Our Projects
No two projects are alike and we excel at working closely with our clients to take ideas from inspiration to outcome. We optimize clients’ time and financial resources, while creatively responding to the new possibilities that are generated as projects unfold.
project: Leveraging state investments in creative aging
client: The National Assembly of State Arts Agencies
State and jurisdictional arts agencies share a public mandate to make the social, educational, economic and health benefits of the arts available to all residents, especially underserved populations. Older Americans are an essential part of this commitment. Since 2019, Susan Oetgen, ArtsAspire Consulting Founder & Principal, has directed the Leveraging State Investments in Creative Aging (LSICA) project on behalf of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies in partnership with Aroha Philanthropies. The LSICA project includes a $1,457,000 direct grant program for a cohort of 36 state and jursidictional arts agencies to grow their creative aging programs, practices and partnerships, and virtual Creative Aging Institutes which offer continued professional development in this subject area for all state and jursidictional arts agencies.
Project: mississippi teaching artist collaborative
client: mississippi arts commission
Mississippi Arts Commission (MAC) saw an opportunity to convene a new ‘Teaching Artist Collaborative’ to support the growing workforce of Mississippi arts-learning professionals in identifying topical and timely professional development goals and cultivating a professional community rooted in common values. Throughout the spring of 2021, ArtsApsire Consulting’s Founder & Principal Consultant Susan Oetgen and collaborating teaching artists Valerie Branch and Renée Benson are offering a series of four facilitated, ‘foundational’ workshops to support the newly-convened Teaching Artist Collaborative in cultivating a community grounded in shared purpose, inclusion, sustainability and learning goals. By connecting with like-minded dreamers and doers, teaching artists stakeholders across the state will lay the groundwork for the new Mississippi Teaching Artists Collaborative to take root and thrive.
project: National Arts Education Policy and practice research summary report
client: Cultural advocacy coalition
ArtsAspire Consulting Founder & Principal Consultant Susan Oetgen collaborated with arts consultant Laura Forbes to research and write the National Arts Education Policy and Practice Research Summary Report (The Report) (commissioned in 2019) on arts education policy initiatives and best practices at the state and national levels, with an emphasis on promising practices in advancing equity. Oregon’s Cultural Advocacy Coalition (CAC) and The Oregon Community Foundation used this report as a basis for further study and discussion among Oregon arts education stakeholders to explore specific policy initiatives, best practices, and potential advocacy opportunities for Oregon arts education stakeholders.
Project: NATIONAL RESIDENCY TEACHING ARTIST CREDENTIAL & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE
client: YOUNG AUDIENCES ARTS FOR LEARNING
Teaching artists are at the heart of socially impactful arts, serving arts learners in thousands of classrooms, senior centers, veterans’ facilities, prisons, public parks and other publicly relevant settings across the nation. This growing workforce benefits from a process of credentialing and specialized training that helps individuals meet the standards of care relevant to the various sectors in which they work. From 2017-2020, ArtsAspire Consulting worked on behalf of Young Audiences Arts for Learning (YA) to lead the National Residency Teaching Artist Credential and Professional Development Initiative from its pilot phase to sustainable growth, so that teaching artists who are recognized for their excellence in ensuring positive student outcomes in arts education can be advocates and change leaders for the larger field of teaching artistry.
