WHERE DOES ART "HAPPEN"? Contrary to popular belief, quality art events and educational programs with the power to uplift or enlighten young minds are not limited to big-city museums and grand performance halls. Art "happens" throughout the Northwest- on both sides of the mountains, and in rural places as well as in urban centers. Even small museums tend to offer educational programming. Whether you're a principal looking to bring artists or performers into your school, a teacher hoping to deepen your own understanding of the arts, or a parent in search of enriching arts activities for your child, your own community probably offers a wide range of cultural events and programs. State arts agencies can help connect you with local resources. Here's a sampling.

ALASKA
Alaska State Council on the Arts [(907) 269-6610] manages an arts-in-education program to promote teaching the arts as an integral part of life, in all parts of the state, and to maintain Alaska's rich artistic diversity. The council sponsors an artists-in-residence program and offers incentive grants to help schools make the arts part of basic education.

Alaska Arts Education Summer Academy [(907) 262-0369], at Kenai Peninsula College in Soldotna, is an intensive summer institute in arts education, supported by a grant from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. During the first week, designed for teachers and administrators, experts demonstrate and explain how to provide comprehensive arts education, incorporating the state arts content standards. During the second week, the experts gear their workshops for children from preschool through high school. Dr. Kathy Schwartz conducts more presentations throughout the year on how to teach the arts in a comprehensive way. She directs the Alaska Center for Excellence in Arts Education.

IDAHO
Idaho Commission on the Arts [(208) 334-2119] emphasizes arts education at the community level. An Arts Education Program offers grant and technical assistance to schools and community organizations. Folk Arts in Schools program offers residencies and intensive experience in folklore and folk arts. Summer workshops on teaching the visual arts are offered in conjunction with the state Department of Education. The Whittenberger Summer Writing Project conducts a summer institute for teachers and high school students. The interdisciplinary teaching staff includes a nationally known photojournalist, biologist-nature writer, musician-storyteller, and Idaho's poet laureate, David Lee. Information about the project, now in its 17th year, is available online www.acofi.edu/ ~library/whitt/index.html).

MONTANA
Montana Arts Council [(406) 444-6430], sponsors an Artists in the Schools/Communities residency program to promote and expand quality arts education experiences for all citizens of the state. Traveling exhibits include trunks filled with hands-on materials relating to historic and cultural themes. Partnership grants with Montana's Tribal Colleges aim to improve and enhance arts education for children.

Missoula Children's Theatre [(406) 444-6430] offers a variety of opportunities for children in grades K-12 to get on stage. An international touring program takes children's theater into local communities via little red trucks packed with stage props, costumes, lighting, and other essentials. Local children audition, rehearse, and- a week later-perform a full-scale musical for their community. A summer camp in Montana attracts schoolchildren from across the country for an intensive theater experience, culminating with a performance on the stage of the company's brand new arts center in Missoula.

OREGON
Oregon Arts Commission [(503) 986-0083] coordinates with a network of regional programs to promote arts in education. The Regional Arts and Culture Council serves the Portland metro area [(503) 823-5111]. The council coordinates artist residencies, brings architects into schools to teach students about the built environment, publishes an arts resources directory, and is working with 11 ArtsPlan schools to encourage and support arts offerings in the classroom.

Pacific Northwest College of Art [(503) 226-4391] sponsors a four-week summer institute for high school students. Sequential studies of composition, the figure, and interpretive work culminate in a student art show.

WASHINGTON
Washington State Arts Commission [(360) 586-2418] offers a variety of programs to promote the arts as basic to the education of Washington's youth. The commission funds residencies, sponsors touring artists, and provides grants for arts organizations to create collaborative projects with schools. A Biennial Arts Education Conference brings together teachers, artists, administrators, parents, and community volunteers. This year's conference, Conceiving the Future: Artists, Schools and Communities of the 21st Century, takes place May 20-22 in Tacoma, in conjunction with the Washington Cultural Congress VI.

Seattle Art Museum's Teacher Resource Center [(206) 654-3186] offers hands-on information about art and culture, curriculum materials related to the museum's collections, and teacher-training workshops. Outreach Suitcases, which teachers can check out for two-week loans, contain touchable art objects, curriculum guides, and transparencies that show objects within a cultural context.

-S.B.