Photo from Carpenter Performing Arts Center.
The Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center will be a recipient of the California Arts Council’s Arts Education: Exposure program, it was announced this week. The arts council plans to award $15,300 to the Carpenter Performing Arts Center, located on Cal State Long Beach (CSULB)’s campus.
Exposure grants, a segment of the arts council’s Arts Education grant opportunities, support attendance at performances and exhibitions for students who may otherwise have limited access to these events, according to the release. Pre- and post-attendance activities complement the impact of students being able to take part in these experiences.
The Carpenter Performing Arts Center will continue to implement its Classroom Connections program, reaching 2,000 to 5,000 Long Beach elementary school students yearly through a comprehensive arts education program, which includes fully-mounted productions, lectures and demonstrations and classroom visits that engage students with one-on-one interactions with artists.
“Each year thousands of students from the Long Beach area visit a theatre for the first time when they attend a performance at the Carpenter Center as part of our Classroom Connections program,” said Executive Director of the Carpenter Performing Arts Center Megan Kline Crockett in a statement. “It is a highlight of every season and we are grateful for the California Arts Council for their generous support of arts education in communities across California.”
The Carpenter Performing Arts Center is one of 113 grantees chosen for the Arts Education: Exposure program, with a total of 1,080 grants and $16,376,475 to be disbursed statewide in 14 unique grant program areas, according to the arts council.
“Studies have shown that projects like Carpenter Performing Arts Center’s Classroom Connections that offer real-world, authentic interaction with the arts have a rewarding effect on learning ability,” California Arts Council Chair Nashormeh Lindo said in a statement. “These early life experiences can spark interests, provoke thought, and build a student’s capacity for success. The path of what’s possible is widened by every opportunity to step outside the familiar.”
To view the complete list of all Arts Education Exposure grantees, visit the link here.