How can we make sure the arts are part of the core curriculum for all students in Los Angeles County?

How can teaching and learning about music, dance, theatre, and visual arts become a central part of the instructional program and not left as isolated enrichment activities?

How can we make sure school is a joyful place where students learn to develop and share all their many talents?

These are the key questions and challenges that inspire the Music Center's leadership in arts education. As one of the nation's great performing arts centers, we feel a special responsibility and opportunity to support quality arts education. We believe the purpose of schooling is to transmit the key understandings of the human experience to the next generation and to prepare them with the skills and knowledge they will need to contribute to society. Quality arts education does both. It connects students to the key ideas and meaning communicated through art, music, dance, and theatre. Arts programs also foster the type of creativity and innovation young people will need to contribute to our future, whether they plan to be an artist, a traffic engineer, or a research scientist.