Arts-based curriculum IS NOT merely the occasional visiting artist or a once-a-week visit to the resident art specialist. Arts-based curriculum IS a collaborative joining of the strengths of classrrom teacher and art specialist in an on-going merging of the curriculum with art forms, within every subject, every day.

Arts-based curriculum is learning through the integration of the visual and performing arts into every phase of instruction. All of the core academic subjects of Math, Science, Social Studies, Reading, and Writing are taught through integration with the arts. In the case of ArtSpace Charter School, it means teaching the North Carolina Standard Course of Study, and preparing students for the Standards of Learning Tests, in an exciting, hands-on, arts-rich environment.

Why arts-based?

Traditional, lecture-based instructional methods do not work well for many students. In the search for more effective methods, many charter and traditional schools have adopted arts-based education. Through the integration of the arts into all subject areas on a daily basis, the benefits to all members of the learning community have been consistently excellent.

Long-term, real-world research and experience with arts-based education has shown:

- Arts are serious and rigorous academic subjects
- Reading, writing, math, science, social studies academic areas can be enhanced
- Creativity is nurtured through the arts
- Understanding of self and others expands with arts education