Jody Arnhold is a New York City dance teacher and philanthropist. Her husband, John, is the son of banker Henry Arnhold who established the Arnhold Foundation. The Arnhold Foundation had assets of around $500 million when Henry passed away in 2018.
Jody, along with her husband John, are major supporters of expanding dance education and dance programs. They have given millions to expand dance programs and increase dance education in the New York City area. 1
In addition to using private philanthropy to increase the number of dance programs in New York City, she is also an advocate of increasing funding for public-school arts education. She was the co-author of an op-ed in 2021 calling for the use of federal stimulus funds to increase the funding of New York City public school arts programs. 2
Early Life
Jody Arnhold earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin and an MA in dance education from the Teachers College at Columbia University. She is also a certified movement analyst. 3
Jody would marry her husband John Arnhold, who is one of the heirs of the banking fortune of Henry Arnhold. 4
Jody then became a dance teacher in New York City public schools. She would teach dance in New York City public schools for over 25 years. 5
Expanding Dance Education
Arnhold advocates to expand dance education. While teaching dance in New York City public schools, she received the 2008 Spotlight in Dance Education Award by the New York City Department of Education. 6
Arnhold has advocated to place an accredited dance teacher in every New York City public school. She has argued that the best time to expose children to dance is when they are very young in elementary school and to hire qualified teachers who are qualified to teach them. 7
Arnhold and her husband endowed the Arnhold Graduate Dance Education Program at Hunter College in New York City with over $4 million over a series of years to establish the program, culminating in a $870,000 gift to the university to establish a center which includes a dance studio and classroom for the program. The center was called “The Jody” in honor of her generosity. The purpose of the program is produce qualified dance teachers for K-12 public schools in New York State. 8
In 2015, she co-chaired the creation of the New York City Department of Education’s “Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in the Arts in Dance: Grades Pre-K-12.” The document provided guidelines for dance instruction in the schools and aligning the arts with the Common Core education standards. 9
Also in 2015, she was the executive producer of a PBS documentary PS Dance which examined dance instruction in New York City public schools and the impact it has on children. The documentary helped spark her movement of “dance for every child.” 10
In 2016, the Arnholds over $4 million to the Teachers College at Columbia University to establish a doctorate program in dance instruction. It is the only doctorate program in dance instruction in the U.S. 11
In 2019, the Arnholds donated over $6 million to the Teachers College at Columbia University to establish the Arnhold Institute for Dance Education Research, Policy, and Leadership. The institute’s mission is to research public policies to eliminate disparities in the teaching of dance education in K-12 public schools. 12
Advocacy
In 2021, Arnhold co-wrote an op-ed in the New York Daily News that called for the use of federal stimulus funds to increase arts education funding in New York City public schools. The op-ed called on the New York City Council to approve a budget increase of $250 million for the arts in New York City public schools. 13
References
- Scutari, Mike. 2019. “Sparking Something Bigger: A Donor’S Big Bet On Dance Education Is Starting To Pay Dividends”. Inside Philanthropy. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2019/6/23/sparking-something-bigger-a-donors-big-bet-on-dance-education-is-starting-to-pay-dividends.
- Copleand, Misty, Wynton Marsalis, Jody Arnhold, and Russell Granet. 2021. “The Moment To Invest In Arts Education”. New York Daily News. https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-the-moment-to-invest-in-arts-education-20210708-td4jmq6a35gdlefedeov7wsc4e-story.html.
- “Jody Arnhold”. 2022. 92Y. Accessed January 3. https://www.92y.org/instructor/jody-arnhold.aspx.
- Scutari, Mike. 2019. “Sparking Something Bigger: A Donor’S Big Bet On Dance Education Is Starting To Pay Dividends”. Inside Philanthropy. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2019/6/23/sparking-something-bigger-a-donors-big-bet-on-dance-education-is-starting-to-pay-dividends
- “Jody Arnhold”. 2022. 92Y. Accessed January 3. https://www.92y.org/instructor/jody-arnhold.aspx.
- Scutari, Mike. 2019. “Sparking Something Bigger: A Donor’S Big Bet On Dance Education Is Starting To Pay Dividends”. Inside Philanthropy. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2019/6/23/sparking-something-bigger-a-donors-big-bet-on-dance-education-is-starting-to-pay-dividends.
- ““The Jody” Advances Hunter Leadership In Dance”. 2022. Hunter College. Accessed January 3. http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/communications/pressroom/news/201cthe-jody201d-advances-hunter-leadership-in-dance/?searchterm=.
- ““The Jody” Advances Hunter Leadership In Dance”. 2022. Hunter College. Accessed January 3. http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/communications/pressroom/news/201cthe-jody201d-advances-hunter-leadership-in-dance/?searchterm=.
- Scutari, Mike. 2019. “Sparking Something Bigger: A Donor’S Big Bet On Dance Education Is Starting To Pay Dividends”. Inside Philanthropy. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2019/6/23/sparking-something-bigger-a-donors-big-bet-on-dance-education-is-starting-to-pay-dividends.
- Scutari, Mike. 2019. “Sparking Something Bigger: A Donor’S Big Bet On Dance Education Is Starting To Pay Dividends”. Inside Philanthropy. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2019/6/23/sparking-something-bigger-a-donors-big-bet-on-dance-education-is-starting-to-pay-dividends.
- “Press Release: Arnholds Give $6.085 Million To Teachers College”. 2019. Teachers College – Columbia University. https://www.tc.columbia.edu/external-affairs/what-we-do/media-relations/press-releases/2019/press-release-arnholds-give-6085-million-to-teachers-college/.
- “Press Release: Arnholds Give $6.085 Million To Teachers College”. 2019. Teachers College – Columbia University. https://www.tc.columbia.edu/external-affairs/what-we-do/media-relations/press-releases/2019/press-release-arnholds-give-6085-million-to-teachers-college/.
- Copleand, Misty, Wynton Marsalis, Jody Arnhold, and Russell Granet. 2021. “The Moment To Invest In Arts Education”. New York Daily News. https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-the-moment-to-invest-in-arts-education-20210708-td4jmq6a35gdlefedeov7wsc4e-story.html.