About ART=OPP

ART=OPPORTUNITY is a research that provides leadership training, literacy residencies, summits, workshops, arts integration bootcamps, and special events for educators, parents, youth and teens, and arts providers. Special attention to Creative Youth Development is key to our work. To learn more please explore our website, use our tools, follow us on social media and stay connected through our upcoming events!

Thanks to major funding from the Stuart Foundation, as well as funding from the Panta Rhea Foundation, California Arts Council, San Diego County, California State University San Marcos (CSUSM), and the Clare Rose Foundation, ART=OPPORTUNITY is focused on providing access to the arts for all children through exemplary educational practices based in arts integration and arts education. “We have a specific focus on Youth Leadership, Research, Advocacy, and Sustainability,” according to Merryl Goldberg, founding Director of ARTOPP. “Our highest goal is to ensure that every child has the opportunity for an exemplary education that includes learning in, with and through the arts.”

In the efforts to create a shared vision of the role the arts play in student development, Center ARTES has or is currently partnering with multiple leadership partners including the San Diego County Office of Education, the Center for Leadership Innovation and Mentorship Building (CLIMB), the College of Business Administration at CSUSM, San Marcos Writing Project at CSUSM, School of Arts at CSUSM, Southern County Professional Development Federation, San Diego Arts Network, Chula Vista Elementary School District VAPA, Arts for Learning San Diego, La Jolla Playhouse, The New Children’s Museum, A Reason to Survive (ARTS), California Center for the Arts, Escondido and more!

If you are interested in getting involved, please email artopp@csusm.edu or explore this website for more information.

About California State University San Marcos

Building on an innovative 30-year history, California State University San Marcos is a forward-focused institution, dedicated to preparing future leaders, building great communities and solving critical issues. Located on a 304-acre hillside overlooking the city of San Marcos, the University is just a short distance from some of Southern California’s best beaches and an hour from the U.S.-Mexico border. CSUSM enrollment is over 16,000 and the university is fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

About the Stuart Foundation

Be Bold • Make an Impact • Act with Integrity • Be Accountable • Pursue Excellence • Be Respectful

The Stuart Foundation is dedicated to improving life outcomes for young people through education. We work to ensure that effective education systems in California and Washington provide opportunities for all students to learn, achieve, and thrive. Primarily working through education systems, we promote strategies that nurture students to be self-reliant, succeed in education and careers, and engage meaningfully in their communities.

About the Panta Rhea Foundation

The Panta Rhea Foundation was established in 2001 as a private foundation devoted to supporting organizations committed to building a more just and sustainable world. The foundation also advises individual donors and other charitable entities on grantmaking strategies and Specific grants. 

We believe that lasting, authenitc changes comes from the grassroots: from the organized efforts of people and organizations to enliven the social imagination, to envision a better future and to experiment with new ideas. We support changemakers to ask questions and to implement strategies and initiative to build awareness, power, activism and civic engagement.