Kessler Appointed
Executive Director Center for Arts Education
The Center for Arts
Education’s Chairman
of the Board Laurie M. Tisch announced the appointment of Richard
Kessler as executive director. Mr. Kessler comes to the Center
following seven years as executive director of the American
Music Center, the national service and information center for
new American music, founded in 1939 by Aaron Copland.
The Center for Arts
Education, founded in 1996 as part of Ambassador Walter Annenberg’s
Challenge to the Nation for Education Reform, works in close
collaboration with the New York City Departments of Education
and Cultural Affairs and the United Federation of Teachers.
The Center identifies, funds and supports exemplary partnerships
and programs that demonstrate how the arts contribute to
learning and student achievement in the New York City public
schools. Mr. Kessler will assume his responsibilities this
summer.
Ms. Tisch said, “We
are delighted to welcome Richard aboard. We could not have
found a more dedicated and qualified person to lead the Center.
We know he will honor the spirit of the Annenberg Challenge
while turning the Center into a national resource.”
Upon being notified
of Mr. Kessler’s appointment,
New York City Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein stated, “The
Center for Arts Education has been a catalyst for the return
of arts education to the City’s schools. Their commitment
to creating vital partnerships between the education and cultural
communities has inspired collaboration and has had great positive
impact on schools, cultural organizations and parents. We look
forward to continuing to work with them to enhance arts education
in our schools.”
During his tenure at the American Music Center,
Mr. Kessler created a wide range of new national and international
programs, including the award-winning web magazine NewMusicBox.org, the
online music library NewMusicJukeBox.org, and a nationwide career development program for composers
and performers. He also established the American Music Center
Collection at the New York Public Library for the Performing
Arts.
Dr. Maxine Greene, an
arts education pioneer, author and Professor Emerita of Philosophy
and Education at Teachers College, said, “As a longtime
friend and admirer of Richard Kessler, I am convinced that
under his leadership, the Center will break new ground in
restoring the arts to the New York City public schools.”
The Center for Arts
Education, a 2002 recipient of the New York State Governor’s Arts Award, is a nonprofit,
public/private partnership founded to stimulate the systemic
return of arts education and address the problems created by
two decades of progressive, system-wide cutbacks in funding
for the arts in the City’s public schools. The Center
is also dedicated to influencing educational and fiscal policies
that will support arts education in all of the City’s
public schools and, as noted, works in close collaboration
with the New York City Departments of Education and Cultural
Affairs and the United Federation of Teachers.
Since 1996, the Center
has awarded more than $26 million in private and public funding
to support arts education partnerships and programs, joining
over 250 public schools with more than 200 cultural and community-based
organizations, colleges and universities in New York City.
The Center’s
primary programs include multi-year Partnership grants, Parents
As Arts Partners grants, Curriculum Development and Access
Leadership grants, professional development seminars and a
Career Development Program that places high school students
in arts-related internships.#
For more information about The Center for Arts
Education, please visit its web site at www.cae-nyc.org
