Frequently Asked Questions

How does the Arts & Education Exchange work?

Who qualifies as an “educator”?

Who qualifies as an “arts provider”?

I’m a classroom arts teacher. Which category do I fall into: educator or arts provider?

Are educator profiles of individual teachers or schools?

Why can’t I find my profile or arts program?

I do not work in Chicago. Can I register on the Arts & Education Exchange?

I work in a private school. Can I register on the Arts & Education Exchange? 

We are not an arts organization, but we provide arts programming. Can we register on the Arts & Education Exchange?

I am a certified art teacher but am not currently employed by a school. How can I use the Arts & Education Exchange? 

Does Arts Alliance Illinois provide funding for arts programs found on the Arts & Education  Exchange? 

What is the relationship between Ingenuity Incorporated and the Arts & Education Exchange?

Why doesn’t the Arts & Education Exchange do (fill in the blank)?

How do I delete programs?

I am having technical difficulties.  Who can I contact?

 

1. How does the Arts & Education Exchange work?

The Arts & Education Exchange is a website where educators and arts providers can easily search for and connect with each other.
Once an educator registers and creates a profile for the Arts & Education Exchange, he can find programs that arts providers are already offering by searching by keyword, grade level, discipline, subject, and other criteria. If he has his own project idea, he can add a project request to his profile. Project requests are the only way arts providers can search for and find educators on the site. Educators can also access the Forum for discussion posts by other educators and arts providers as well as the best arts education resources cherry-picked by Arts Alliance Illinois.

Once an arts provider registers and creates a profile for the Arts & Education Exchange, she can promote her programming and search for new educators to collaborate with. She can add programs to her profile so educators can see what she already has to offer. She can also search for project requests that educators have posted (think of them like RFPs) by searching by keyword, grade level, discipline, subject, and other criteria. Arts providers can also access the Forum for discussion posts by other providers and educators as well as the best arts education resources cherry-picked by Arts Alliance Illinois.

 

2. Who qualifies as an “educator”?

 Arts Alliance Illinois considers educators to be classroom teachers (both general classroom and arts teachers) as well as school administrators like principals and superintendents. Parents who are active in a school’s PTA may also register as an educator in order to search for arts programming for their children’s school or post a project request conceived of by their association.
 

3. Who qualifies as an “arts provider”?

 Arts providers include teaching artists and arts organizations. Arts providers can be of any discipline and from any region in the state. Arts Alliance Illinois does not consider vendors like arts supply stores to be arts providers, and the terms of use of the Arts & Education Exchange exclude them from using the site to promote their products to educators. We reserve the right to remove any profiles that do not meet the terms of use of the Exchange.

 

4. I’m a classroom arts teacher. Which category do I fall into: educator or arts provider?

For the purposes of the Arts & Education Exchange, you should register as an educator. This will let you search and post project requests for outside arts provider programming that can complement what you are teaching in the classroom.
 

5. Are educator profiles of individual teachers or schools?

A profile could represent an individual educator and his specific project requests, or a profile could represent an entire school and all of its project requests. Ultimately it is up to each user to decide which to do. Remember, though, that each profile is tied to a single email address and password.
 

6. Why can’t I find my profile or arts program?

To ensure your arts programming turns up in searches, arts providers should add programs to their profile and include relevant keywords in the description, including your name, organization, and discipline.  Teaching artists may want to include examples of residencies or projects they offer.  
 

7. I do not work in Chicago. Can I register on the Arts & Education Exchange?

Yes, the Arts & Education Exchange welcomes educators and arts providers from all communities in Illinois.

 
8. I work in a private school. Can I register on the Arts & Education Exchange?

Yes, the Arts & Education Exchange is open to all arts providers and educators in Illinois.  

 
9. We are not an arts organization, but we provide arts programming. Can we register on the Arts & Education Exchange?

Yes. Organizations such as libraries, museums, or social service agencies can register, create profiles, and search on the Arts & Education Exchange. Whether you sign up as an educator or arts provider depends on your objectives on the Exchange. If you want to promote programming already happening at your agency to schools, you should register as an arts provider. If you want to identify new artists and arts organizations to work with to expand your arts programming, you should register as an educator.

 
10. I am a certified art teacher but am not currently employed by a school. How can I use the Arts & Education Exchange?

We recommend certified art teachers who are not affiliated with a school to register as arts providers. This way, you may search Educator Project Requests and find teaching opportunities in your area. Remember to add programs to your profile to describe your practice in greater detail.

 
11. Does Arts Alliance Illinois provide funding for arts programs found on the Arts & Education  Exchange?

Currently, the Arts & Education Exchange does not provide funding for arts collaborations.  However, you may find a wide variety of arts funding resources on the Forum. Be sure to follow us on Twitter @ArtsEdX to get updates on important grant deadlines as well. 

 

12. What is the relationship between Ingenuity Incorporated and the Arts & Education Exchange?

Arts Alliance Illinois is proud to partner with Ingenuity Incorporated on the launch of ArtLook, an online mapping system that allows users to search Chicago Public Schools for arts programming. Users can identify on a school-by-school basis the certified arts teachers and community arts partners at each school. Data from the Arts & Education Exchange feeds into ArtLook to keep it current and up-to-date.

 

13. Why doesn’t the Arts & Education Exchange do (fill in the blank)?

The objective of the Arts & Education Exchange is to facilitate more and better collaborations between educators and arts providers. As such, the first phase of development has focused on making it easy for users to connect with arts programming opportunities. The Exchange is a living, dynamic project, though; community feedback and need will guide future development of the site. Users are encouraged to share their ideas with Arts Alliance Illinois.

 

14. How do I delete my programs?

There are 3 ways to remove programs. (1) Edit the program and replace it with a new program offering. You can do this yourself. (2) Unpublish the program. This removes the program from your public profile and search results while saving it for future use. (3) Delete the program permanently. To unpublish or delete a program, contact

 

I am having technical difficulties.  Who can I contact?

Eva Silverman, Associate Director, Arts Alliance Illinois

312-855-3105 x13