Blog
Young Audiences shares the joy of SALA!
For the first time in our history, the U.S. Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona, visited a Young Audiences program to experience arts-integrated learning! Secretary Cardona came to our Summer Arts & Learning Academy (SALA) site at Graceland Park Elementary/Middle School to unveil his national plan to reopen schools.
After visiting our classrooms, he shared that “SALA in Spanish means living room. Living rooms are where families come and they grow together. That’s what I saw here today.” In addition to Secretary Cardona, the Executive Director of the National Summer Learning Association Aaron Dworkin, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, and most of City Schools’ leadership experienced SALA, too. Each person was so enthusiastic about what the program provides to children. Creativity, collaboration, student expression, engagement, and care are infused throughout the Academy, and so are our students’ voices—about their identities, their communities, and how they want to change their communities and the world for the better. Our visitors saw that.
For all of us, this pandemic has taken away so much—whether it be the lives of people we love, our economic security, or the ability to simply live our lives in the ways that keep us healthy. We know that for our teachers, teaching artists, and staff, showing up for SALA was a daily act of love. Anyone who visited the program felt that love through the masks, through the separation that comes with dividing classes into pods, and through the social distancing.
The words of Bettina Love have been guiding the team at Young Audiences this summer: “To love all children we must struggle to create the schools we are taught to believe are impossible, schools built on justice, love, joy, and antiracism.”
We are on a mission to make this a reality for our children and are so grateful for everyone who is on this mission with us — including YOU.
Learn more about Summer Arts & Learning Academy here: yamd.org/programs/summer-arts-academy/.
PS. Could these SALA students have created the next famous TikTok dance? Watch the video and see why Secretary Cardona and Mayor Scott think so!
It could be a famous TikTok dance!
Students couldn’t wait to share this dance they created with special guests @MayorBMScott & @SecCardona this morning at Graceland Park Elementary Middle! Thank you for visiting & taking in the joyful learning at Summer Arts & Learning Academy! pic.twitter.com/BbMAGPiexJ
— Young Audiences MD (@arts4learning) August 4, 2021
Honoring and Celebrating Juneteenth
Young Audiences’ mission is to transform the lives and education of young people through the arts. To do this, we must understand, appreciate, and celebrate our students – and each other.
Last month, our staff and board came together to recognize the cultural heritage of our Black and brown staff and community. Our inaugural Juneteenth celebration began with a dive into the history of Juneteenth, the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. The holiday commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, arrived in Galveston, Texas, with news that the Civil War had ended and that the Black people who were enslaved were now free. This was two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, which had become official January 1, 1863.
The YA Juneteenth celebration continued with meaningful performances from teaching artists, presentations on African American cultural heritage, a festival dance party, and some cool ice cream on a hot summer day. Also onsite was a gorgeous ancestral garden designed by Early Learning School & Relationship Coordinator Shana Teel, and flashcards honoring the names of Kings and Queens who made Black History in the marvelous state of Maryland. Participants were invited to call out the names of those people and other Africans throughout the diaspora who have passed on. The scene was decked out in colors of the Pan-African flag to honor Juneteenth: red, black, and green to represent the blood, soil, and prosperity of Africa and its people.
Young Audiences of Maryland honors the diverse cultures, contributions, and achievements of Black and brown staff, children, artists, board members, and partners. This joyful event, coordinated by the Young Audiences Black Caucus and Party Planning Committee, reminded us of the power of infusing our lives with cultural appreciation, understanding, our individual histories, and shared experiences.
As Jessica Hebron, our Chief Program Officer, put it: “We are immensely excited about the celebration and look forward to our continued work honoring Race Equity through social justice initiatives for our current staff and those to come.”
As we all move forward – both as individuals and as an organization – race equity will help guide our work in having an honest and lasting impact on students, artists, and our community. And coming together will help us focus on this priority in the months and years ahead.
