Community Arts

We outlined four goals for our project: 1. The program is accessible to all youth. We made our program accessible to all youth by keeping the registration fee low. We offer scholarships to make the program affordable. Two used scholarships. The program is advertised during the Washington County Fair, Minnesota State Fair, on T-shirts, in the Clover Update, and at the Open House. 2. The program attracts an audience. We had 3,310 people attend the show this year. 3. The youth continue to participate. We had 67% of the participating youth return from last year. 4. The youth and directors consider the performance to be of high quality. Directors, student directors, PDC members, youth, audience members, parents, and Extension Staff were all proud and impressed with the quality of the program that we had this year. We received very positive feedback. Several things that worked well. The director limited the number of student directors to 7 youth so that he could work with a smaller, cohesive group. This was successful. The director was timely in getting music/script to the youth ahead of time. We purchased a keyboard and used the sound system that the Ag Society purchased so we had excellent equipment to work with. The show was performed within the 30 minute time period consistently. We identified a Technical Director for the 2017 season, and he shadowed 20 hours with our current Technical Director. His experience will benefit our program next year. At his request, our director served several roles: director, assistant director, vocal director and accompanist which turned out to be overwhelming. We will change that for 2017. We identified several opportunities to improve our communication regarding program participation: 1-we will clarify language in our registration form so that seventh graders know they are required to participate on the technical crew because one student changed majors without informing the director or being given instruction to do so by a director. 2-we will clarify expectations for full-time attendance at encampment because we had several students leave for other activates during encampment without notifying anyone. This could compromise show quality so the PDC will discuss this with the 2017 director who will help set expectations with regard to attending encampment. 3-we will update the Code of Conduct to prohibit “ad-libbing” the script. This happened one time this season and in the future, we will require the director to approve all changes. Changes/revisions discussed at post-production PDC meeting: Director application-required to attend all encampment activities, rehearsals, and performances. Director hired for one role. Director expectations clarified regarding major assignment, encampment attendance requirements, and working with the PDC. Provide training for all members of the technical crew on sound and light management to strengthen the team. This show afforded many opportunities to the participants. There were 14 solos. The costuming was exceptional, functional and done cost effectively. We had 100% parent participation. Student Directors led teambuilding activities and assisted with choreography and script writing which increases enthusiasm and participation. We were able to make our program accessible to all. We reached 3,310 people in the community. Unfortunately, we were unable to perform for our seniors due to a scheduling conflict, but we are hopeful that we can reach that group during the encampment in our 2017 season. We invited Commissioners and Legislators and sent a follow up thank you to them for their support. The show was advertised in the County Fair program, on the T-shirts, and in the Clover Update, the county newsletter. Arts-In had a booth at the second annual open house in October, an event that is advertised in local newspapers and libraries throughout Washington County. Two hundred people attended this event this year. Each fair season, we set up an Arts-In display in the 4-H Food Building, Hooley Hall, for the public to view. In addition, county 4-H leaders make announcements at their club meetings about Arts-In. Club leaders have received diversity and risk management training and those ideas were used to make the program safe, cost effective, and affordable for all who wish to participate. Our program reaches senior citizens, adults, and children of all ages. We had 59 participants this year: 18 males (31%) and 41 females (69%). We had two participants on scholarship and 6 students who registered late and were assessed a late fee. Forty youth returned this year (67%). This year we had 6 students graduating from the 4-H program and eight high school seniors who have one more year to perform. We are hoping they all return for one more Arts-In season. Arts-In is accessible to all regardless of socioeconomic, education, or geographic status. The artists who directed our technical crew, vocals, and band had done so in past years. We had a 4-H alumni assist with choreography. She verbalized satisfaction with the role and the students enjoyed working with her. Our vocal director doubled as the Director so that was challenging from an organization standpoint. Next year we will have a new Technical Director who shadowed this year for about 20 hours to learn the Arts-In production process. He has numerous years of experience in local theaters as a Technical Director so we are looking forward to his help next year. We are working as a committee to identify a Director for next year. Several alumni have indicated that they are interested in applying. We had 12 applicants for the Student Director positions. We had 5 SD’s for the performers, one SD for the Technical Crew, and one SD for the Band. Student Director selection is done by the Director. The SD’s were very helpful with encampment activities, script writing, and leading choreography. Outcome 1: The program builds up youth and adults. They learn artistic skills, confidence, leadership, teamwork, friendship, and citizenship and return the next year-- 67% return participants/100% parent volunteer. Outcome 2: Celebrate diversity as singers, dancers, friends, leaders, and people. (14 solos, 5-6 students helped with choreography, 7 student directors, 6 band members, 16 tech crew).