Rapid Response Fund (RRF)
Using data from our annual OUSD Arts Education Survey, AOK identifies schools where there are students receiving no arts education. These gaps often occur in the final weeks before school starts. The RRF is designed to fill those last-minute gaps by connecting well-established arts education providers to leadership at the target schools, and then providing RRF funding to the arts provider for immediate, weekly arts education classes that reach every student. The goal of the Rapid Response Fund is to ensure that no student goes a single week without arts education.
In order for an arts provider to be eligible for the Rapid Response Fund, they must first apply for and be awarded a Landis Grant.
Landis Grants
Named after AOK’s founder Sally Landis, Landis Grants are chosen each spring for the following school year and are awarded to TK-12 arts providers for hands-on arts education in Oakland Unified School District’s (OUSD’s) most under-resourced schools.
Arts organizations, independent teaching artists, and classroom teachers are all eligible for Landis Grants, with grants currently awarded up to $10,000.
Using data from AOK’s annual OUSD Arts Education Report, AOK targets Landis Grants to maintain and grow the progress that has been made in the equity of arts education offerings within Oakland public schools.
Laurie Pitman Award
In AOK’s 25th year as an organization, we introduced a special annual $5,000 award, named after long-standing AOK Board member Laurie Pitman. As with all of AOK’s grants, the Laurie Pitman Award funds hands-on arts education programs serving students who attend financially oppressed Oakland public schools. The award is designed to recognize exceptional Landis Grant applicants that would otherwise be disqualified from funding. These include: excellent projects that don’t quite fit our Landis Grant guidelines; outstanding projects that have been required, per our guidelines, to take one year off from funding; or exemplary past recipients that may not have applied in a given year.
In order for an arts provider to be eligible for the Laurie Pitman Award, they must first apply for and be awarded a Landis Grant.
