Learning about (and through) the arts gives children more than mere knowledge—it helps them understand themselves and the world around them in a way nothing else can.  While substantial progress has been made in incorporating the arts into our schools, there is still much to be done.  This website points out some of the resources available to anyone concerned with arts education.  You may want to visit the “Arts Calendar” section of our website to see what, if any, extracurricular classes and camps are available for children and adults!

“Remember when you were a kid and art was an adventure?  Away you’d fly, propelled by a blank sheet of paper and your own box of paints.  Those blue-green swirls and bright orange scribbles were feelings you felt, and the finished ‘masterpiece’ was a document of that day’s excursion.”—Fred Babb, Go to Your Studio and Make Stuff:  The Fred Babb Poster Book

At TAC, our Arts Education strategy seeks to incorporate the arts into the K-12 curriculum through the following:

• ART VENTURES! Arts Day Camp—Our two weeklong camps are held annually and geared toward students aged 6-9 and 10-12.  Campers have the opportunity to explore different art forms through classes on drama, music, sculpting, photography, and dance—all taught by certified arts educators and local artists.  Click here to see our ART VENTURES! page for more details!
  
  
• Black Arts Festival/Family Day in the Park—TAC participates in these annual events, sponsoring a children’s make-and-take activity booth; we also provide artists who demonstrate their skills and crafts in “real time.”
  
  
• Panoply Arts Festival—featuring the justly acclaimed “Fifth-Grade Days,” wherein over 4,000 area fifth-grade students are invited for a sneak preview of the festival on the Thursday and Friday mornings before we open to the public.  In addition, Panoply proudly features:
  
  
  • The Annual Student Billboard Competition—Local elementary students, grades 1 – 4, enter their artwork—which illustrates Panoply through their eyes—in contention for one of twenty billboard spots as determined by a panel of volunteer judges.  Winning children’s artwork is reproduced on billboards donated by Lamar Outdoor Ads of Huntsville and observable throughout the Huntsville area beginning in April and continuing through the festival's close.
    
    
  • Student Art Tent—Managed by the Huntsville-Madison County Art Education Association, Panoply’s annual al fresco exhibition features approximately 600-700 pieces of exceptional 2-dimensional artwork by students in grades K-12 representing three districts:  Huntsville City, Madison City, and Madison County schools.  It’s surely a tough decision each year for local arts teachers to select the Top Ten masterworks to represent their school, but the result is well worth the effort, for the display is thus the area’s official Student Visual Arts Exhibit!
    
    
  • FREE Make-and-Take Activities—offering a hands-on learning experience in both the Kid’s Art Yard, featuring such favorites as face-painting, beadwork, and mask-making booths, and the pavilions of the Global Village, which offer native decorative art skills ranging from painting Iranian mosaic tiles to Indian mendhi (or henna) and Polish Easter egg art, as well as occasional forays into cricket, soccer, and other sports. 

“Children need these creative expeditions, and they need parents and teacher who will allow them to ‘travel’ at will.  If you give them supplies and a runway, they will take off.”—Fred Babb, Go to Your Studio and Make Stuff:  The Fred Babb Poster Book