Rahman Jamaal Featured in UBO Magazine

San Francisco, CA --- July 16, 2009 Workshop Artist Rahman Jamaal was featured in UBO Magazine - Underground Beat Online, is a blog which looks at underground and independant music, art, apparel, clubs, literature and more. The July 2009 edition discusses Rahman Jamaal's voyage into music, and how he uses his art form to strenghten communities and teach youth critical thinking skills. To read the full article, follow the link below.

http://ubomag.wordpress.com/2009/07/16/rahmanjamaal/

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Workshop Receives $50,000 NEA Grant!

San Francisco, CA --- July 8, 2009 Performing Arts Workshop was one of 37 San Francisco organizations to receive a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Grant Program. As the only arts education agency in California to receive funding and just one of 28 national arts education organizations, the Workshop is proud to be representing the importance of arts education in the NEA program. To read more about the grants and other organizations who received money, please follow the links below.

July 8, 2009 San Francisco Arts Commission Press Release

July 11, 2009 San Francisco Chronicle Article

National Endowment for the Arts List of Grantees

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Tom DeCaigny podcast on IssueLab

San Francisco, CA --- July 8, 2009 In this month's IssueLab podcast, Stacy Kessler talks to three people who have dedicated themselves to arts education, asking them about the role that research plays in developing the field, the importance of evaluation, and the future of arts ed. Gusts include the Workshop's own Executive Director - Tom DeCaigny, Manager of Arts Education at Americans for the Arts - John Abodeely, and Associate Director of Art Education at School of the Art Institute Chicago - Therese Quinn. To listen, follow the link below. The podcast is listed on the right hand side.

http://enews.issuelab.org/07_2009.html

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The Workshop Qualifies as Quality

San Francisco, CA --- July 1, 2009 The Workshop was recently cited as being a well-designed program in the recent Project Zero (part of Harvard's Graduate School of Education) publication entitled Qualities of Quality: Understanding Excellence in Arts Education. Both our exceptional programs and our best practices guide Lessons From the Workshop are mentioned in the document. To read the full paper, follow the link below.

Qualities of Quality PDF

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The Workshop on Inside Groove

San Francisco, CA --- June 14, 2009 The Improve Group congratulates the Workshop on their recent publication in IssueLab's Arts Education CloseUp which provides a “special collection of Arts Education case studies and evaluations [that] reveals the lessons, benefits, and pitfalls of existing and past projects, providing vital information for program staff at organizations running their own Arts Education projects.”

http://www.theimprovegroup.com/weblog/2009/06/congratulations _to_the_perform.html

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The Workshop on Goliblogski: San Francisco arts and culture commentary by Emily Goligoski

San Francisco, CA --- June 12, 2009 Read about how the Workshop does good work in tough times, "helping students receive the education that they need and deserve – one that is rich in critical thinking, problem-solving, and fun.”

http://emilygoligoski.com/index.php/performing_arts_workshop/

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Issue Lab Publishes Workshop 2008 Project ARISE (Arts Residency Interventions in Special Education) Evaluation Report

San Francisco, CA --- June 4, 2009 Issue Lab, an online forum for nonprofit research, recently published Performing Arts Workshop's 2008 Project ARISE Evaluation Report. Project ARISE specifically examines the affects of the Workshop's critical thinking and creative expression arts learning on special education populations. To read the full report, please follow the link below.

http://artsed.issuelab.org/research/listing/arts_residency_interventions_ in_special_education_2008_evaluation_report

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Performing Arts Workshop Program Literacy Work Highlighted

San Francisco, CA --- April 22, 2009 Amber Lamprecht, co-owner of the Language and Literacy clinic (LLC) and former Literacy Specialist with Performing Arts Workshop highlights her Literacy work with E.R. Taylor Elementary, a longstanding Workshop partner. Read the full story, "36 Hours to Change A Child's Life," by following the link.

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Performing Arts Workshop Program Director, Jessica Mele, quoted in Huffingtonpost.com blog

San Francisco, CA --- April 13, 2009 In part two of actress and writer Lucia Brawley's blog post entitled - Mordecai's Metamorphosis: Why Arts Education is a Matter of Social Justice and Why it will Save the World - she quoted from an email Workshop Program Director, Jessica Mele, sent in response to part one. To read the full article please follow the link below.

