Celebrate Art and Artists in Cuba: Unique Professional Learning in Havana and Beyond
Over 7 days – we’ll spotlight the key role of the arts in Cuba. In this Caribbean nation, so close to our shores, curriculum from elementary school onward mandates arts instruction. Youth, elders – and everyone in between! – appreciate the centrality of art to community and national life. The Ministry of Culture runs a highly acclaimed program of education in music, the visual arts, ballet, the dramatic arts, and modern dance, sending a powerful message of support for the arts and their value.
Nationwide, 200 neighborhood cultural centers offer workshops in all branches of the arts. This emphasis on the arts results in the rich legacy that Cuba has offered to the world over several decades: international-class dancers, painters, sculptors, classical musicians, and esteemed teachers of all art forms.
You will observe the benefits of this commitment and learn from professional artist-mentors. You’ll learn the history and context for contemporary Cuba’s commitment to the arts, and you’ll return home with brand-new perspectives on why a nation prioritizes the arts and their value to the human experience!
This trip offers you a unique chance to reinforce your school’s commitment to the arts and global education, with opportunities to understand the Cuban education system, best practices in teaching, and curricular innovation that promotes the arts throughout Cuban society. The premise of the success of Cuba’s education sector lies in its commitment to delivering serious arts instruction in its schools.
Cuba’s Ministry of Culture directs a robust program of education in music, ballet, the visual arts, the dramatic arts, and modern dance, culminating in the university-level Instituto Superior de Arte (Higher Institute of Art). Under the theme “arts in education”, this program offers you a glimpse of the value assigned to incorporating artistic technique into the curriculum. In Cuba, curriculum from the primary school level places high priority on the ‘cultural’ aspects of child development. More than 200 neighborhood cultural centers (Casas de Cultura) offer workshops in all branches of the arts.
Delegates to this program will:
- Understand education policy in Cuba, from top to bottom – especially as it pertains to the arts.
- Confer with Cuban educators, artists, and community activists – and make working visits to schools and other education-sector facilities, theaters, galleries, and artist workshops.
- Experience Cuba’s signal commitment to music & the visual arts, and witness their role in core curriculum.
- Engage in meaningful community arts projects, with direct application to your home school and school district.