Arizona's arts proficiency award can help young creatives build a career

The Seal of Arts, administered by the Arizona Department of Education (ADE), requires participating students to excel in their selected art form for eight semesters, completion of 60 hours of extracurricular arts activities throughout the year; high school transcript reviews; a capstone project; a capstone presentation and capstone interviews with a panel of arts educators, professional artists, and administrators.

Andrew Nix, who graduated from Tucson Unified School District’s Rincon High School in 2020, was one of the first students to earn Arizona’s Seal of Arts.

The coronavirus pandemic, coupled with the rigor of earning the designation, led Nix to create a unique capstone project.

Nix and four other students created a remote string quintet.

“Normally you would play that all together in the same room, but we recorded each part. Then we put them all together using kind of primitive editing software,” said Nix, who spearheaded the project.

Other young artists striving to earn their Seal of Arts have composed original music; researched and performed instrumental and choral masterworks; produced, wrote and/or directed plays; designed sets and costumes; choreographed solo/ensemble dances to selected music and created original 2- or 3-dimensional art through various mediums.

Comparing arts career education to career and technical education (CTE), the two are “similar, but different,” said Mark Hodge, Arts Education Director for the Arizona Department of Education.

Career and technical education provides students with academic and technical skills, and hands-on training “necessary to succeed in future careers and become lifelong learners,” according to the Arizona Department of Education’s CTE website. These career pathways are often associated with vocations like construction, culinary skills and employment in the medical field.

“It’s definitely necessary that we have music and art programs, but there really was no career services, I don’t think even in college,” Nix said. “Just taking violin lessons isn’t enough to get you a career.”

With its rigorous requirements in the students’ fine arts focus of choice, the Seal of Arts offers opportunities for participants to hone skills in their craft.

The big difference between traditional CTE pathways and those in the arts?

“There’s not as much funding,” Hodge said.

The Seal of Arts program is primarily supported by Federal Title IV funds via ADE’s arts education department.

“We take care of safe and healthy students, well-rounded students and the effective use of technology,” Hodge said of his department.

Before joining ADE’s employee roster, Hodge taught at Amphitheater Public Schools.

“There are some crossovers. My audio production class was career and technical education (CTE)-supported. When we registered the kids that had a choice, the fine art side of the class was the same, but the credit was different.”

“That crossover is occurring — similar to CTE, except CTE is funded with millions of dollars,” Hodge said.

Joan Ashcraft, director of fine arts for Tucson Unified School District, explained that Seal of Arts requirements also build plenty of “soft skills,” like time management, speaking before a group and articulating ideas.

One of the most unique skills learned by Seal of Arts students is the ability to defend one’s thinking, Ashcraft said.

“I don’t think the Seal of Art provides you with education,” Nix said. “It wasn’t giving you information or telling you what to do. Instead, it was teaching us to figure out yourself what to do. That is the essence of the music industry.”

Nix recently graduated from the University of Arizona, where he studied the arts in hopes of a career in violin performance. Because he earned the Seal of Arts and continued his arts education at the U of A, he received a $1,000 scholarship. The scholarship is offered to students who complete their Seal of Arts and can be renewed annually, contingent upon the student’s grades and major.

A student doesn’t have to have perfect grades to pursue a Seal of Arts, Hodge said.

“They could have a B average, but because they got the proficiency, the student has the confidence to study technical audio recording, or go to a university or college that has a great drama program,” Hodge said. “It gives them a bolster of confidence to continue to pursue their joy.”

There are requirements for earning the Seal of Arts, but they are flexible, Ashcraft said. “The School of Arts can be customized. Not only do you get to choose and defend your project, you get to learn at your own speed, in your own way.”

Ashcraft gave an example of a unique Seal of Arts pursuit. A student from Cholla High School started out with a visual arts foundation, then applied it to music she composed.

“She learned how to do this with music technology. She composed this piece, she conducted it. To elevate it even more, we had her piece performed by our music staff.”

Not only did the student learn practical music skills, she had her final piece “performed by a semi-professional orchestra,” Ashcraft said.

The Seal of Arts can also give participating students the confidence to apply for college, when they might not have done without earning the Seal of Arts, Ashcraft said. Elements of the Seal of Arts cover college application requirements, including writing essays. Additionally, it is noted on the student’s high school transcript that they earned the Seal of Arts.

Ultimately Nix wants to perform, but through his capstone project, Nix also discovered another skill. Because of his project, Nix has established a YouTube channel creating footage similar to what his Seal of Arts capstone entailed, among other things. Nix also has a job livestreaming and recording the Tucson Philharmonic.

“Recording an orchestra is usually a very high-skilled job,” Nix explained. “I’ve been able to create a budget alternative with the skills that I picked up (from earning the Seal). I’m able to create recordings that are, honestly, quite close to professional quality.”

Nix likened a career in music performance to becoming a professional athlete. A musician — or any artist — can excel at what they do, but rarely do they get to the big leagues. For musicians, that’s performing professionally, Nix said.

“I see a lot of my colleagues that are finishing their undergraduate degrees, not have any realistic plans for what their careers will be,” Nix said. “Part of that is at some point — I hate to say this — they were misled to think that they could get a job just playing the violin.”