Part I
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lucia-brawley/mordecais-metamorphosis-w_b_185903.html

Part II
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lucia-brawley/part-ii---mordecais-metam_b_186365.html

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Performing Arts Workshop Connects to China through Alice Fong Yu Alternative

San Francisco, CA --- January 31, 2009 Alice Fong Yu Alternative is the first Chinese immersion school in the United States. A long time partner of the Workshop, Alice Fong Yu instated a Chinese Exchange Program in 2000 that is thriving today. To read more about Alice Fong Yu and its exemplary programming, please follow the link below.

http://china.packagetourstravel.com/2009/01/31/san-francisco-schools-connect-to-china-and-its-chinese-community/

or

http://havannatravel.com/archives/2009/03/04/san-francisco-schools-connect-to-china-and-its-chinese-community/

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Tom DeCaigny Featured in the San Francisco Business Times

San Francisco, CA --- December 22, 2008 The San Francisco Business Times, a local industry paper focused on innovative business in the San Francisco Bay Area, featured the Workshop's Executive Director, Tom DeCaigny as part of its ongoing Nonprofit Profile series. To read the full article, please check out the PDF below or you can follow the link to the Business Times website.

Download: Nonprofit Profile Performing Arts Workshop: Tom DeCaigny, Executive Director

http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2008/12/22/tidbits3.html

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Tom DeCaingy Speaks to San Francisco's Art Budget Cuts on KALW's Your Call with Rose Aguilar

San Francisco, CA --- December 18, 2008 KALW's Your Call, a listener call in show hosted by Rose Aguilar chose the Starving Arts Budget as one of its topics. Tom DeCaigny, Workshop Executive Director was one of the three invited guests along with Marco Barricelli, Artistic Director Shakespeare in Santa Cruz and Nancy Gonchar, Deputy Director San Francisco Arts Commission. Please follow the link or download the audio file below to listen to the full program.

http://yourcallradio.blogspot.com/2008/12/your-call-121808-starving-arts-budgets.html

www.PerformingArtsWorkshop.org/media/YourCall121808.mp3
(please allow 3 minutes to load)

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John Kenyon - Nonprofit Technology Strategist loves our Archives

San Francisco, CA --- October 27, 2008 In the month of October, the Workshop unveiled 43+ years of photo Archives. A number of community stakeholders were in attendance, including John Kenyon, a Nonprofit Technology Strategist who was part of the strategic planning process lead by Olive Grove Consulting. To read the full story, please follow the link below.

http://johnkenyon.typepad.com/john_kenyon_nonprofit_tec/2008/10/documenting-43-years-of-changing-lives-by-educating-youth-through-the-arts.htm

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Performing Arts Workshop Unveils 43+ Years of Archive Photographs

San Francisco, CA --- October 22, 2008 Performing Arts Workshop held a major donor event to at which we unveiled our 43+ years of archive photographs. The culmination of a month long project led by the Development and Administrative Assistant, Devon Nandagiri, the archives describe a span of over 40 years and the different locations the Workshop has been within the city of San Francisco. Beginning at the Telegraph Hill Community Center, moving to the Buchanan YMCA, housed in a small studio in the Presidio, 20 years at the Fort Mason Center, and now located in the Bayview Hunter's Point neighborhood, the Workshop's many transitions illustrates a path through history using the performing arts as a common language. To view photos from the archive, please follow the link below.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/performingartsworkshop

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Sensory Integration Disorders - Scott Phillips Blogs about the Workshop

San Francisco, CA --- October 13, 2008 Scott Phillips is an artist who has worked with Performing Arts Workshop for over seven years. He has studied a number of martial art and dance forms, but specializes in Northern Shaolin gongfu. Dedicated to studying Daoism, Chinese Traditional Medicine, and expounding his knowledge through teaching, Scott offers unique insight to the Workshop and our methodology. Recently, he attended a professional development workshop on Special Education youth with physical disabilities given by Pam Mele, an Early Childhood Education and Different Needs Specialist. Afterwards he blogged about the parallels he found through his experience with special needs youth. You can find the full text of his post here.

http://northstarmartialarts.com/blog1/?p=390

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Dia Penning Reimagines Learning

San Francisco, CA --- October, 2008 Dia Penning, one of the Workshop's new Board Members, published an article in the Teaching Artist Journal about the San Francisco Superintendent of Schools, Carlos Garcia's, dedication to arts in the classroom. You can download the full text of the article as a pdf below. Dia is a social activist interested in developing arts learning to support social change. She is also a working textile artist and educator serving as the Art Education Funders Collaborative Program Director and Education Manager at the San Francisco Arts Commission. To read more about Dia, please follow this link.

