In 2017, the Hewlett Foundation’s Performing Arts Program asked Education First, a national education strategy and policy consulting firm, to help it take stock of the program’s decade of support for arts education policy and advocacy work at the local, state, and national level.

Key questions evaluated by Education First included:

  • What was the original goal of the arts education policy and advocacy grantmaking work?
  • How did the strategies the foundation and its grantees pursued play out, and how did they change or evolve over time?
  • What impact did the grantmaking have?

The full report includes information on the history of the foundation’s arts education policy and advocacy grantmaking; the goals of the foundation’s grantmaking; major changes to California’s arts education policy landscape; successes and challenges for the foundation and its grantees; and conclusions and implications for the program’s grantmaking strategy.