Partners in Arts Participation

Perceived or real barriers to participation in the arts are addressed: The Karen youth artists that participated in our program were given an opportunity to participate in the arts that they may not have received in another situation. Challenges such as language and finances make arts participation more difficult for this population than other groups. By actively approaching the participants in this project to recruit them, as well as Dangerous Production’s goal to create a project that would genuinely interest the artists, we guaranteed a higher participation rate. When challenges in participation came up, such as transportation of the young artists, we came up with a ride-sharing plan. The problem of appropriate footwear for parkour also presented itself as a challenge early on. To remedy this, we contacted individual donors with a specific ask of donating for footwear. 2: Partnerships are developed between social service organizations, artists, and arts organizations to better serve underserved communities: There were some great and unexpected outcomes to this project. The media spots that we were featured in gave our project a higher profile than we anticipated, and because of this we made some great connections, including World Refugee Day, and a staff member of Goodwill looking to connect with Karen workers. Both individuals are very excited with the work we are doing with these kids and have indicated interest in staying informed of future projects with them.