Download: Reimagine Learning: Building a District on Arts Education

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Fog City Journal Interview with Board President Peter Rothblatt

San Francisco, CA --- May 13, 2008 As a run up to the Workshop's Annual Event, The Mighty Fair, Board President Peter Rothblatt discusses how far the Workshop has come in 43 years. Peter, once a Teaching Artist with the Workshop, stresses our Mission to serve at-risk youth and foster critical thinking. To read the full story, please follow the link below.

http://www.fogcityjournal.com/wordpress/2008/05/13/san-francisco-community-arts-workshop-targets-at-risk-youth/

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KALW Radio with Carol Kocivar: Executive Director Tom DeCaigny discusses the Workshop’s ARISE project in Special Education classrooms

San Francisco, CA --- January, 2008 In the Arts Residency Interventions in Special Education (ARISE) project, the Workshop sees an exciting opportunity to build upon our success with the Artists-in-Schools curriculum model and to contribute to research on intensive, critical-thinking based, culturally competent arts programming as a way to improve the performance of Special Education students in urban public schools. ARISE is a four year joint partnership between the Workshop, the San Francisco Unified School District, and the U.S. Department of Education. For more information and to hear Tom DeCaigny, the Executive Director of the Workshop, discuss the project with Carol Kocivar, the Ombudsperson for Special Education with the San Francisco Unified School District, please follow the link below.

www.PerformingArtsWorkshop.org/media/Interview_DeCaigny.mp3
(please allow 3 minutes to load)

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Practice Makes Perfect: San Francisco Organization Publishes Technical Assistance Manual Championing Best Practices in Youth Arts Programming

Performing Arts Workshop to roll out new publication at conferences in Washington, DC and Lisbon, Portugal

Media Contact: David Perry & Associates, Inc. / David Perry
(415) 693-0583
news@davidperry.com

San Francisco, CA – Performing Arts Workshop ("the Workshop") recently released the 2nd year findings of a three-year US Department of Education-funded study, which provided compelling documentation on the value of performing arts instruction to children and youth. The purpose of the Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination Grant (AEMDD Grant) was to evaluate and document innovative programs for arts-based instruction in the schools. This study concluded that students involved with the Workshop's arts programming in school settings noticeably improved their critical thinking capacities, interpersonal skills, general academic performance and overall attitude towards school. As part of the AEMDD Grant, the Workshop now has completed at 36 page "how to" manual on implementing arts instruction in school settings, Lessons from the Workshop: A Guide to Best Practices in Performing Arts Education. The new manual will be unveiled on March 3 at a US Department of Education grantee workshop in Washington DC, and then it will be presented days later at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Conference on Arts Education, which will take place in Lisbon, Portugal from March 6-9.

"The Lessons from the Workshop publication represents the Workshop's longstanding commitment to providing age and culturally appropriate arts education programming in the schools, as well as in the community," said Thomas DeCaigny, the Workshop's executive director. "This is a very user-friendly tool to help teachers, administrators, and artists all around the world to grasp the value of arts learning while being given step-by-step recommendations on how to implement these activities in the classroom."

Lessons from the Workshop is a detailed overview to the Artists-in-Schools (AIS) program model which views the educational extension of an arts lesson as a shared responsibility between the teaching artist and the classroom teacher. Artist residencies present an opportunity to learn art in a setting where the arts are often overlooked to accommodate needs in other discipline, particularly language arts and math. Lessons from the Workshop describes the essential elements of an artist residency program, including the major benefits of artist residencies, responsibilities for both the artist and teacher within the program, how to create a positive learning environment, ways to improve critical thinking in youth, strategies for addressing the needs of at-risk youth, and designs for structured lesson plans and improvisational teaching based on the Workshop's methodology. In addition, Lessons from the Workshop provides three widely applicable worksheets for administrators, teachers and artists to use: Residency Observation Protocol, Teaching Skills Assessment, and Rubric for Assessment of Student Learning in the Arts.

An initial run of 500 copies of Lessons from the Workshop will be made available to attendees of the conferences in Washington and Lisbon. Beginning on April 1, the manual will be available for downloading on the Workshop's website at www.PerformingArtsWorkshop.org. Additional funding for this publication was made possible by the San Francisco Department of Children, Youth, and their Families, the Levi Strauss Foundation, the California Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Walter and Elise Haas Fund.

