Leading Change in Arts Education: Tools & Tactics for Advocacy
This session will provide a broad look at arts education in Maryland as the future of our creative sector. The session will educate attendees on 1) what Maryland public school students are entitled to by regulation; 2) impacts of current statewide priorities on arts education; and 3) resources to elevate their voices to help increase arts education access in their communities.
Participants will walk away from the session with the realization that all Maryland creatives are stakeholders in Maryland students’ equitable access to arts education. Participants will be made aware of Maryland students’ rights to arts education access and the current state of inequitable access in the state. Participants will understand that there is a key role that they, as part of a community’s broader constituency, have to play in ensuring Maryland’s creative future.
Participants will have achieved the session goals if they can (1) summarize what arts education students are entitled to OR where to find that information and (2) identify one way they might get involved to advocate for arts education in their community.
This session will provide a broad look at arts education in Maryland as the future of our creative sector. The session will educate attendees on 1) what Maryland public school students are entitled to by regulation; 2) impacts of current statewide priorities on arts education; and 3) resources to elevate their voices to help increase arts education access in their communities.Rachel McGrain
Rachel McGrain (she/her) is the Executive Director at Arts Education in Maryland Schools (AEMS). Rachel’s commitment to educational equity and social justice has inspired her career in education and nonprofit leadership. Her work at AEMS includes co-chairing Maryland’s Fine Arts Education Advisory Panel to advise the State Superintendent and collaborating with statewide arts and education organizations on programming and advocacy initiatives. She is the recipient of the 2025 NAEA Distinguished Service Outside the Profession Award and Friend of MDEA. A lifelong Marylander, Rachel is a proud graduate of Howard County public schools and former Baltimore City public school math and music teacher and track coach. Rachel earned Bachelors of Arts in Music/Trumpet Performance and History at the University of Maryland, College Park and a Master of Science in Educational Studies from Johns Hopkins University.