The Center for Arts Education

What The Center for Arts Education does

The Center for Arts Education (CAE) is a New York City-based nonprofit founded in 1996 to deliver standards-based arts education to NYC public school students from pre-K through 12th grade. Originally established during an arts-education crisis in NYC schools with Annenberg Challenge support, CAE initially funded third-party arts partnerships before transitioning in 2008 into a direct-services provider. Today CAE operates a five-part program portfolio: (1) Residencies, Workshops, and Performances providing in-school instruction in dance, music, theater, and visual arts aligned with New York State curriculum standards; (2) the Career Development Program placing high school seniors in internships across NYC cultural institutions with exclusive college scholarships; (3) Parents As Arts Partners (PAAP), a family-engagement program; (4) Professional Learning programs including School Leaders Institutes and the Future Arts Initiative for educator development; and (5) federally funded research initiatives such as the Arts Engage Initiative (AEI) and the School Arts Support Initiative (SASI). Since 2011, CAE has built and maintained an in-house cadre of teaching artists to control instructional quality across all four arts disciplines.

CAE is funded through a diversified mix of public and private sources: U.S. Department of Education research grants (including Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination), New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, NYC Department of Education, and NYC Council members; private foundations and corporate donors including the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Arison Arts Foundation, Con Edison, BlackRock, and Macquarie Group; and individual donations processed through Neon. All programs are delivered free to NYC public schools. CAE currently operates as a program of Partnership with Children following a recent merger that integrated it with one of NYC's largest providers of community school programs and school-based mental health services. The organization has approximately 74 employees and is led by CEO Wesner Pierre; it is headquartered at One Battery Park Plaza, Suite 200, New York, NY. CAE's go-to-market is direct-to-consumer through NYC public schools, with distribution via in-school residencies, afterschool, summer programming, family engagement events at schools, and high school internships at cultural partner sites (Carnegie Hall, Guggenheim, NYC Ballet, Lincoln Center, Roundabout, Apollo Theater, Studio Museum in Harlem, Ballet Hispanico, Joyce Theater, among others).

Name

The Center for Arts Education

Legal name

The Center for Arts Education

Website

https://centerforartsed.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

New York City-based nonprofit founded in 1996 that delivers arts education in dance, music, theater, and visual arts to NYC public school students pre-K through 12. Programs include school residencies, career internships, family engagement, educator professional development, and federally funded research.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Arts Education Services

NAICS

Fine Arts Schools (611610), Fine Arts Schools (61161), Elementary and Secondary Schools (6111)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Arts Education & Community Arts Programs (BPAGAHAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Arts Education Instruction (Visual/Performing) (EDAJAFAK), Visual Arts Instruction (Drawing, Painting, Sculpture) (EDAMAAAA)

Keywords

• Arts education programs
• School-based residencies
• Professional learning educators
• Family engagement programs
• Creative career development

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Government Grants: Funding from United States Department of Education, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, New York City Department of Education, and NYC Council Members
2. Private Foundations & Corporate Donations: Support from foundations including American Academy of Arts and Letters, Arison Arts Foundation, Con Edison, BlackRock, Macquarie Group, and individual donors
3. Individual Donations: Online and offline donations from individuals supporting arts education

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Center for Arts Education delivers evidence-based, standards-aligned arts education programs in dance, music, theater, and visual arts directly to NYC public school students from pre-K through 12th grade. Offerings include in-school residencies, workshops and performances, a Career Development Program placing high school interns at cultural institutions, the Parents As Arts Partners family engagement program, Professional Learning for educators, and multi-year federally funded research initiatives measuring the impact of arts integration. All programs are provided free of charge to NYC public schools through government grants, foundation/corporate donations, and individual contributions.

