This article takes an analytical look at Engaging Creative Minds, a pilot community program geared to enrich learning of common core standards through a local artist-in-residence partnership with public schools. This program was designed to increase the level of engagement and student growth in classes that typically relied on rote memory and passive instruction. Using the theoretical framework found in studio thinking and the Eight Studio Habits of Mind, the authors investigate the efficacy of this program by providing examples from specific residency experiences to show how the studio habits of mind were used in the classroom to increase engagement, community involvement, and student growth, demonstrating the power of the arts and the potential for policy change.