Jacques Rodrigue (standing, at left), has led the George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts since his father's death in 2013. About their commitment to encouraging the arts in education he said, "At some point we asked ourselves, ‘How serious do we want to get?’ When we discovered the A+ Program, we found that was the way we could have the most impact.”
For years after George Rodrigue’s iconic Blue Dog became a universally recognizable image, the Louisiana artist would receive letters from students and teachers around the world describing how his Blue Dog was inspiring their art projects.
A deep believer in the importance of the arts in education and distressed by ongoing cuts to arts programs in Louisiana schools, Rodrigue began to leverage his fame and talents to establish independent art courses and art supplies projects, which he took into Louisiana schools to teach to kids directly. “When we had the idea to start an arts in education project, we had no idea,” said Jacques Rodrigue, George’s son, who has run the George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts since his father’s death in 2013. “At some point we asked ourselves, ‘How serious do we want to get?’ When we discovered the A+ Program, we found that was the way we could have the most impact.”
Developed in North Carolina twenty years ago, A+ is a whole school program that trains school systems to integrate arts across the curriculum with a mission to nurture creativity in every learner. “It started with an idea: What would happen if you took the arts seriously in all classrooms, all subjects?” explained Rodrigue.
Louisiana is the fourth state to implement the A+ program, (LAA+), which is administered by the foundation statewide as part of the National A+ Schools Consortium. Currently, eighteen Louisiana schools are enrolled. Teachers learn methods for integrating the arts into STEM courses. Students learn hard-to-grasp math and science concepts through participation in music, visual art, dance, and theatre activities. For example, when a second-grader discovers Isaac Newton’s theories of the Laws of Motion by choreographing an original dance, concepts like “acceleration,” “inertia,” “force,” and “velocity” become a lot easier to understand.
Independent research confirms that comprehension, retention, and critical-thinking skills among students exposed to arts integration programs all increase dramatically. Participating schools report higher student achievement, better attendance, decreased discipline problems, and stronger parent and student involvement. “It’s a three-year process to become an A+ school, so it’s a huge commitment,” said Rodrigue. “But the ones that do it get great results.”
This summer, Bains Lower Elementary School in West Feliciana Parish became the latest Louisiana school to enroll in the LAA+ program. And while the cost of participation is borne by the foundation, a fundraiser taking place this month in St. Francisville will help to offset the cost somewhat. Inspired by George Rodrigue’s famous “Aioli Dinner” painting (1971), the foundation will present The Aioli Dinner Supper Club, a four-course wine-paired dinner, at St. Francisville’s Hemingbough on November 15. Those that come dress in black and white to eat, drink, and be merry before gathering around a long table to recreate Rodrigue's famous work by posing for a photograph that reproduces the original painting. 6 pm at Hemingbough. $250 per person, and everyone gets a copy of the photo to take home. (225) 635-6617 or rodriguefoundation.org.
