Creativity drives more than just the entertainment industry - imagination and innovation are the key to a vibrant, open society and a strong global economy. Yet how can we open up the minds and worlds of our children without offering the arts in our schools, from music and dance to theater and painting? Arts education is just as important to a child's learning and well-being as core subjects like math and science.

Yet too many children in the United States continue to lack access to the visual and performing arts - even though nearly 90% of Americans believe the arts are important enough to be taught in our classrooms. Studies have also shown that quality arts education gives young people unique opportunities to express themselves creatively, while also promoting individuality, self-confidence, and improved academic performance. For a child to succeed in school and in life, the arts are an essential pathway to literacy and achievement. Ironically, public resources for arts education are diminishing.

Just as the arts have the power to inspire and empower our youth, the executive leadership within the entertainment industry has tapped its power to inform and engage the public through the Entertainment Industry Foundation's National Arts and Music Education Initiative (EIF's NAMEI). With key industry partners such as the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (The Recording Academy) and with entertainment leadership serving on our arts and music advisory board, EIF's NAMEI bridges the creative worlds of popular music, film, television, and the arts in a nationwide campaign to highlight the need for arts education in public schools and to fund exemplary arts and music programs in the face of dramatic cutbacks in public funding for the arts.

In Los Angeles County - the most populous in the nation - EIF's NAMEI has strategically invested in "Arts for All" - an innovative, multi-year initiative to bring quality sequential arts education back to the county's classrooms. EIF funding has enabled local school districts to adopt an arts education policy, plan, and budget in a coordinated effort to reach 1.7 million children and youth in 82 school districts, grades K-12, who represent 27% of all public school students in California. Through a lead grant of $500,000 to the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, EIF leveraged its resources by kicking off the "Arts for All" pooled fund - a unique collaboration between business and government that has successfully attracted at least a dozen other major foundations and companies both within and outside of the entertainment industry - all united by a passionate commitment to more artists, teachers, training and support in our public schools.

EIF's NAMEI grants have also supported model arts and music education programs throughout the United States in major cities such as Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, DC. With these exceptional programs providing children with the tools to believe in themselves, they are better equipped to reach their goals and dreams.

Through EIF-funded programs, like Inner-City Arts in Los Angeles, children living in neighborhoods where crime and poverty sometimes create barriers to their achievement find refuge at these unique oases for hands-on activities in the visual arts, dance, drama, animation, music and ceramics. Art and music classes provide outlets for their creativity and build their self-confidence.

Another EIF-funded organization is the Museum of Contemporary Art's Art Start Program. Through this effort, more than 5,000 elementary and middle school students are introduced to contemporary art and culture. Ongoing EIF support covers the cost of free art workshops, museum passes, internships, field trips and an art apprenticeship program.

Other programs, like California State Summer School for the Arts, focus on helping talented teens from around the world become Arts Scholars, training in a variety of disciplines with distinguished artists. EIF's support gives the most financially disadvantaged high school students summer scholarships to attend this unique public arts academy.

To help reinforce the value of the arts, EIF and The Recording Academy produced a benefit concert called GRAMMY JAM to celebrate the distinguished careers of music legends and raise funds for much-needed arts and music educational programs for children and young adults. The Los Angeles fundraisers have honored the legendary band members of Earth, Wind & Fire, and the distinguished career and music of 22-time GRAMMY Award-winning Stevie Wonder.

EIF's National Arts and Music Education Initiative is currently going through a restructuring phase and is not currently accepting grant applications.