ASCA & AAEC are partnering to provide you with a $500 creative pARTnerships grant!
Alaska Arts Education Consortium (AAEC) and the Alaska State Council on the Arts (ASCA) invite Creative Teaching pARTners to develop arts integrated lesson plans in celebration of Alaska Arts and Culture Day 2026, and Arts in Education Month 2027! Please read the guidelines and complete this online application to propose a project.
As part of the the FIRST celebration of Alaska Arts and Culture Day on October 2, 2026–and in preparation for the celebration of Arts in Education Month in March 2027–ASCA and AAEC are launching a call for lesson plans that will be tested in Alaska Creative pARTnership classrooms, and then shared out through AAEC’s social media and on ASCA’s How Are You Creative? website during Arts in Education Month.
“Arts integration is an approach to teaching in which students construct and demonstrate understanding through an art form. Students engage in a creative process which connects an art form and another subject area and meets evolving objectives in both.”
-Kennedy Center definition developed through the “Changing Education Through the Arts (CETA) program
During the celebration of Arts in Education Month, AAEC has annually shared lesson plans, teaching practices, and other resources that can help Alaskans integrate the arts and cultures into the classroom. This year AAEC and ASCA are pARTnering in an effort to recognize, honor and connect Alaska teachers by offering grants that support Creative Teaching pARTners in the development of lesson plans that can be piloted in classrooms. We hope these lesson plans may then inspire other Alaska teachers to try integrating the arts in their teaching practices. To support the time, effort and lesson plan pilots of Creative Teaching pARTners whose proposals are accepted, ASCA will provide grants of $500.
Timeline
- Call for proposals will open on October 2nd, 2026, to celebrate the first Alaska Arts and Culture Day!
- November 16, 2026: Deadline for proposals, with notification of acceptance to the Creative pARTners program by early December. Grant award materials will be sent by early December.
- December 2026 – February 2027: Creative pARTnership grant awardees use the funds to support development and piloting of the proposed lesson plan.
- By February 28, 2027: Creative pARTnership grant awardees share their lesson plans and reflections on the process of piloting their ideas to AAEC and ASCA for inclusion in the celebration of Arts in Education month, through March 2027!
Application Guidelines
- Creative pARTnership grants are individual grant awards, based on review of the activity proposed and other elements of an application. Each individual in a partnered proposal is eligible for a $500 award. Teachers who propose a project and are awarded a Creative pARTnership grant based on the review process, are also eligible for a $500 award.
- Award funds may be used to support pARTner teacher time, stipends/honoraria for community arts partners to come into the classroom, supplies or materials to help you develop and pilot your lesson plan.
- pARTnered applicants may submit a single application for two teachers who are either: 1) a teacher with more experience in arts integration, and a teacher with less experience (which might be a pre-service/intern teacher currently seeking teacher certification in Alaska) -OR- 2) two teachers piloting together in different schools.
- Single pARTner teacher applications will be accepted. Our goal is to support connections between teachers through arts integration, and paired applications will be given preference through the review process.
Selection criteria for a successful proposal (all proposals will be reviewed using these criteria)
- proposers are currently assigned to a K-12 classroom in an Alaska school and may include a pre-service teacher.
- description of the teachers’ practice and of the pARTnership indicate that the applicant(s) will develop and pilot the lesson plan they describe, and will work together on the project.
- the proposed lesson plan idea is feasible and piloting can be completed before Arts in Education Month (March); the proposer agrees to send their lesson plan and documentation to AAEC for sharing out in celebration of Arts in Education Month by February 28.
- the description of the intended outcomes and activity is clear and meritorious; there is strong potential for an excellent arts integration experience for the intended grade level.
- arts standards/cultural standards/other content standards are cited and seem balanced and appropriate to the project.
Preview of application questions for Creative pARTnership proposal (application form begins immediately after the application guidelines and information, and should be completed in one sitting.):
- Creative Teaching pARTner 1 will be the person filling out the application, and a response to each question, including the contact information fields, for pARTner 1 is required. This person should fill out the first question in the form “Email” with your email address so the Google Form can send you a copy of your responses, which may then be shared with your Creative Teaching pARTner (pARTner 2).
- If you complete this application without a second person, please use the contact fields that are designated for pARTner 1.
- Note: if you have not previously received a grant from the Alaska State Council on the Arts, you may be required to set up a Vendor Profile in the State of Alaska accounting system. More information about that is available on ASCA’s website at https://arts.alaska.gov/manage-your-award/.
- Brief description of the proposed lesson plan for development, to include possible art forms, arts standards targeted, other integrated content standards, themes/inquiry questions to explore, learning outcomes for students, and grade level. The Alaska Arts Standards are available online at https://education.alaska.gov/standards.
- Information about yourself and your teaching practice. (your teaching history, interests, schools where you have worked, etc.)
- Information about the person with whom you will partner, and about your partnership. If you don’t have a partner, please tell us about any challenges or barriers you may have had in finding a creative pARTner.
- Confirmation that you will be able to develop, pilot, document and send AAEC your lesson plan for sharing out during arts education month in March (piloting in December 2026 – end of February 2027).
- Confirmation that you agree to share your lesson plan, documentation of your process, and/or what you learned through the lesson plan development with AAEC by March, to be shared as part of AAEC’s celebration of Arts Education Month if the pilot is successful in the classroom.
- Does the applicant wish to gather with other Creative pARTnership Teachers during the period of the project for peer discussion and learning about each other’s lesson plan development and piloting?
***For purposes of this project, “Lesson Plan” can be a description of a single lesson, or short series of lessons that teaches specific skills or knowledge in the arts, integrated with other content areas. The arts will include any of the disciplines included in Alaska’s Arts Content Standards: Visual Art, Music, Dance, Theatre, Media Arts including Alaska Native arts, traditional or other culturally specific art forms.
Your lesson plan could also be development of a particular routine or protocol you would use in your classroom that helps students strengthen arts skills and knowledge, and may also help support other elements of pedagogy such as classroom management, social emotional learning, or school/classroom connectedness, for example.
It is NOT the expectation that your proposal will cover a full unit of teaching and learning. If you are unsure whether your lesson plan idea might work with the intent of this program, contact director@akartsed.org or laura.forbes@alaska.gov.***
creative pARTnership application