By Dr. Kristen Paglia, Executive Director of Education & Programs
At P.S. ARTS, we believe it takes a village… Strong collaborations are key to providing children and families with the scope and diversity of arts experiences. We are proud to offer yearlong arts instruction in school to thousands of kids every year. We also know that the positive impact of our programs and potential to make a life-long impression can be even further enhanced by exposure to professional arts events. This is one of the many reasons we are so thrilled about our ongoing work with The Eli and Edythe Broad Stage at the Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center.
The mission of The Broad Stage complements the mission of P.S. ARTS. The Broad Stage “will contribute to our cultural community through excellence in education and the arts, helping to build a new generation of audience and artists.” The Broad Stage opened its doors in Santa Monica in October 2008 and began its relationship with P.S. ARTS in 2010, bringing professional artists into schools to talk about what they do and prepare students to be audience members in their sublimely intimate 499 seat theater, forging a new kind of artist and audience experience in Los Angeles.
The Broad Stage helps bring approximately 1,000 P.S. ARTS students a year to enjoy live theater at their student matinees. The student matinees provide the opportunity for exploration into the historical and literary contexts of a performance or the current events that support core curriculum and the California Visual and Performing Arts education standards. P.S. ARTS Teaching Artists and staff help to further this communal goal by developing lesson plans and support materials for Teaching Artists and teachers that reinforce students’ experience at The Broad Stage. We incorporate the arts genres and masterworks featured at The Broad Stage in our sequential arts curriculum.
P.S. ARTS is also very proud to have been included at this year’s Broad Fest on September 5. Our staff hosted a booth at this free community event featuring live dance, music, and theater performances. We had so much fun creating Japanese Carp windsocks with hundreds of children and their families over the course of the day.
Finally, we were also very pleased to welcome Broad Stage Education Associate Danika Burmester to our first faculty training session of 2012, “Arts Education Ambassadorship.” During an activity designed to help arts educators speak in a compelling way about the value of arts education, Danika shared her personal story of being a teen mom, losing her daughter’s father to gang-related gun violence, and her commitment to infusing community life with art and the compassion and joy that come with it. Her passion for arts education was palpable. Danika’s presence as a P.S. ARTS community partner, along with the Diavolo Dance Theater (who will be performing at the first Broad Stage Student Matinee on September 28), and the Story Pirates, was a powerful reminder of the benefits of partnership!
Please check out The Broad Stage / P.S. ARTS / Diavolo Discovery Guide for teachers. We hope to see you at The Broad Stage in the near future!