Product overview

The Center for Arts Education is a nonprofit organization offering a portfolio of arts education programs for NYC public school students, not a technology product company. Its offerings include: Residencies, Workshops and Performances for direct student instruction; the Career Development Program providing internships in creative industries; Parents As Arts Partners for family engagement; Professional Learning programs for educators; and research initiatives including the Arts Engage Initiative and School Arts Support Initiative. The organization operates as a program of Partnership with Children following a merger, focusing on evidence-based arts education in dance, music, theater, and visual arts disciplines.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Residencies, Workshops and Performances School-based arts education programs in dance, music, theater, and visual arts tailored to meet the needs of each collaborating school. Programming includes school-based, afterschool, and summer offerings for NYC public school students from pre-K through 12th grade.
• Career Development Program Pioneering program providing high school seniors training in college and career readiness and placing them in internships in creative industries across New York City. Students also access college scholarships exclusive to CAE.
• Parents As Arts Partners (PAAP) Signature family engagement program bringing school-based arts education to involve parents and caregivers in hands-on, interactive arts activities with their children, building collective understanding of arts importance.
• Professional Learning Professional development programs including School Leaders Institutes and Future Arts Initiative, providing educators with knowledge, skills and resources to transform schools through arts education.
• Arts Engage Initiative (AEI) Four-year longitudinal research program funded by U.S. Department of Education that measured the impact of drama and social studies integration at the middle school level, demonstrating 20% higher scores in ELA and social studies.
• School Arts Support Initiative (SASI) Multi-year research initiative (2007-2012) at nine NYC middle schools focused on developing sustainable arts education programming with components including professional development and external evaluation.
• Future Arts Initiative Four-year professional development and research program bringing together Collaborating Teaching Artists and District 29 Visual Arts and Social Studies teachers, with yearly district-wide art shows attracting over 400 attendees.

Quantifiable outcome

• Arts education is strongly associated with lower dropout rates and higher graduation rates regardless of socio-economic status
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• City Parks FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity and cultural partner for arts education programming
• Carnegie HallcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCultural partner for professional development and educational programming
• Guggenheim MuseumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCultural partner providing professional development workshops for educators
• Harlem School of the ArtscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCultural partner for arts education programs
• New York City BalletcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCultural partner for dance education programming
• Roundabout Theatre CompanycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCultural partner for theater education and career development internships
• Lincoln Center for the Performing ArtscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCareer Development Program partner placing high school interns
• NYC Department of EducationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGovernment partner providing public school access and funding support
• United Federation of TeacherscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEducational partner for professional development initiatives
• Americans for the ArtscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational arts education advocacy organization member
• Arts Education PartnershipcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational coalition member focused on arts education policy
• District 29 QueenscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSchool district partner for Future Arts Initiative professional development programs
• UFT Teacher CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for professional development programming
• ART21minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCultural partner for Future Arts Initiative professional development
• Apollo TheaterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCultural partner for School Leaders Institutes professional development
• Ballet HispanicominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCareer Development Program internship host for high school students
• Joyce TheaterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCareer Development Program internship host
• Studio Museum in HarlemminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCareer Development Program internship host

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Studio in a School: NYC nonprofit providing visual-arts residencies and professional development in NYC public schools. Closely comparable arts-discipline scope and K-12 NYC public school delivery model.
• Marquis Studios: NYC nonprofit placing teaching artists in public schools for residencies across dance, music, theater, and visual arts. Directly comparable school-based delivery model and teaching-artist staffing approach.
• New Victory Theater: NYC's performing-arts theater dedicated to kids and families, running in-school residencies, school partnerships, and arts-education programming across NYC public schools. Highly comparable mission and delivery.
• Carnegie Hall Weill Music Institute: Carnegie Hall's education division runs school-based music and arts programs, professional development for educators, and family programming across NYC. Directly comparable to CAE's music strand and PD offerings.
• Lincoln Center Education: Lincoln Center's education arm delivers K-12 arts programming across NYC schools in music, dance, and theater. Highly comparable to CAE's direct-to-school delivery model and cultural-institution partnership approach.
• Young Audiences (Arts for Learning): National nonprofit network that places teaching artists in K-12 schools to deliver arts residencies — nearly identical operating model to CAE's residency/workshop/performance program across all four arts disciplines.
• Roundabout Theatre Company Education: Roundabout's education programs deliver theater instruction, in-school residencies, and student internships at NYC public schools. Comparable theater-discipline programming and NYC DOE partnership footprint.

Broad incumbents

• Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) Education: BAM's education programs serve NYC K-12 students with performing-arts instruction, school partnerships, and community engagement. Larger performing-arts institution with overlapping arts-education mission but broader presenting role.

Others

• National Arts Club Education Programs: NYC-based arts nonprofit offering arts-education and cultural programming. Less directly comparable to CAE's school-delivery model but thematically adjacent as a NYC arts-education ecosystem participant.

Regional players

• New York City Center Education: City Center's education programs partner with NYC public schools for dance and music instruction and family programming. Comparable NYC K-12 arts-education delivery, primarily dance-focused.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-center-for-arts-education

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Center for Arts Education