A Vision and Mission for a Fine Arts Academy

For our spring cohort sessions, we focused on forming a vision and mission for our fine arts programs.

Jerry Foster, the leader of the Florence Academy of Fine Arts, presented to our cohort in March on the development and expansion of their fine arts academy.  Their academy started from very little and has now recently added its own music recording studio.  They also offer multiple levels of choral and instrumental music, dance, visual arts, theatre, and other innovative courses.  Foster’s expertise was very helpful in providing guidance on ways to expand fine arts programs in relation to using online academic courses as an avenue for allowing students to take more fine arts electives, using adjunct instructors, and finding financial resources.

For our programs, we decided to form a vision and mission as we continue to expand our programs and course offerings and begin to see and market the fine arts programs as an academy.  We also wanted our vision and mission to reveal the long-term unlimited possibilities in relation to establishing a fine arts academy.

For our April session, we used all of our professional development experiences throughout the year to brainstorm and form our vision and mission for a fine arts academy.

We developed these program-defining statements:

The Sylacauga Fine Arts Academy Vision:  Cultivating excellence through artistic expressions.

The Sylacauga Fine Arts Academy Mission Statement:  The mission of the SHS Fine Arts Academy is to engage students in the arts community, promote independent thinking and self- discipline, and foster lifelong artistic appreciation and development.

These will help provide focus and purpose as we continue development of fine arts at SHS and throughout Sylacauga City Schools.