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SLOCOE Arts Collaborative

We believe that the arts and humanities are not simply a luxury but a necessity in the information age to promote a balanced democracy. The San Luis Obispo County Office of Education (SLOCOE) Arts Collaborative includes a group of artists, art educators and arts supporters committed to sustaining and growing arts education in San Luis Obispo County.
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Overview

The SLOCOE Arts Collaborative was organized by the San Luis Obispo County Superintendent and local patrons of the arts in response to the changing landscape for arts education funding in California. Public funding for the arts dwindled significantly at all levels of government and private funding patterns shifted to the detriment of emergent arts education. In response, a conscious effort to identify new and innovative ways to sustain arts education for future generations was established by the San Luis Obispo County Superintendent of Schools.

The two words “collaboration” and “sustainability” are critical in the efforts of the SLOCOE Arts Collaborative. The collaborative believes that any meaningful contribution to the “cultural ecology” of our community will depend on true collaboration with an emphasis on building sustainable funding models.

In addition to collaboration and coordination with existing programs, the SLOCOE Arts Collaborative will seek to raise funds to be distributed as mini-grants to arts education organizations and individual artists from all disciplines including the performing arts, visual arts, and literary arts directly working in San Luis Obispo County Schools. The grant application process will be kept simple and will be reviewed by a committee representing a broad spectrum of the arts education community. A key component of the mini-grants will be collaboration and sustainability.

1. Build a broad collaborative from all sectors of the community (arts, business, government, non-profit, private sector) committed to sustaining arts education in San Luis Obispo County. This core group is committed to meeting quarterly in benefit of the arts.

3. Serve as a “center of gravity,” matching resources with needs for the San Luis Obispo arts education community – providing outreach, mentorship, coordination and facilitation.
2. Build a strong social media presence, creating a central events calendar and forum for all artists and arts organizations to collaborate, compare best practices, promote their work and generally communicate.

4. Create high-profile marketing campaign to promote the collaborative, along with the quality and diversity of the San Luis Obispo arts education community.

Counties on the Move

The California County Statewide Arts Initiative collaborates and partners with other education and nonprofit organizations to help ensure equitable access to sequential standards-based arts education as part of the core curriculum. Counties on the Move is a periodic publication that celebrates progress made towards this goal through the 58 county offices of education. The latest edition is from 2024 and includes a reflection on progress made in arts education over the last decade, snapshots of rural arts education community partnership models, and spotlights on several court and community schools.

The publication represents work of the California County Superintendents of Schools and their staff through a state infrastructure of service and support connecting all school districts in California. The highlights in the publication were developed by county offices of education and reveal different approaches to meet the needs of our diverse student populations in California.

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“Love of beauty is taste.  The creation of beauty is art.”

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Our work is possible due to the generous support of public/private organizations and individuals like you. Your gift is tax deductible and will truly make a difference to hundreds of students every year.

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3350 Education Drive
San Luis Obispo, CA 93405

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