The Bloomberg Arts Internship: A Perfect Match
“Do you know what a stage manager is? You might be a stage manager.” CJ Philip would know. The award-winning choreographer and artistic director of Dance and Bmore has spent more than enough time on, in front of, and behind the stage to identify the qualities necessary for the role. “The stage manager is air traffic control,” she tells a group of rising high school seniors over Zoom. “If you’re stage manager, you’re communicating with lighting, dance directors, sound—if you wanna know something, ask the stage manager.”
The students are rapt. Not only is CJ an expert in her field, she knows how to cultivate relationships with young people. How lucky we are that Dance & Bmore has returned for a 5th year as a worksite for the Bloomberg Arts Internship.
Since 2017, the Bloomberg Arts Internship has matched rising high school seniors in Baltimore City Public Schools with the city’s premiere arts and cultural institutions to explore careers in the arts first-hand. The students learn that it takes talented individuals from a variety of backgrounds and with skills across many disciplines to create a final product—what the public experiences. The seven-week program, now in its 5th year in Baltimore, runs this summer from July 6 to August 20, with 25 interns working with 18 organizations.
Kristina Berdan, YA’s education director of Baltimore City initiatives, organized the virtual matching session for new interns and worksites. She and team member Joanna Thursby, her executive assistant, have created a loving, energetic, and comfortable space for participants to gather and get to know each other. “You should not consider this a formal interview, but a question and answer period,” she said.
The session begins with small groups completing an introductory task: design the vending machines of their dreams. In no time at all, participants imagine wild combinations of comfort and happiness nestled in springs and levers and housed behind glass. One is stocked with guinea pigs, band aids, and lots of peace. The contents are a delicious blend of fantastic and practical, abstract and essential: sushi, hope, and hair ties; puppies, kittens, and a good night’s sleep.
This icebreaker is anything but awkward. There is laughter and collaboration as a student wonders out loud, “How often do these get changed out anyway?” One group is trying to make their vending machine bigger. They have no trouble envisioning their unlikely contraptions. And because this is Smalltimore, there are reunions of sorts. One student recognizes another from their TWIGS program at Baltimore School for the Arts from years back, while another immediately recognizes a worksite partner—a dear friend of her mother. It’s amazing how connected the worksite partners and interns feel after just a few minutes of brainstorming together. “I feel like I’ve known you forever,” said Chin-Yer from Dewmore Poetry. “Well, one of you I have known forever.”
The participants reunite after a while, a little bit smilier than they left, a little bit less nervous, and, some, wishing the vending machine of their dreams really did exist. It is at this point that the interns introduce themselves to the group, and worksite representatives learn that this talented cohort will bring everything from out-of-the-box thinking, communication skills, teamwork, and good vibes to photo-editing skills and visual art and musical talent to their internships. What’s more, they will bring an invaluable resource to the arts and cultural organizations: youth voice.
Single Carrot Theatre, another worksite returning to the program, is seeking their next community partnership intern. They’re looking for a student who enjoys research and connecting with people. Over the course of this internship, students will be in conversation with designers, and even get to sit in and observe auditions and experience the callback process.
Local nonprofit Art with a Heart is looking for a student interested in digital arts, 3D printing, and digital fabrication and design. This intern will assist in developing products for their online store, Heartwares, that was created in order to continue connecting with the community despite COVID restrictions.
The engaging process made it clear: worksites are as equally excited to share their work as they are to learn from and partner with these students. Together, they will engage and inspire younger audiences through the creation of new programs and activities. This, worksites understand, is an opportunity for them to harness the unique technical and social skills of this generation.
Between time at their worksites, in professional development workshops, and virtual field trips, the 2021 interns will receive college guidance, life skills, and build meaningful relationships and connections with Baltimore artists and people working in the arts. “This is deeper than an internship,” said Chin-Yer. “We stay in touch for years and years and become a family.”
To learn more about the Bloomberg Arts Internship Program, click here, and be sure to follow the program’s Instagram page to stay up to date on interns’ experiences this summer.
Registration Opens for Summer Arts & Learning Academy and Summer LIT!