Lessons from the Workshop will be presented first at the US Department of Education meeting in Washington, DC, which involves project directors from all AEMDD projects that the department funds. This annual meeting focuses on discussing evaluation projects, strategies, and sharing updates on projects. The Workshop is also the only Bay Area organization invited to present at the (UNESCO) World Conference on Arts Education in Lisbon, Portugal. The Conference will convene representatives of the Ministries of Education and/or Culture from UNESCO member states, as well as various practitioners, experts, and researchers in the field of arts education from around the world. The main goal of the conference is to define a common, universal understanding of the meaning of quality arts education and to strengthen creativity in the teaching of arts practices so as to better help students from socially and economically challenged backgrounds.

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Art Matters: Federal Study of Local Arts Education Organization shows Significant Effectiveness of Arts-based Instruction
 
San Francisco arts group honored as only Bay Area organization invited to United Nations conference in Lisbon, Portugal

Media Contact: David Perry & Associates, Inc. / David Perry
(415) 693-0583
news@davidperry.com

San Francisco, CA – The role of art in society is an age old question, but San Francisco based Performing Arts Workshop (“the Workshop”) has documented compellingly the value of arts instruction to children and youth in a recent study funded by the United States Department of Education. In 2003, the Workshop received an Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination Grant (AEMDD) to develop and document innovative programs for arts-based instruction in the schools. After year 2 of this grant, the Improve Group (www.TheImproveGroup.com), an evaluation and research consulting firm based in Minneapolis, developed a comprehensive evaluation report of the Workshop’s Artists-in-Schools (AIS) programming at four schools in the San Francisco Bay Area. This concluded that students involved with arts learning noticeably improved their critical thinking capacities, interpersonal skills, general academic performance, and overall attitude towards school. Additionally, teachers and the Improve Group researchers observed significantly greater improvement in students who were exposed to the AIS programming for longer periods of time.

“The study gave us convincing empirical evidence of what we have been seeing directly in our work for decades now,” said Thomas DeCaigny, the Workshop’s executive director. “There has never been any doubt for us that arts education – whether in or out of the school setting – has deep and lasting beneficial effects for young people. Those receiving this type of programming consistently show marked improvements not only in their creative talents, but also in their self-esteem, ability to collaborate with others, and performance in other areas of their education. Simply put: arts instruction works."

The study used a logic model based approach to evaluating the effectiveness of the Workshop’s AIS programming. The study had intended to determine the benefits of the instructional activities in achieving five primary educational goals: improve student critical thinking in the arts; use the arts to positively impact general academic performance; identify curricular and pedagogical problems in teaching at-risk youth; use arts to develop pro-social behavior; and further the expansion of arts and arts education in school settings.

As a result of the publication of this study, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) invited the Workshop to participate in the World Conference on Arts Education, which will take place in Lisbon, Portugal, from March 6 – 9, 2006. The Conference will convene representatives of the Ministries of Education and/or Culture from UNESCO member states, as well as various practitioners, experts, and researchers in the field of arts education. The purpose of the Conference, in great part, is to define a common, universal understanding of the meaning of quality arts education and to strengthen creativity in the teaching of arts practices so as to better help students from socially and economically underprivileged backgrounds.

“We are absolutely thrilled to be going to the UNESCO Conference in Lisbon,” said DeCaigny, “This is one of the highest honors we could imagine: the chance to share the fruits of our labors, our best practices, with colleagues from all over the world. Not to mention that amazing opportunity to interact with people from so many different cultures and thereby better our own understanding of how young people can come of age through so many disparate types of arts education.”

The AEMDD study tracked the success of the AIS program by examining a treatment group of children who received arts instruction and groups that did not. In all five areas of the study, the treatment groups demonstrated significant improvement, while the comparison groups showed either less or no improvement in performance. The treatment groups consisted of approximately 300 students served through moderate (15 week) and intensive (24 week) artist residencies during the course of the year. Treatment groups exhibited even higher levels of improvement during the intensive residencies. Four schools participated in the study: E.R. Taylor Elementary School and John Muir Elementary School in San Francisco, Monte Verde Elementary School in San Mateo County, and Rudsdale Academy in Oakland.

