Rejecting the techno-fix model of education reform, Strickland inspires at-risk Pittsburgh teenagers to graduate from high school and go on to college through a high-intensity program in the arts that includes workshops in music, creative writing, dance, and filmmaking. Executive director of the Manchester Craftmen’s Guild and the Bidwell Training Center, he has created vocational training and arts education programs in Pittsburgh that represent some of the most important inner-city work in the country. He is a National Endowment for the Arts council member and chairman of its Expansion Arts Panel.
