotionally challenged or otherwise do not excel in a typical school situation. We bring programs to them which teach them how to express themselves in a positive and productive way.
Beginning mid-March 2020, we began offering our programs via technology (synchronous and asynchronous) so that we could continue to serve children and their families with quality arts education programming when they needed it most.

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We demonstrated a willingness to learn more by reviewing resources about feedback practice.
done We shared information about our current feedback practices.

  • How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?

    Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Paper surveys, Focus groups or interviews (by phone or in person),

  • How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

    To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve,

  • What significant change resulted from feedback?

    We no longer allow teaching artists to call in substitutes for contracted residency classes, as it interferes with continuity and scaffolding of educational material.

  • With whom is the organization sharing feedback?

    Our staff, Our board, Our funders, Our community partners,

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

    We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive,

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time,

Financials

Arts Education Connection San Diego
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

Arts Education Connection San Diego

Board of directors
as of 11/24/2021
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Mr. Jamey Murphy

Executive Assistant, San Diego Community College District

Term: 2019 - 2022

Barbara Garcia

National School District (Retired)

Peter Gust

CFO, Resort Recovery Systems

Teresa Drew

Non-Profit Manager

Brian Cerasoli

Accountant, Rady Children's Hospital

Rein Townsend

Enrollment and Training Mgr., University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences

Katerina Violante

Director of Education, Triton Support Services

Joy Freeman

Manager, Human Resources, San Diego Airport Authority

Kristin Kurth

Non-profit Consultant

Karah Lain

Assistant Professor of Visual Art, Point Loma Nazarene University

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • Board orientation and education
    Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes
  • CEO oversight
    Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes
  • Ethics and transparency
    Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes
  • Board composition
    Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes
  • Board performance
    Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 07/07/2021

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
Multi-Racial/Multi-Ethnic (2+ races/ethnicities)
Gender identity
Female, Not transgender (cisgender)
Sexual orientation
Heterosexual or Straight
Disability status
Person without a disability

Race & ethnicity

Gender identity

 

Sexual orientation

Disability

We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.

Equity strategies

Last updated: 10/07/2019

GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more

Data
  • We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
  • We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
  • We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
  • We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
Policies and processes
  • We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
  • We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
  • We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
  • We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.