press room

For Immediate Release

01/07/2008

Contact:
Beth Olsen
Goodman Media for Americans for the Arts
212.576.2700 ext. 243 or bolsen@goodmanmedia.com


Americans for the Arts Announces New Members of Arts Education Council

Washington, DC — January 7, 2008 — Americans for the Arts, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts in America, announced today three additions to its Arts Education Council. They include: Miriam C. Flaherty Willis, Senior Director, Education, Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, Vienna, VA; Lynn Tuttle, Director of Arts Education, Arizona Department of Education, Phoenix, AZ, and Laura Reeder, Founding Executive Director, Partners for Arts Education in New York State, Syracuse, NY.

The Arts Education Council represents the Arts Education Network—a segment of the professional members of Americans for the Arts, who work to improve access to and quality of arts education. The council provides guidance on the development and execution of programs and services that meet the needs of the Arts Education Network. Network members are arts professionals, arts administrators, advocates, and community and education leaders, numbered at 1,500 strong.

“Arts education is vital to the development of our children and communities,” stated Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts.  “These industry leaders bring a variety of skills and expertise to the Arts Education Council and I am delighted to welcome them.”

New Arts Education Council members:

Miriam C. Flaherty Willis
Senior Director, Education, Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, Vienna, VA
Miriam Flaherty Willis has been involved in arts-in-education program development and management since 1973 and has directed the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts Education Program since 1990.  A native of Washington, DC, and former high school theater arts and English teacher in Baltimore County, MD, Flaherty Willis holds an M.A. in educational theater from New York University. Other professional experience includes Associate Director for National Programs for VSA Arts and Director of the Annual Fund at The American University.

Lynn Tuttle
Director of Arts Education, Arizona Department of Education, Phoenix, AZ
Lynn Tuttle serves as director of arts education for the Arizona Department of Education, a position she has held since 2003. During her tenure, she has facilitated the adoption of revised state arts standards and led a 3-year, $5 million Arts Education Integration Initiative. She serves on the boards of the Arizona Music Educators Association, the Arizona Alliance for Arts Education, and the State Education Agencies' Directors of Arts Education national association. Lynn holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Peabody Conservatory of Music, as well as Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees from Johns Hopkins University, and an M.B.A. from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.

Laura Reeder
Founding Executive Director, Partners for Arts Education in New York State, Syracuse, NY
Laura Reeder is founding executive director of Partners for Arts Education in New York. She is the Newsbreak Editor for the Teaching Artist Journal, a visual teaching artist, pre-K–12 educator, and adjunct professor of Cultural Foundations of Education and Arts Integration for social-educational settings at SUNY Oswego and Onondaga Community College. She has been a consultant/collaborator with the New York State Council on the Arts, the New York State Alliance of Arts Organizations, Lincoln Center Association of Institutes for Aesthetic Education, and hundreds of schools and cultural organizations.  She is currently an advisor and “Firestarter” to the Governor’s “Brain Drain” initiative.
 
The Arts Education Network is designed to connect members around issues affecting arts in education policy, to advocate for inclusion and integration of high-quality arts education programming in America’s schools and communities, and to expand participation in the field of arts education. The Arts Education Network’s key constituents are arts professionals, artists, administrators, educators, and community arts leaders who plan, implement, and fund arts education programming at the local, state and national levels.

Americans for the Arts is the leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts in America. With offices in Washington, DC, and New York City, it has a record of 48 years of service. Americans for the Arts is dedicated to representing and serving local communities and creating opportunities for every American to participate in and appreciate all forms of the arts. Additional information is available at www.AmericansForTheArts.org.

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