If you haven”™t heard of STEM ”“ federal programs that target Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics to support innovation and economic growth ”“ you likely haven”™t heard of the STEAM movement which suggests that the government add an “A” to STEM to include art and design.
The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) is playing a key role in the campaign to get House Resolution 51 passed so that STEM officially becomes STEAM. On its website, STEMtoSTEAM.org, RISD states, “Artists and designers humanize technology, making it understandable and capable of bringing about societal change.”
The House resolution states that the innovative practices of art and design play an essential role in improving STEM education and advancing STEM research and that art and design provide real solutions for our everyday lives.
The resolution also emphasizes that artists and designers effectively communicate complex data and scientific information to broad audiences and that the tools and methods of design offer new models for creative problem-solving and interdisciplinary partnerships in a changing world. It goes on to make the case that artists and designers are playing an integral role in the development of modern technology and manufacturing.
The Americans for the Arts Action Fund and RISD”™s STEAM initiative are both calling for Congressional representatives to sign on to the bipartisan Congressional STEAM Caucus which aims to “change the vocabulary of education to recognize the benefits of both the arts and sciences and their intersections to our country”™s future generations. Caucus members will work to increase awareness of the importance of STEAM education and explore new strategies to advocate for STEAM programs.” Connecticut U.S. Rep. Jim Himes has signed on to the STEAM Caucus.
As the leader of a regional service organization for artists, arts and cultural organizations and creative businesses, I know the impact creative minds can have. The Arts are not a subject that can be left out of the equation for a brighter future.
Ryan Odinak
Executive Director,
Cultural Alliance
of Fairfield County
We support the STEMtoSTEAM movement by building USASTEAM/facebook. We repost news and support articals on the progress STEAM is making in education. Read what other are doing to educate their kids. We teach STEAM by using our Craft Wood Engineering skills from http://www.CraftStickBending.com. Hundreds of time more advanced the just making a popsicle stick bridge. Engineering and creative craft wood projects. Thanks Brad Griffith Sequim WA USA