Ingenuity's mission is to leverage the vibrant communities, rich knowledge and significant resources of Chicago to ensure the arts are a critical component of every public school student’s education.
Ingenuity serves as Chicago's single hub of information, advocacy, strategy, and partnerships. Founded through city-wide collaboration, Ingenuity works in tandem with the CPS Department of Arts Education, certified teachers, Chicago's arts and cultural community, parents, students and others to ensure excellence in art education for every student in Chicago Public Schools.
Ingenuity is the:
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lead advocacy organization driving positive arts education policies in the District
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single source of data on the availability and distribution of arts education throughout CPS
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chief arts education strategy partner to CPS
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co-architect of the first ever CPS Arts Education Plan (approved by the Chicago Board of Education)
- co-designer of the Creative Schools Initiative – an interconnected set of incentives and supports for activating the CPS Arts Education Plan in schools and classrooms
- home to the Creative Schools Fund which makes grants directly to schools to enhance partnerships between CPS arts instructors and community arts education providers.
Ingenuity believes Chicago has a once in a generation opportunity to make change within the arts on a scale that matters.
In 2011, Mayor Rahm Emanuel ordered the creation of the first Chicago Cultural Plan in 25 years. After 35 neighborhood town hall sessions led by the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, the plan was unveiled in September 2012. The people of Chicago made the plan’s top priority more arts in schools.
In 2012, Ingenuity helped capitalize on this call by driving the creation of the first CPS Arts Education Plan in partnership with the CPS Department of Arts Education. As a result of the new district-wide Plan, major policies have been advanced:
- the arts have been elevated to a core subject by Chicago Public Schools
- the District has recommended 120 minutes of dedicated weekly elementary arts instruction
- high school graduation requirements were expanded in the arts to include theater and dance
- arts appears on the public facing CPS scorecard for each school along with other academic indicators
- arts education is included in the new principal evaluation
These monumental policy changes are a step in the right direction, but they only mark the beginning of our work. Ingenuity is now focused on working with CPS and with external partners to implement the Plan through the Creative Schools Initiative with funds raised through Be Creative: The Campaign for Chicago Arts Education.
