Making the case for arts education
What can art do for a child?
More than you may expect.
Unless you’ve experienced it yourself, much of what people think of arts education falls more into the category of “activities” than “life skills.”
The education system itself puts great emphasis on what is tangible and quantifiable. But what about intangible skills that cannot be developed via traditional STEM curriculum? Abilities and traits such as strategic thinking and confidence are vital when entering the workforce and one of the best ways to nurture them is through the arts—and that is the story we needed to tell.
How do you get people excited about arts education?
Presentation is everything. There’s decades upon decades of social stigmas to work past when one thinks of the marching band, drama club, etc. We needed to portray arts education in a different light, one that was cool and inspiring as hell.
*Lightbulb moment* Why not show young artists with the same prestige and cool factor typically reserved for athletics?
Transforming a nice-to-have into a must-have
Research told us that Texans believed in the power of arts education, with 89% of respondents in favor of increasing arts education funding*. This same research told us that parents knew arts education was good thing, but they didn’t know how good.
Arts education can have a profound effect on a child. However, when it comes to budget cuts, the arts are always the first thing to go. Our goal was to motivate parents to take action by inspiring and arming them with the tools and talking points to take action on a local and state level. The “Get Involved” page allowed users to send a custom or pre-populated message to their school district and Legislator.
*Texas Cultural Trust Survey, Baselice & Associates Inc, 2016
Visualizing the state of arts education in Texas
The “State of the Arts Map” tool was why this entire campaign was created. The tool was designed so that parents and teachers could quickly see how their district stacked up against their neighbors and the state overall.
The tool had to be usable for parents, teachers, and lawmakers. These are all users with little free time and varying levels of comfort with technology. With this in mind, I felt that an interface similar to Google Maps would be the most intuitive approach.
Overall, this map tool coupled with the research findings available on the site, armed parents and teachers with data and knowledge needed on the spot when the time came.
Recognition + Credits
2017 Austin Addys
Public Service Campaign
Bronze Medal
2017 Austin Addys
Data-Driven Media
Bronze Medal
Creative Direction by Raul Garza and Noe Perez
Art Direction and Design by Noe Perez
Copywriting by Matt Jukam
Strategy by Sarver Strategies
Account Management by Marisa Limón-Garza
Photography and Video Production by Arts + Labor
Development by Frank + Victor Design
Additional Credits: Mammoth Marketing Group, Mindpop, Todd Alley
Created while at TKO Advertising