THE ARTS AT RCOE – STUDENT ARTS SHOWCASES
In the five years that the Arts at RCOE has been in existence, we have been striving to promote and expand the arts for the over 430,000 students in Riverside County. In that time, we have offered many different iterations of arts showcases, all the while considering how we might best serve the most students.

Last school year, we had a total of 421 participants in 8 student events. While that was a solid number, we decided to brainstorm around how we could significantly boost participation countywide.

This school year we offered a total of 13 student arts events and showcases. They included:

• Spoken Word Poetry HIGH SCHOOL
• Barnes and Noble Integrated Art and Literature – 3 Events ELEMENTARY
• Teen Poet Laureate Poetry HIGH SCHOOL
• Día De Los Muertos Art PRE-K THROUGH 12TH
• Get Your Style On Fashion HIGH SCHOOL
• Art Connects: Art PRE-K THROUGH 8TH
• Art Connects: Dance PRE-K THROUGH 8TH
• Art Connects: Theater PRE-K THROUGH 8TH
• Art Connects: Film PRE-K THROUGH 8TH
• Palm Springs Young Playwrights Festival KINDERGARTEN THROUGH 12TH
• Exquisite Corpse Art HIGH SCHOOL

All the events were online, except for the Barnes and Noble, in-store events. Both parents and teachers had the ability to submit their children/students work online and there was no cost for any of the events.

This year, our student participation was 1,785 students, which was an increase of over four times from last year! We are committed to a variety of inclusive and quality arts experiences, and we are proud of this major increase in students served. We are already looking forward to next school year and continuing to expand our outreach for students in the arts.

Amplifying the Arts, Volume 1

Innovative approaches for equitable and exciting opportunities in the visual and performing arts for students during school closures from Riverside County Arts leads.

Amplifying the Arts, Volume 2

Meridy Volz's "Art with Heart" program at Indio Juvenile Hall was an instant success, and she was determined to continue teaching even as COVID-19 prevented her from entering the facility.

Amplifying the Arts, Volume 3

The Our Town Cultural Arts Program brings the cultural arts into elementary school classrooms in the Murrieta Valley Unified School District, engaging students in the traditions and cultures of the citizens who make up our community and the students who sit in our classrooms.

Amplifying the Arts, Volume 4

Lady Lead (LL) was founded five years ago by Louisa Higgins, Visual and Performing Arts, and Sarah Scheideman, Artist from Palm Springs Unified School District as a way for middle school girls of promise to interact with female art mentors while doing an arts and crafts project.

Amplifying the Arts, Volume 5

Riverside Unified School District's performing arts students join in a partnership project with the community.

Amplifying the Arts, Volume 6

In the spring of 2020 the Val Verde Unified School District initiated a Student Quarantine Art Contest, inspired by the Getty Challenge. Students were asked to select a piece of artwork from Google Arts and Culture and re-create it.

Amplifying the Arts, Volume 7

The Moreno Valley Unified School District’s Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) program was reinvented in 2015 as an investment for all students and has proven to be an exceptional program with its recent Golden Bell Award designation.

Amplifying the Arts, Volume 8

In this month’s edition of Amplifying the Arts, we would like to celebrate the California School Board Association Golden Bell Award received by Murrieta Valley Unified School District’s VAPA program called Horizons Unlimited. 

Amplifying the Arts, Volume 9

Riverside County Office of Education, Visual and Performing Arts, is proud to partner with the McCallum Theatre Education to present its online series.

Amplifying the Arts, Volume 10

Riverside County Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) is pleased to partner with Desert X to announce its student and family resources for the 2021 Exhibition.

Amplifying the Arts, Volume 11

The Riverside County Office of Education is proud to support Mono County Office of Education (MCOE), which is one of the four collaborative counties in the Region 10 service region of the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association (CCSESA).

Amplifying the Arts, Volume 12

As we start a new school year, RCOE VAPA would like to share several noteworthy arts recognitions in Riverside County from the spring and summer, as well as a few new events just around the corner.

Amplifying the Arts, Volume 13

Riverside County Office of Education Visual and Performing Arts partnered with Inlandia Institute to create the inaugural Riverside County Teen Poet Laureate event. 

Amplifying the Arts, Volume 14

In the Spring of 2021, Louisa Higgins, Arts Administrator, and Peggy Burt, Arts
Consultant, began an in-depth study of the new Arts Framework, which was published in 2020.

Amplifying the Arts, Volume 15

Riverside County Office of Education Visual and Performing Arts is pleased to partner with the Palm Springs Art Museum to promote their new online program.

Amplifying the Arts, Volume 16

RCOE VAPA is partnering with CSSSA to get the word out about their Summer School for the Arts!

Amplifying the Arts, Volume 17

The past two years have seen our share of individual and collective trauma based on the effects of the worldwide pandemic. RCOE VAPA continually strives to make arts trainings available that are topical and relevant. One such offering is “Documenting Trauma Through Comics.”

Amplifying the Arts, Volume 18

Riverside County Office of Education is partnering with The Redlands Symphony to promote this year’s OrKIDstra music education program to you and your students; an original animated video of a performance of Sergei Prokofiev’s immortal Peter and the Wolf.

Amplifying the Arts, Volume 19

Louisa Higgins, Arts Administrator and Jeannine Flores, Los Angeles County Office of Education Arts & STEAM Coordinator have just wrapped up their yearlong project on behalf of CCSESA. Their revised unit of the Creativity at the Core Module 12 is entitled Leadership in Arts Education.

Amplifying the Arts, Volume 20

Louisa Higgins, Arts Administrator and Jeannine Flores, Los Angeles County Office of Education Arts & STEAM Coordinator have just wrapped up their yearlong project on behalf of CCSESA. Their revised unit of the Creativity at the Core Module 12 is entitled Leadership in Arts Education.

Amplifying the Arts, Volume 21

The Arts at Riverside County Office of Education is very pleased to be able to partner with KQED in sharing some free and valuable resources for Riverside County teachers.

Amplifying the Arts, Volume 22

Louisa Higgins, Arts Administrator and Jeannine Flores, Los Angeles County Office of Education Arts & STEAM Coordinator have just wrapped up their yearlong project on behalf of CCSESA.

Amplifying the Arts, Volume 23

Arts as Life! is very low cost (only $23.00 per teacher/class) and open to all TK–12 teachers, administration, staff, and counselors.

Amplifying the Arts, Volume 24

Amplifying the Arts, Volume 26

New for 2023 is the RCOE Get Your Style On Fashion + Art Competition. This contest gave the opportunity to link the worlds of art and fashion through a creation while showing off one’s creativity and design prowess!

Amplifying the Arts, Volume 27

Louisa Higgins, Arts Administrator and Jeannine Flores, Los Angeles County Office of Education Arts & STEAM Coordinator undertook a yearlong project on behalf of the California County Superintendents. Their revised unit of the Creativity at the Core Module 12 is entitled Leadership in Arts Education.

Amplifying the Arts, Volume 28

This edition of Amplifying the Arts highlights the RCOE partnership with the Palm
Springs Young Playwrights Festival (PSYPF). PSYPF promotes and encourages theatrical creative writing to all elementary, middle, and high school students within Riverside County.

Amplifying the Arts, Volume 29

Each year, The Arts at Riverside County Office of Education holds two competitions that center on poetry; “If I Speak, Will You Listen?” Spoken Word Invitational and the Teen Poet Laureate competition.