But, in 1958 and for decades after, the schools and the government paid for this life-changing programming. Now, they are not.
Over the past 10 years, funding for the arts in schools has been decimated. In the San Francisco Bay Area more than 50% of our schools fail to offer a single visual arts class. And more than a third of our schools offer no music classes — at all. This means, students are not getting any creative opportunities in the classroom without programs like Young Audiences — and we need to reach more kids.
YOU can help us connect more kids to more art!
If you make a donation, we can reach more kids. Simple as that. More money = more kids with creative outlets and experiences and more ways to connect to their inner artistic vision.
With this campaign, we are raising $10,000 to help fund programming for kids in the Bay Area. We have tremendous funders like the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Walter and Elise Haas Fund, the Kimball Foundation, the Morris and Alma Schapiro Fund, and the California Arts Council, who are providing extraordinary funding for these programs.
And, we all like to support a future that is collectively important. So we are asking you to help too.
The more you can do through this campaign, the more programming we can do in the coming year for the children of the Bay Area.
Not all art experiences are about making art. But, some are! And, as a special thank you directly from the beneficiaries of your generosity, we are offering some great perks, adorned with the fabulous art of the 4th and 5th graders at a Cupertino elementary school:
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Young Audiences connects students with practicing, professional artists for artistically excellent and educationally effective art programming. Our team provides all the support and training that professional artists need to help them make their art forms accessible to kids. From how to deal with a reluctant 8th grader to how to engage a busy teacher, there aren't many challenges that we haven't faced ourselves and aren't ready to handle.
Last year, our 54 teaching artists worked in all four arts disciplines—music, theater, visual art, and dance—and created arts experiences of performance demonstrations and long-term, hands-on residencies. Last year, we reached 24,400 students in grades K-12 across the 9 counties of the Bay Area who otherwise would not have had these arts opportunities.
Young Audiences of Northern California is proud to work with some of the finest artists in the Bay Area. Among our roster of artists are National Endowment for the Arts fellows, Grammy nominees, and national touring performers. We partner with and support community artists in all art disciplines who are both exceptional practitioners of their art forms and skilled educators.
School days are full, teachers are buried, and kids are busy. It's hard for school administrators to find time in a student's day for the program, let alone planning it with their teachers, making sure it's relevant for their current course work, and making sure it's impactful.
We work very hard to connect artists with school administrators and teachers so these concerns are addressed. While not all schools can make time in the day for creative arts experiences, there are plenty that can and that would, if the funding were there.
Additionally, we are working very hard this year to explore new formats, new programs, and new venues for helping kids connect to the arts. Please consider being a Visioneer with us to make this critical exploration possible.
One last thing about our target goal: this is just the half of it!!!
We are going to have an end-of-the campaign "Impact Event" in May at Credo. Credo is a fantastic Italian-inspired restaurant right around the corner from our home office in San Francisco. The Impact Event is an in-person campaign event, which will occur right at the end of the Indiegogo campaign and will target to MATCH whatever amount we raise in this online campaign. So, your donation will help inspire our in-person fundraising efforts! TWICE the Impact!
Thank you, Credo!
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Remember: this is all about connecting kids to the arts, any amount you are comfortable giving will help, and even more is even better!
THANK YOU!!
(Video directed by Tom&OMedia)