ArtsSmarts has built a solid foundation of shared values and goals among its partners across the country.  Respecting the diversity of approaches unique to each partner location and supporting a common vision for collaboration has enabled ArtsSmarts to develop a network.

Our network operates as two distinct, yet interconnected, learning communities.

One learning community forms around the local partnership to design and implement ArtsSmarts in a respective area.  The second learning community forms when that partnership comes together nationally with other local partnerships to generate new knowledge on the impact of creativity and innovation on learning.

We use our learning communities to facilitate the action of our local partnerships for knowledge creation and sharing. In this way, our partners 'upload' their ideas and practices into the network through in-person mentorships, joint-work projects and symposia.

In the same way, local learning communities can 'download' and use ideas and practices from the network for local program delivery.  Once new knowledge is created and shared, the expectation is that the new learning will influence practices, programs and policies across sectors.

Our learning communities include arts organizations, school boards, businesses, Ministries of Education, Ministries of Culture, universities and provincial arts councils.

Local Networks

In communities, each ArtsSmarts program is locally designed and implemented by a partnership of multi-sector stakeholders.  These partnerships may be formed on a community, regional or provincial basis.

Where ArtsSmarts projects thrive, they are guided by people who are passionate about ArtsSmarts and by the leadership of partners and the many other organizations that contribute their time, expertise and funds to support ArtsSmarts projects in schools.

The relationship between different sectors is one of the keys to ArtsSmarts' success.  When the interests of schools, arts organizations, community partners, school boards, corporate partners and government converge, change can happen in a way that no single organization would have been able to predict or bring about in isolation.

ArtsSmarts lends its expertise to its local partners to develop, grow and maintain their cross-sector collaborations.

Our approach to leadership and partnership is designed to support creativity in schools and develop the skills, capacity and sustainability of the cultural sector. The exchange of ideas and expertise  spreads knowledge and innovative approaches across sectors, hierarchies and disciplines.  Program approaches are flexible in order to remain responsive to the diverse needs and interests of communities, art forms, learning styles, geographic location and cultural expression.  

Currently, each of the partnerships that make up a local learning community is comprised of anywhere from 2 to 15 cross-sector partners.

National Networks

ArtsSmarts brings together the efforts of local partners across Canada through collaboration in a pan-Canadian network.

Using a distributed leadership model, ArtsSmarts examines practice and undertakes research with a focus on generating new knowledge on creativity, innovation and our impact on learning.  We continually test ideas to demonstrate that shifting the conventional approach to teaching and learning results in improved student engagement, more robust school-community relationships and a stronger society.

Nationally, through its learning community, ArtsSmarts seeks to:

• Support the collaboration of artist-teacher teams to generate creative solutions that engage kids in learning
• Build the capacity of students to develop 21st century learning skills, specifically the ability to think creatively, understand deeply, take control of learning, work collaboratively and reflect
• Connect people, ideas and actions through a cross-sector networks that include arts organizations, school boards, corporations, Ministries of Education, Ministries of Culture, universities and provincial arts councils
• Advance new knowledge on creativity, innovation and its impact on learning through practice, research, publications and learning events