The Mason Arts Research Center (MasonARC), an NEA Research Lab, is thrilled to announce the renewal of support from the National Endowment for the Arts for two more years of funding for research, conference, and public communication activities. The MasonARC is is a multidisciplinary research center co-directed by Drs. Thalia Goldstein (ADP, Psychology), Adam Winsler (ADP, Psychology and HDFS, CEHD) and Kimberly Sheridan (Educational Psychology, CEHD and Art Education, CVPA). The Center focuses on the role and effects of arts engagement, across art forms, on social and emotional development in educational, out of school, and other contexts. The next two years of funding will support a variety of activities, including research studies pertaining to how dance might enhance children's social-cognitive skills, longitudinal effects of arts participation in schools for low income students of color, and ways in which visual art activities foster autonomy in children; a conference bringing together policy makers, practitioners, and researchers in the field of arts education and child development; and a website and series of blog posts on how art engagement fosters development and positive outcomes for all children.
July 14, 2022