These arts-integrated learning programs will engage thousands of City Schools students in person at no cost to families
BALTIMORE – Engaging, joyful, arts-integrated learning is back and in person this summer for thousands of Baltimore City Public School students, with Young Audiences of Maryland opening registration for its Summer Arts & Learning Academy and Summer LIT! programs.
The two dynamic six-week programs, which infuse traditional learning with artistic exploration, are entirely free for students. Summer LIT! and the Summer Arts & Learning Academy run Monday-Thursday from June 28 to August 5 at school locations throughout Baltimore. Each program will adhere to all safety protocols outlined by Baltimore City Public Schools.
Summer Arts & Learning Academy (SALA); Grades PreK-5
SALA is a full-day summer learning experience that introduces students to new art forms, new ways of learning math and literacy through the arts, and the joy of creative discovery. Students may create music videos for songs they wrote about math fractions, paint stories they are reading, photograph the world around them and write their own artist statements, or beatboxing to practice counting.
Each morning, students will build math and literacy skills with support from educators and teaching artists. Each afternoon, they will explore an art form with a master teaching artist and complete collaborative creative challenges. Art forms featured at SALA include music, photography, painting, poetry, dance, theatre, and more.
SALA takes place at eight sites across Baltimore: Bay Brook Elementary, Dorothy I. Height Elementary, Gardenville Elementary, Graceland Park-O’Donnell Heights Elementary, Henderson-Hopkins, Moravia Park Elementary, Pimlico Elementary/Middle, and Wildwood Elementary/Middle. Students and families can learn more and apply to this free program here.
Summer LIT!; Grades K-5
Summer LIT! is a full-day, arts-integrated literacy learning experience that provides students with opportunities for creative, hands-on learning while improving reading and writing skills – minimizing summer learning loss in the process. Students will read books centered on themes like identity, community, justice, and activism and engage in arts activities (theater, dance, visual arts) that support literacy connections.
Featuring artist residencies, small group tutoring, community partner visits, and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) projects, Summer LIT! will keep kids reading, learning, and creating this summer. The program takes place at six sites in Baltimore: Beechfield Elementary/Middle, Francis Scott Key Elementary/Middle School, George Washington Elementary/Middle, James McHenry Elementary/Middle, Moravia Park Elementary, and Southwest Baltimore Charter. Details and registration can be found here.
“Now more than ever, it is crucial that our students make the most of this summer to build skills, reduce learning loss, and safely engage with their peers,” said Stacie Sanders Evans, Young Audiences President & CEO. “Research has shown that SALA uniquely reduces summer learning loss, and we look forward to building on that track record of success this year, welcoming children back to these joyful, engaging programs.”
To learn more about Young Audiences of Maryland, the Baltimore-based nonprofit that brings arts-integrated programming to students throughout Maryland year-round, visit yamd.org.
# # #
About Young Audiences/Arts for Learning:
Started in Baltimore in 1950, Young Audiences is the nation’s largest arts-in-education provider. As the Maryland affiliate, Young Audiences/Arts for Learning (YA) is devoted to enriching the lives and education of Maryland’s youth through educational and culturally diverse arts programs. Through Young Audiences, professional artists from all disciplines partner with leaders and schools for over 7,000 hands-on arts learning experiences that reach more than 190,000 Maryland students annually. Young Audiences envisions a Maryland where the arts are valued for their capacity to transform lives, and where every student is immersed in opportunities to imagine, to create, and to realize their full potential.
18 Local Arts and Cultural Institutions to Host Bloomberg Arts Interns
If you live in Baltimore, you already know: our city’s incredible arts and cultural organizations bring joy, curiosity, and beauty to the area. They enrich life, inspire ideas – and directly support residents. A perfect example: The Bloomberg Arts Internship Program! This summer, 18 of those organizations will welcome 25 rising Baltimore City Public School seniors as paid Bloomberg Arts Interns.
The seven-week program, managed by Young Audiences, is an incredible opportunity to gain meaningful work experience while getting a feel for a career in the arts – all while preparing for college and career! Through college mentoring, working with writing coaches and professional development activities, the program gives students guidance on college applications, essays, future planning and more. Interns spend three days a week with their host organizations and the other two in a cohort of fellow interns, learning and growing together. This summer’s program – a combination of virtual and in-person experiences – runs from July 6 to August 20.
