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Erie Arts and Culture outlines school residencies and Educational Passport program; served 937 students
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Summary
Erie Arts and Culture told the board it provides teaching-artist residencies across six counties, described partnerships with district schools and reported an Educational Passport pilot that served 937 students.
Erie Arts and Culture executive director Susanna Faulkner and arts education manager Jim Hain presented to the board about regional arts programming and the organization’s partnerships with Erie School District schools.
Faulkner described the agency as a regional arts council that serves six counties and administers three program areas: arts education residencies, creative entrepreneurship support for artists and businesses, and folk and traditional arts. She noted Erie Arts and Culture is the only agency in Pennsylvania that operates all three programmatic areas under Pennsylvania Council on the Arts funding.
Hain detailed school partnerships and residencies in the district. He said the Educational Passport pilot — funded by Erie Insurance — partnered six cultural organizations (Experience Children's Museum, Erie Art Museum, Erie Philharmonic, Erie Playhouse, Hagen History Center and Flagship Niagara League) with two community schools, Piper Burley and Union City Elementary. The program reached 937 students total, including 536 students from Piper Burley, and provided grade‑specific experiences: kindergarten visits from the Experience Children’s Museum, first‑grade visits and instrument demonstrations from the Erie Philharmonic, second‑grade theater at Erie Playhouse, third‑grade storytelling and Hagan Center visits, fourth‑grade museum tours and hands‑on workshops, and fifth‑grade sea shanty instruction and a trip on the Lettie G. Howard.
Hain said partners offered discounted or free return tickets so families could revisit the organizations. Erie Arts and Culture said it received further funding for another year and hopes to expand Educational Passport from two schools to four (two city, two county) in 2025‑26.
Faulkner advocated for arts education to be maintained and expanded in district programs — specifically naming theater and dance at middle and high schools — and offered professional development for teachers in arts integration and working with special‑needs populations.
Board members thanked the presenters. Erie Arts and Culture left staff contact information and a refugee business directory in the board packet. No board action or vote was recorded.
