Conceptualizing Intermediary Organizations in Arts Education Through a Cross-Sector Review of the Literature

Research has demonstrated that the successful implementation of arts education necessitates partnerships across sectors, disciplines, and institutions. Many arts education partnerships rely on third-party or intermediary entities to make connections between arts education stakeholders and to help coordinate their partnership initiatives. The advantages of intermediary involvement are promoted by partnership research across domains, but very few studies offer conceptualizations of what an intermediary is and does within arts education. Accordingly, in this article, I (1) review cross-sector examples of intermediary organizations to identify their roles and functions, (2) position the work of intermediaries within arts integration theory and practice, and (3) offer a conceptualization of arts education intermediaries based on the cross-sector review. Implications for arts education policy and practice are also discussed; namely, the usefulness of the conceptual model in identifying intermediary organizations and leveraging their services.