A huge thank you to the following Baltimore arts & cultural institutions that will be hosting interns this summer!
– Art with a Heart
– Arts Education in Maryland Schools (AEMS)
– Arts Every Day
– Baltimore Center Stage
– Baltimore Clayworks
– Baltimore Jewelry Center
– Baltimore Museum of Art
– Dance & Bmore
– DewMore Baltimore
– Eubie Blake Cultural Center
– Everyman Theatre
– Johns Hopkins University Museums – Homewood Museum and Evergreen Museum & Library
– Living Classrooms – Ascend through Music Program
– Maryland Art Place
– Maryland Center for History and Culture
– Maryland Institute College of Art
– Port Discovery Children’s Museum
– Single Carrot Theatre
To learn more about the Bloomberg Arts Internship Program, click here, and be sure to follow the program’s Instagram page.
Stacie Sanders Evans Selected as a Top 100 Woman
It’s been crystal clear over her 16 years of leading Young Audiences of Maryland, Stacie Sanders Evans rocks! An incredible leader, supporter, mentor, and motivator, Stacie leads us to do more, reach higher, and support more students, families, artists, and educators. It’s great to know others recognize it too: The Maryland Daily Record named Stacie one of its Maryland Top 100 Women Award winners for 2021!
Award winners were selected for their positive impact through leadership, community service, and mentoring—three qualities Stacie brings to Young Audiences every single day. Her fun, positive, passionate approach to leadership sets the tone for our work. Stacie inspires the YA team to create engaging programs that bring joy to students and support them in their academic successes. She truly believes in the arts’ and artists’ power to transform lives. And she understands how to support and manage the many elements of success; we continue to grow as a thriving organization serving more than 250,000 students in every Maryland County and remaining fiscally responsible—especially over the last year.
A heartfelt congratulations to Stacie on this well-deserved honor!
To learn more about the awards and to see the full list of incredible women honored this year, click here.
Celebrating Our Future, Historic Home – Odell’s in Station North
The scene: A Station North community centered around the arts, where Baltimoreans explore, dance, laugh, and learn.
The site: Odell’s, the historic nightclub on North Avenue, which brought Baltimoreans together time and time again to share in the joy of living creatively.
The story: This fall, that same curious, creative spirit will return to the now-vacant building as our new home. We are more honored than words can express.
On Monday, March 15, we celebrated what’s to come at the Odell’s Virtual Groundbreaking. The celebration marked the beginning of a ten-month renovation, preparing the beloved former nightclub to become the home we will share with Code in the Schools.
Moving into a building with a history of such free expression and creativity is an absolute joy. This $6.6 million renovation of the 18,000 square foot building at 19-21 E. North Avenue will transform the building into a community hub for arts-integrated and STEM-based learning. For decades, Young Audiences has been welcomed into school and community buildings across the state. Now, for the first time in our 70-year history, students and their families and caregivers will be able to come to our home and explore their creativity, express themselves, and discover the arts’ power to enhance learning, to enrich communities, and to change lives.
Hundreds watched online as we celebrated on the 15th, with city and educational leaders on-site to honor the day, including Mayor Brandon Scott, City Schools’ CEO Dr. Sonja Santelises, City Councilman Robert Stokes, State Delegate Marlon Amprey, and others.
Like everything we do, the celebration featured arts experiences—with teaching artist Femi the DriFish moving the audience through a spoken word poem to start the day, and teaching artist Amanda Pellerin leading a collective creative experience to close it out. Pellerin is creating a clay mural for installation in the building after having the speakers and few in-person attendees make their impression in a block of clay using an object that, to them, represents learning, creativity, and community.