The entire report can be found at www.PerformingArtsWorkshop.org. Highlights of the report include the following: Teachers observed that treatment-group students showed more growth in linguistic expression and in nearly all areas of critical thinking than their comparison-group peers. Similarly, treatment-group students reported increased interest in experiencing art while their comparison-group peers reported decreased interest or no change. Treatment-group students reported increased interest in experiencing art while their comparison-group peers reported decreased interest or no change. Treatment-group teachers observed that students exhibited significantly improved academic attitudes, while comparison-group students exhibited a decline in nearly all academic attitudes. And treatment-group students out-performed comparison-group students by nearly a half grade-level overall on the California Standardized test.

More about the Performing Arts Workshop: Performing Arts Workshop is a 40-year old arts education non-profit organization dedicated to helping young people develop critical thinking, creative expression, and basic learning skills through the arts. The Workshop’s arts education programs for children, youth, educators, and artists include: Artists-in-Schools, providing arts instruction in Creative Movement, Theatre Arts, Creative Writing, World Dance, and Music to Bay Area public school students; Artists-in-Community, serving “at-risk” youth with tailored arts instruction in settings such as after-school programs, transitional housing facilities, and county community/court schools; and the Professional Development Program, training educators to integrate the creative process into the classroom curriculum and providing intensive training and field experience to artists who desire to teach youth.

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Performing Arts Workshop Celebrates 40th Anniversary

San Francisco, CA – From fighting poverty in the Fillmore in the 1960’s to working with today’s youth caught in the juvenile justice system, the Performing Arts Workshop (the Workshop) has been changing young lives through the arts for 40 years. Beginning this month, the Workshop will launch a year-long celebration of its 40th anniversary.

Whether being featured in a 1967 Look Magazine article, “A Dancer Rocks the Slums” or receiving one of 34 national awards from the U.S. Department of Education in 2003, Performing Arts Workshop has been revered as a national model for using the arts as a force for education, individual empowerment, and social change.

Among some of the highlights of celebration activities include:

Performing Arts Workshop is an arts education non-profit organization dedicated to helping young people develop critical thinking, creative expression, and basic learning through the arts. The Workshop’s process-oriented approach to arts education fosters students’ self-confidence and problem-solving abilities through a dynamic, first-hand learning experience. Through our programs we give young people opportunities to harness the power of the arts to inspire personal and social transformation.

Today the Workshop’s arts education programs include: Artists-in-Schools, providing process-oriented arts instruction in Creative Movement, Theatre Arts, Creative Writing, World Dance, and Music to Bay Area public school students; Artists-in-Community, serving at-risk youth with tailored arts instruction in settings such as after-school programs, transitional housing facilities, and county community/courts schools; and the Professional Development Program, training educators to integrate the creative process into the classroom curriculum and providing intensive training and field experience to artists who desire to teach the creative process to youth.

Performing Arts Workshop to Benefit from
Princeton “Triangle” Events

San Francisco, CA – February 23, 2004 - The Princeton Club of Northern California will present Princeton University's legendary musical, comedy revue, “Ding the Triangle”, on March 13 and 15, 2004, as a benefit for Performing Arts Workshop.   The show, a celebration of youthful spirit and hope, is composed of completely original material reflecting the interests and tastes of today's college students. It is the “quintessence of youthful irreverence”.   The performances promise to be evenings of good fun and good fortune for the Workshop.

The Princeton Club elected Performing Arts Workshop to receive all profits from the Triangle event because Club members were impressed by the Workshop's involvement with youth, and the organization's determination to help troubled young people change their lives through the arts. They also applauded our organization's use of theatre, dance and creative movement as the means for teaching the creative process and promoting communication and critical thinking.  

The performances will be held:

Shows start at 8:00 pm (PG-13) and tickets are $10 students/$15 Adults.   There will be an informal reception afterward.   To order tickets send a check payable to PCNC, 267 Locust Ave, San Rafael, CA   94901.

If you have questions or would like to order tickets by phone, please contact Von Bloom at (415) 243-2286 or ybloom@lpslaw.com.  

Performing Arts Workshop is a 38 year old arts education non-profit organization dedicated to helping young people develop critical thinking, creative expression, and basic learning skills through the arts. The Workshop's process-oriented approach to arts education fosters students' self-confidence and problem-solving abilities through a dynamic, first-hand learning experience. Through our programs we give young people opportunities to harness the power of the arts to inspire personal and social transformation.

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Performing Arts Workshop’s Founder, Gloria Unti, to be honored for her Life Achievements at the 2003 WAVE Awards

San Francisco, CA — October 8, 2003 — Gloria Unti, founder of the Performing Arts Workshop (the Workshop), is one of four outstanding women being honored for her life achievements and exceptional contributions to the community at the 2003 WAVE Awards. Each year, the WAVE Award is presented to four exceptional women over the age of 70 who exemplify achievement, vision, and excellence.

