Sharon Dunn retired from the Department of Education in 2008 after 34 years of service to the children of New York City. Dr. Dunn served as the Senior Instructional Manager for Arts Education, providing oversight and support for arts education programs and services for 1450+ schools connecting them to the myriad cultural resources across the City. Under Dr. Dunn’s leadership, the Department of Education’s Office of Arts and Special Projects produced a Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in the Arts, PreK-12 for all four art forms: dance, music, theater and visual arts, which provides a structure for arts learning at all levels. She also led the arts education accountability initiative that resulted in ArtsCount, the first ever aggregate and school-by-school report on the state of arts education in New York City. Dr. Dunn is the primary architect of Project Arts, a mayoral initiative begun in 1997 that added $67.5 million to the school budget to enhance arts education which remains in each school’s budget today. In 2001 Dr. Dunn left the Department of Education to become the Director of Arts and Cultural Partnerships for the City University, where she developed a Cultural Passport for the students at the CUNY Honors College and for future teachers attending CUNY Schools of Education. She returned to the Department of Education in 2003 as Senior Instructional Manager for Arts Education. She was an elementary art teacher prior to becoming an administrator and has been an adjunct Assistant Professor at several metropolitan area colleges teaching courses on arts education. Dr. Dunn holds a Ph.D. in Human Development and Elementary Education from New York University and a Masters Degree in Visual Arts and Elementary Education from Brooklyn College. She is past president of the New York State Alliance for Arts Education and the recipient of the 2008 Friend of the Arts Award from New York City’s Town Hall and the 2008 Mayor’s Award for Arts Education from Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. Sharon Dunn currently works as an arts education consultant in New York City and serves on the boards of the Theatre Development Fund and Theatre for a New Audience.
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