The excitement was palpable. But don’t take our word for it—here is what a few of our special guests had to say:
Mayor Brandon Scott:
“Thank you to Code in the Schools and Young Audiences for keeping up the tradition of Odell’s… You’ll know when you’ll belong was the saying at Odell’s, and what Young Audiences and Code in the Schools are doing here is telling our young people that they belong. We know the arts are a vital tool in allowing our young people to imagine and envision a future for themselves and their community… We need to allow our young people to dream about what they want Baltimore to be for them. This is how we inspire the beautiful minds of our young people.”
Dr Sonja Santelises:
“It is because of organizations like Young Audiences and Code in the Schools that young people in Baltimore have the kind of enrichment opportunities that are going to allow our community to not only bounce back from the last year of challenge, but actually to move forward. We know that a lot of our young people’s healing, their re-engagement, their belief in themselves, is going to be connected to what’s going to be happening in this building… A lot of that work is because of the dedication we have from partners like Young Audiences and Code in the Schools, who were committed long before this building to young people in Baltimore having the kinds of experiences that make school worth coming back to.”
Find a recording of the ceremony, here. A huge thanks to our partners and funders in this project, including Jubilee Baltimore, Property Consulting Inc, The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, Central Baltimore Partnership, Central Baltimore Future Fund, The Abell Foundation, and The France-Merrick Foundation.
We’re filled with excitement and anticipation for the day our doors open at Odell’s. We cannot wait to welcome you into our home to explore, create, learn, and have fun. Keep an eye out for updates as our renovation progresses. In the meantime, check out some photos from the celebration.
Young Audiences of Maryland Receives $50,000 Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts
BALTIMORE – Young Audiences of Maryland has been awarded a $50,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to support its Principal Fellowship program – a year-long initiative guiding 10 Baltimore City Public School principals in integrating the arts into learning for school-wide improvement.
This grant, which marks the 4th consecutive year that Young Audiences has received NEA funding, is part of the NEA’s nearly $25 million in funding of more than 1,000 Arts Projects nationwide in its first round of 2021 funding. The NEA’s grant to Young Audiences equals its largest commitment in Maryland for this round of funding.
Principals participating in the Fellowship – now in its second year – will create a community of school leaders and peers who share a commitment to justice and joy in education. They will explore the arts’ power to transform school culture, enhance learning and spur social emotional growth. Through collaborative planning sessions, one-on-one coaching by teaching artists, and observations of Young Audiences’ Summer Arts & Learning Academy and cultural institutions, each principal will create an action plan to leverage the arts as a tool for positive change at their schools.
The Principal Fellowship is designed to support Baltimore City Public Schools’ Blueprint For Success priorities of whole child development, literacy, and leadership. Participating principals will receive a $500 honorarium plus $3,000 to help implement arts-based approaches at their schools.
Applications for the Young Audiences Principal Fellowship, which begins in June 2021, are being accepted until April 23 and can be found here.
Analysis of Young Audiences’ work integrating the arts into learning for more than 200,000 students a year – through teaching artist residencies, assemblies, workshops and more – has shown significant impact on academic and social emotional growth. Sharing these strategies and ideas with school principals will exponentially expand that impact.
“We started the Principal Fellowship after seeing that in thriving schools, true commitment to the arts starts with leadership.” said Stacie Sanders Evans, Young Audiences President and CEO. “We’re honored that the NEA’s continued commitment to our work will allow us to continue supporting our school leaders as they support their students and staff..”
“The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support this project from Young Audiences of Maryland,” said Arts Endowment Acting Chairman Ann Eilers. “Young Audiences is among the arts organizations across the country that have demonstrated creativity, excellence, and resilience during this very challenging year.”
For more information about the Young Audiences Principal Fellowship, or to apply, visit https://www.artsforlearningmd.org/principal-fellowship/
For more information on projects included in the Arts Endowment grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.
About Young Audiences/Arts for Learning:
Started in Baltimore in 1950, Young Audiences is the nation’s largest arts-in- education provider. As the Maryland affiliate, Young Audiences/Arts for Learning (YA) is devoted to enriching the lives and education of Maryland’s youth through educational and culturally diverse arts programs. Through Young Audiences, professional artists from all disciplines partner with leaders and schools for over 7,000 hands on arts learning experiences that reach more than 190,000 Maryland students. Young Audiences envisions a Maryland where the arts are valued for their capacity to transform lives, and where every student is immersed in opportunities to imagine, to create, and to realize their full potential.