Since 1960, Gloria Unti has dedicated herself to advancing the arts as a force for education, individual empowerment, and social change through her work in schools and community centers. Ms. Unti founded the Workshop in 1965 and continues to serve as a consultant and as a member of the Board of Directors. Gloria is being honored along side Keiko Fukada, Ruth Spangenberg, and Mary Ann Wright.

The 2003 WAVE Awards Reception and Luncheon, hosted by GirlSource, will take place on Thursday, October 9, 2003 at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco’s Union Square from 11am – 1:30pm.

Founded in 1965, Performing Arts Workshop is dedicated to helping young people develop critical thinking, creative expression, and basic learning skills through the arts. To provide a creative outlet for inner-city teenagers, Gloria Unti developed a teaching method based on the belief that the creative process is a dynamic vehicle for learning, problem-solving, and communication. Today the Workshop’s arts education programs for children, youth, educators, and artists include: Artists-in-Schools, providing process-oriented arts instruction in Creative Movement, Theatre Arts, Creative Writing, Puppetry, Masks, World Dance, and Music to Bay Area public school students; Artists-in-Community, serving at-risk youth with tailored arts instruction in settings such as after-school programs, transitional housing facilities, and county community/court schools; and the Professional Development Program, training educators to integrate the creative process into the classroom curriculum and providing intensive training and field experience to artists who desire to teach the creative process to youth.

GirlSource, the host of the WAVE awards, is a nonprofit organization that provides meaningful leadership and paid employment opportunities for low-income young women 14-18 years old. The purpose of the WAVE awards is to link older women to the next generation. The young women who participate with GirlSource are inspired by the accomplishments of the WAVE award honorees.

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San Francisco, CA — August 18, 2003 — Performing Arts Workshop (the Workshop), one of San Francisco’s oldest nonprofit arts education organizations, today announced that it has been selected as the Best Local Nonprofit by the readers of the San Francisco Bay Guardian as part of the 29th annual Best of the Bay awards.

“The San Francisco Bay Guardian’s Best of the Bay Awards are a San Francisco tradition that we are thrilled to be a part of,” exclaimed Tom DeCaigny, the Workshop’s Executive Director. “We are honored that the Guardian’s readers value our work and recognize the tremendous importance of bringing arts education into our city’s schools.”

Founded in 1965, Performing Arts Workshop is dedicated to helping young people develop critical thinking, creative expression, and basic learning skills through the arts. To provide a creative outlet for inner-city teenagers, Workshop founder Gloria Unti developed a teaching method based on the belief that the creative process is a dynamic vehicle for learning, problem-solving, and communication. Today the Workshop’s arts education programs for children, youth, educators, and artists include: Artists-in-Schools, providing process-oriented arts instruction in Creative Movement, Theatre Arts, Creative Writing, Puppetry, Mask, World Dance, and Music to Bay Area public school students; Artists-in-Community, serving at-risk youth with tailored arts instruction in settings such as after-school programs, transitional housing facilities, and County Community/court schools; and the Professional Development Program, training educators to integrate the creative process into the classroom curriculum and providing intensive training and field experience to artists who desire to teach the creative process to youth.

A San Francisco tradition for 29 years, the San Francisco Bay Guardian’s Best of the Bay celebrates the artists, poets, entertainment venues, politicians, nonprofits, and businesses that make San Francisco one of the most vibrant cities in the world. Founded in 1966, the San Francisco Bay Guardian was specifically designed to be an alternative to and competitive with the local daily newspaper monopoly. It has since become Northern California's largest circulation newsweekly with more than three quarter of a million readers.

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San Francisco, CA --- February 7, 2003 Performing Arts Workshop (the Workshop) announces receipt of a $10,000 unrestricted grant from The St. Paul Companies, Inc and the Insurance Industry Charitable Fund (IICF). The gift is twice the amount requested and was awarded “in recognition of the excellent services the Workshop provides to the community”. The grant will support the organization’s Artist-in-Schools program.

Performing Arts Workshop’s Executive Director, Tom DeCaigny, said, “I feel heartened, in this era of budget cuts, to have the value of our work and our unique methodology affirmed by this generous grant. We will use it to achieve our mission—to help young people develop critical thinking, creative expression and basic learning skills through the arts.”

