Community Arts

We were very satisfied with the results of our efforts. We had more demand at the middle and high school levels, so altered our numbers a bit, serving 28 elementary age youth and 82 middle and high school students. Our primary goal of providing access to the performing arts for youth is well served by these workshop models that provide both education and training in theater, but also a chance to perform on the Loft Stage in a true audience-attended performance. Most models provide workshops and perhaps workshop demo performances at the end. Or they just provide a show that youth can perform in. But our model combines the benefit of both, with true theater arts training plus a full show on a live stage, with lights and sound and a great audience to clap along. Youth really want to be part of a "true performance" and we're thrilled to be able to provide that. The model also works by aligning with time we already have booked on the Loft Stage. We can maximize the cost effectiveness of our time on the stage, but this time did book our own tech which was very helpful. Otherwise, it does stress out our Woodbury Community Theatre partners with whom we're sharing the stage. We will continue to hire our own tech to make sure the shows we offer to our workshop participants can function independently. We did lower our elementary student count from 40 to 28, and increased our middle and high school count to 82. Our surveys revealed that 1-3 day workshops in the summer are less popular than full-week activities, because parents are looking for more all-day opportunities where they can drop off their child, go to work, and pick them up at the end of the day. We will look to update our model accordingly. We still do not attract many youth of color. We do have a bigger cross section demographically, and did award a couple of scholarships to kids, but we do need to engage in more relevant outreach in order to understand the interests and needs of youth of color to participate, and how we can better engage a broader cross section for our community. 110 youth ages 8-16 were able to receive quality performing arts instruction and performance opportunities. 8 college students were able to learn and practice leadership skills in serving youth through our workshops. Surveys revealed 95% of students served (who completed the surveys) felt their musical performance skills were significantly enhanced through the experience.