Arts & Learning Kids Show Now Available to All Maryland School Districts
When schools closed last spring, we knew it was time to improvise. Even (or especially!) at home, students need high-quality learning experiences and creative engagement to ensure they continue growing. Closed classrooms presented a significant challenge for artists to collaborate with teachers and inspire students.
Enter Arts & Learning Kids. Young Audiences’ talented team created this arts-integrated TV show where master teaching artists and educators guide children in fun and inventive math and literacy lessons. The 30-minute, arts-infused episodes—there are more than 100 of them—bring joyous learning to life with music, beat boxing, illustration, puppetry, dancing, and more. Arts & Learning Kids are tailored to specific grades—preK to K, 1st and 2nd, and 3rd to 5th—and the content they are studying.
The shows have been available to Baltimore City and Prince George’s County students through local cable TV channels, on our Facebook page, and through direct, weekly emails to more than 175 educators. And now, EVERY Maryland public school district can purchase these lessons for its students and families!
All Arts & Learning Kids episodes are available for purchase by school districts, educators, and care providers across the state.
The episodes support both remote and in-person learning and can be a useful tool for teachers working with students in both spaces. Check out some highlights, here!
Like all of us in so many ways, we didn’t know what to expect after launching the show. But soon it became clear: thousands of students, families, and educators have used the Arts & Learning Kids shows to stay in touch, add some joy and diversity to their lessons, and continue to learn and grow. And with each show, we include written extensions – academic and arts-based activities that can be taught in a virtual or in-person classroom. As one school principal put it, the shows make it easier for teachers because it is easy to access and the kids are so engaged. “It is central to instruction.”
In the New Year, Arts & Learning Kids will reach more districts, more educators, and more students. Spread the word! If you’re interested in bringing Arts & Learning Kids to your district, students, household, or schools, send an email to [email protected].
The Teaching Artists Who Make It Happen Need Our Help
Pure and simple, our teaching artists are the engine for the inspired learning Young Audiences brings to the classroom and to students. They drive the creativity. They are the inspiration that excites and motivates students. And they give selflessly.
Now it’s our turn to give to them – through the Teaching Artist Emergency Fund.
You can support our partner artists in this unusually challenging time. Classrooms are closed. Programs and schools that contract for our teaching artists are financially challenged. As a result, our artists have lost more than $80,000 in earnings between September and December—and we project greater losses this Spring—and their opportunities to use their craft outside of YA have largely disappeared. Many of our partner artists are struggling, and there is no clear timeline for when they can again return to the classroom and restore their income.
By pivoting to online learning—and also through the generosity of our incredible supporters—we’ve been able to mitigate some of that financial impact. We’ve partnered with our artists to develop incredible online content. We also raised more than $57,000 through the Teaching Artist Emergency Fund launched in the Spring of 2020—all of which was given to our artists. We’ve helped to keep them working and reducing their financial gap.
Prior to the Winter holidays, our Board allocated $30,000 financial relief to artists…but it’s not enough.
Today, we are reopening the Teaching Artist Emergency Fund. Two generous donors are furthering the relaunch of the Fund with an additional gift of $5,000. Knowing that 100% of the money contributed to the Fund goes directly to the artists and their families, we are asking you to offer your support by making a contribution to the Fund.
On behalf of our artists, their families, and the students who benefit from their work, thank you.
Stacie and the YA Team
A message from Stacie:
Dear Friends,
I am struggling with the events of yesterday. Like so many, I feel anger, shame, sadness, and confusion. But I also know I will never truly understand what Black and brown people must be going through as these horrific events unfold. Many of my white friends and colleagues have expressed shock. Most of my Black friends and colleagues have shared that these events were not shocking at all, and, in fact, are in line with how they have always experienced this country. Herein lie the many truths that need to be reckoned with.
