Passport to the Arts

PASSPORT to the ARTS, established in 1999, provides Long Beach third-graders with interdisciplinary arts education and cultural enrichment through dance, visual art, music and theater. The program serves students in both public and private Long Beach, or LBUSD schools, through PASSPORT School Scholarships or school funding.

PASSPORT to the ARTS showcases the cultural and artistic traditions of Africa, Cambodia, Latin America and the local Native American Tongva and Chumash tribes, all prominent ethnic and cultural groups in Long Beach. Learning about these groups fosters student tolerance and appreciation of cultural diversity. PASSPORT to the ARTS instructs students in third-grade visual and performing arts California State Content Standards. The program explores history and social science standards through community, local/regional history and the integration of immigrant experiences. PASSPORT to the ARTS supports the Open Court language arts themes of friendship, imagination and storytelling.

Starting every fall, each school’s teacher liaison attends a mandatory orientation meeting where the school is assigned their teaching artist and works with him/her to set-up the school’s program schedule. This includes establishing the date/time for the artist’s one-hour professional development workshop that is provided for the school’s third-grade teachers. During this workshop teachers are given background information on what students will learn over the residency.

The artist then teaches six standards-based lessons for each third-grade class. Lessons, over the duration of the experience, build upon one another as students learn to evaluate similarities and differences among traditional arts and their respective cultures. Students will learn to compare and contrast a minimum of two cultures. The students’ six-week experience will culminate in a performance or art exhibition at their school. Students’ own works can relate specifically to one of the cultures studied, or be comprised of a unique fusion of cultural ideas. At the end of the residency, teachers complete an on-line survey detailing their experience, the program’s format and the teaching artist’s abilities and creativity.

PASSPORT to the ARTS has received considerable teacher and administrative praise and has become a tradition for many schools.

To apply for PASSPORT to the ARTS click here on the application link '07-'08 School Application ,

to watch PASSPORT to the ARTS in action click here on the Passport to the Arts Video Link .

Passport to the Arts, 2007-08 is made possible through the generous support of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission; the Dwight Stuart Youth Foundation; Supervisor Don Knabe, Fourth District; the Long Beach Unified School District; Supervisor Don Knabe’s Arts Education Partnership Program; Schooled in Song; the Union Bank of California Foundation; Target; the Bess J. Hodges Foundation; The Margaret McKinney Folk and Traditional Arts Fellowship; Signal Hill Petroleum; and the Alamitos Bay Garden Club. (Credit line as of August 17, 2007)