The Tennessee Arts Academy Foundation (TAAF) was founded in 1997 to aid and assist in the growth and expansion of the Tennessee Arts Academy. Through their active participation in this nationally renowned training institute, Tennessee Arts Academy teacher-participants renew their commitment to active learning and artistic literacy, to the power of the arts to promote critical thinking, and to the importance of the arts in the lives of all students. The TAAF Board of Directors shares in the belief that educators trained at the Tennessee Arts Academy are better equipped and motivated to serve their students, significantly raise achievement levels, and effect positive and lasting change in classrooms throughout the state. The board pursues its goals through a yearly plan of action which includes a variety of fundraising events and community awareness programs designed to inform and educate the public, state education leaders and government officials regarding the merits of the Academy and the critical need for increased emphasis on the arts and creativity in our schools. The Tennessee Arts Academy is the nation’s premier summer professional development institute with a mission to provide arts training, support, encouragement, information and renewal to K-12 teachers and to promote and honor the role of the arts in the lives of all Tennesseans. Held annually since 1986 on the campus of Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, the Academy trains more than 300 K–12 educators in July each summer, who in turn impact over 200,000 Tennessee students (nearly 20% of the state’s K–12 student population) the following school year.