Partners in Arts Participation

The evaluation results indicate that the Monkey Mind Pirates program and performance had a positive impact on those who participated. Children’s responses and drawings directly reflected Monkey Mind Pirates concepts, characters and language. Adults identified with specific Monkey Mind Pirates characters and could identify Monkey Mind Pirates characters with their children’s behavior. They found the messages, music, language, and strategies useful and engaging and had intentions to follow up in one or more ways with Monkey Mind Pirates materials. Adults were so taken with Monkey Mind Pirates that the most often mentioned ways of following up their Monkey Mind Pirates experience was to practice and share what they had learned about finding calm. 2: The project deepened a partnership between American Indian Family Center and Z Puppets Rosenschnoz that began with a pilot program during the school year at American Indian Family Center. For the summer Monkey Mind Pirates programs, American Indian Family Center managed the registration and coordination of facilities and recruitment of program participants. Z Puppets facilitated coordination of the project administration, marketing and evaluation, in addition to leading the arts experience. The project design strengthened Z Puppets ability to connect with the population American Indian Family Center serves by bringing the artists into the community in several different ways. Through the summer enrichment sessions at American Indian Family Center, family workshops at American Indian Family Center and performances at public sites in the neighborhood, Monkey Mind Pirates gave multiple points of access for participation.