Performing Arts Workshop’s Artists-in-Schools program provides students of diverse backgrounds, talents, and abilities with dynamic, first-hand experiences in drama, creative writing, and creative movement. Classes emphasize the development of children’s social, language, and motor skills in an exhilarating and affirming environment.

Performing Arts Workshop, one of the oldest arts education organizations in San Francisco, provides creative learning programs for more than 5000 children in over 40 schools and community centers in the Bay Area.

The St. Paul Companies, Inc is a 150 year old, Minnesota based, company providing property-liability insurance to businesses and other organizations—from sole proprietors to Fortune 500 companies.

The Insurance Industry Charitable Fund (IICF) is a donor directed fund of the East Bay Community Foundation. The mission of the IICF is to be a vehicle to focus and coordinate the insurance industry’s charitable efforts, and to make a significant difference in the quality of life.

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San Francisco, CA --- January 20, 2003 Performing Arts Workshop (the Workshop), one of San Francisco’s oldest arts education organizations, today announced that it has hired Tom DeCaigny as executive director. Addressing the founding purpose of the Workshop, Mr. DeCaigny’s focus will be on expanding the non-profit’s programs serving at risk youth. Mr. DeCaigny’s plans also include promoting the Workshop’s singular approach to art education, diversifying the funding base, and informing the arts community of Performing Arts Workshop’s critical assessment model.

Gary Draper, who formerly served as both executive and artistic director will continue in the role of artistic director. In describing the changes, Mr. Draper said, “The Board and I felt that a new structure would produce a strong administrative team. This plan allows me to concentrate on the artistic aspects of my job— providing professional development for teachers, training artists in the Performing Arts Workshop method, and supervising staff artists.”

Michelle Angier, Board President, said in announcing the re-organization, “This administrative configuration allows us to produce new programs serving the broader community, and to do so with artists who are extremely well-trained in our unique methodology.”

Tom DeCaigny served for three years as program manager for the Robeson Rivera Academy, a school for juvenile wards of the court, and a collaborative project of Performing Arts Workshop. Prior to joining the Workshop, Mr. DeCaigny managed the AIDS Memorial Quilt’s National Youth Education Program. He also served as director of actor training for the University of Minnesota’s Adolescent Actors Teaching Project. He has over seven years of non-profit leadership experience, including extensive youth organizing, education, and arts administration. Mr. DeCaigny has a B.A. degree in dramatic arts from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Gary Draper has been with Performing Arts Workshop for over 20 years, working as a classroom artist, associate executive director, and executive director/artistic director. Mr. Draper conducts professional development workshops and supervises the Workshop ’s internship programs and artistic staff. Additional duties include curriculum design, program evaluation, writing and revising educational resource materials, and fundraising. Mr. Draper received his education in theatre arts and literature from the American Conservatory Theatre and the University of California, Berkeley.

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Performing Arts Workshop Awarded Two Grants from National Endowment for the Arts - $15,000 in Arts Learning funding will support arts residencies for underprivileged children and youth

San Francisco, CA --- June 11, 2002 Performing Arts Workshop, one of the Bay Area’s oldest arts education organizations, announced today that their artist residency programs have been awarded two grants from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) totaling $15,000. “We’re very pleased that the NEA acknowledges the valuable service our artists provide in public school classrooms,” said the Workshop's Executive/Artistic Director Gary Draper. “Performing Arts Workshop was founded on the belief that the arts are an essential part of every child’s education. The federal government’s increased support of programs like our Artists-in-Schools is an important step in that direction.”

The NEA’s Arts Learning grant of $10,000 over the next two years to the Workshop ’s Artists-in-Schools program will help ensure that over 5,000 children each year in the San Francisco, San Mateo, and Marin counties will be able to participate in creative movement, theatre arts, and world dance residencies. Led by a specially-trained artist/teacher, the Workshop's artist residency is a dynamic and supportive environment in which students - regardless of talent or ability - enjoy an exhilarating and affirming introduction to artistic expression while developing essential skills such as critical thinking, communication, cooperation, and aesthetic and kinetic awareness.

While their process-oriented approach is effective with almost every student, the Workshop’s priority is reaching as many of the community’s economically and educationally disadvantaged students as possible. According to Mr. Draper, “The heart of Performing Arts Workshop’s mission is empowering those students that are underserved and disenfranchised within the school system.” Over 42% of the students participating in Workshop residencies are Educationally Disadvantaged Youth by the State of California.