The dichotomy between how police treat white supremacist terrorists and how they treat BIPOC going about their days or engaged in protests could not be clearer; nor could the series of events that lead our country here.
I am grateful that, when the events were unfolding, I was in community with about 90 artists, educators, and staff as part of an organization-wide series of race equity trainings. I wondered, coming into the meeting, if we would move forward with the training as it was planned or not. Ti Coleman, co-facilitator of the training, said something to the effect of, “This country has been burning for a long time, and this is just a different fire.” Ti and their co-facilitator, Maryanne Fields, did what amazing teaching artists do: They held space for group processing while completing the objectives of the training. That represents the challenge teachers and teaching artists often face: Holding space for collective and individual traumas in the midst of the learning tasks.
I am thinking today of our young people and the adults who are stepping into spaces today to support our young people. I want to lift up something that Ronald McFadden, a school board member with City Schools and a BCPS music teacher, posted: “Teachers, take a moment and balance yourselves tonight. Tomorrow we are on the frontline. What is happening in our country should not be ignored. Our children are watching and they need us to guide them through the truth.”
Our work at YA is to transform the lives and education of young people, and this is just as important today as it ever was. Our race equity work is and will grow stronger, deeper, and broader because that is the key to sustainably changing the reality we face. I look forward to continuing to work with this community – all of you and the students we work with – as we navigate the truth.
Let’s keep building together,
Stacie
A Love Letter to Our Board:
If you are part of any nonprofit, what kinds of things come to mind that a board member might ask you to bring to a meeting? Is it a budget? The latest donor report?
This is why I love the Young Audiences Board of Directors. Yes, sometimes they ask me for these things. But, prior to our last meeting, the Board Chair asked me, “How are the artists doing?” He wanted to bring a report that spoke to this.
If you are reading this, you likely already know that COVID-19 has hit the artist community hard. Nearly two-thirds of artists and creative workers report being unemployed. Last year, when COVID-19 hit, it was the Board that launched the Teaching Artist Emergency Fund and, between the individuals who donated to that, foundations that allowed us to repurpose grant funds, and the Maryland State Arts Council, YA was able to ensure that those artists who were depending on contracted income last school year received what they were counting on. YA provided over $270,000 in earnings and financial relief to artists in our community. In turn, our artists innovated, and we found new ways to put them to work continuing to inspire and engage children during the pandemic: Check out Arts & Learning Snacks and Arts & Learning Kids, two of our innovations, which continue to positively impact kids.
COVID-19 is still with us. School budgets are frozen, and money typically earmarked for the arts is being directed elsewhere. The result: Our artists lost more than $80,000 in earnings between September and December, and we project greater losses this Spring. On December 18th, when Board members saw this, they agreed to allocate $30,000 in immediate financial relief to artists. Five days later, on December 23rd, this relief hit artists’ bank accounts.
Board members also agreed to relaunch the Teaching Artist Emergency Fund, and swiftly found two donors to kick off the Fund with $5,000. We know our artists want more than financial relief. They want to be put to work, to breathe joy and creativity into virtual learning, and to show up for kids when they could really use us! One hundred percent of the funds raised will go directly to putting artists to work and benefiting children.
Wanna see who these amazing board members are?!? Check them out here.
In closing out this love letter, I am sharing just one example of the outpouring of love from YA artists when they received this unexpected and much needed financial relief:
It brings me to tears but tears of great joy to know we have people like you in support of your artists in these trying times! With the holidays coming up and very low income on our part, we want to say God is good and this blessing is just in time and right on time and much needed. Working with YAMD for two decades has been one of our best journeys, as we are still working to create top quality virtual prerecorded videos and live Zoom performances, etc. To have some kind of income flow and we are more than dedicated to staying connected to youth and community which is most important. We love you dearly, Brandon Albright, Illstyle Peace Productions.
We love our Board dearly, too! Be on the lookout for how you can join our board in loving our artists through the Teaching Artist Emergency Fund this Friday.
With appreciation,
Stacie