Many teachers report that their students show marked improvement in focus and concentration, demonstrate greater levels of tolerance and cooperation, and progress more quickly in academic activities after completing a Workshop residency. “ I believe all of the students had an incredible experience with the program,” said Mission Education Center Kindergarten teacher Lilia Pulido, whose students, all newly-arrived Spanish-speaking immigrants, worked with Workshop senior artist Felicia Solomon. “It really helped some of the more timid students to express themselves in a way they can’t in a normal classroom setting. It has added to my curriculum and to their creativity and confidence.”

The Workshop will also receive a $5,000 Challenge America Fast Track grant - one of approximately 400 small arts education project grants designed to reach underrepresented communities across the country. Performing Arts Workshop’s Fast Track grant supports their partnership with Hamilton Family Center, San Francisco’s largest provider of services to homeless families. For the past two years, Workshop artist residencies at two Hamilton Family Center facilities have been giving homeless children between the ages of 5 and 18 the opportunity to learn and play through movement, drama, creative writing, music, and world and modern dance activities. Celebratory performances give the kids a rare opportunity to enjoy special attention and recognition from artists, facility staff, peers, and families. “There really aren’t words to express how the performance at the end of the class affects our children’s self-esteem,” according to Children’s Program Coordinator Jennifer Ferguson. “In a short period of time, they have been introduced to an art form. They have mastered something and they have been applauded for it. Their eyes were opened to new possibilities. They realized that they can achieve success.”

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San Francisco, CA --- March 25, 2002 Every weekday during the school year, over 300 students from six Richmond district public elementary and middle schools are building their self-esteem, discovering creative expression, and learning teamwork and cooperation in classes provided by Performing Arts Workshop (the Workshop) and other local arts organizations through the Richmond District After School Collaborative (RDASC). The community is invited to join families and friends in celebrating the students’ accomplishments in martial arts, ethnic and modern dance, poetry, drumming, visual art, and puppetry on Thursday, April 4th, 2002, from 6:00 to 7:00 pm at RDASC’s 8th annual Spring Event. The Event will be in the auditorium of Roosevelt Middle School, 460 Arguello Blvd. at Geary Blvd; admission is free.

The Event will include two presentations of dance and movement by Performing Arts Workshop students and residency artists:

• Lafayette Elementary School students will perform Brazilian and hiphop dance routines taught by Workshop instructor Margarita Cardenas.
• Argonne Elementary and Roosevelt Middle Schools will demonstrate the art of Kung-fu, as taught by the Workshop’s Scott P. Phillips.

According to Performing Arts Workshop Executive/Artistic Director, Gary Draper, “The Workshop’s afterschool arts residencies provide a constructive outlet for kids’ pent-up kinetic energy, while at the same time, furthering the Workshop’s and RDASC’s shared goals -- teaching creative forms of expression, fostering success at school, and strengthening the links between youth, family, school, and community.” For example, artist Scott Phillips describes his approach to Kung-fu as being “fundamentally about a feeling of continuity in which young people join with the people of the past in order to give the future a solid foundation. It’s also a great place for young people to work out how they feel about the aggression they feel and see all around them. The more comfortable students are about themselves, their bodies and their feelings, the more likely they will be to explore positive solutions to the problems they encounter.”

Workshop artists have been an integral part of RDASC since the program’s inception in 1994. The 13 neighborhood organizations that make up RDASC provide Richmond District elementary and middle school children from low-income families a safe, nurturing, fun, and affordable afterschool environment filled with a wide variety of arts, recreation, tutoring, and counseling activities. RDASC Program Coordinator Oliver Hack explains the significance of the Workshop’s process-oriented movement and dance programs: “One of the best things about the Workshop is that the artists come with tools that really help the kids. What they learn through expressing themselves dynamically, with their whole bodies, adds dimension to the children’s learning that is invaluable.” “Every child can relate to moving their body expressively,” adds Pat Kaussen, executive director of the Richmond District Neighborhood Center, RDASC’s lead agency. “Performing Arts Workshop always brings an element of excitement to the afterschool curriculum.”

Performing Arts Workshop’s and RDASC’s arts activities are made possible by the generous contributions of local government and private funders including the San Francisco Dept. of Children, Youth, and their Families; the San Francisco Juvenile Probation Dept.; and the Walter and Elise Haas Fund.

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Performing Arts Workshop Awarded $35,000 for Staff Development
and Evaluation of Artists-in-Schools Program

San Francisco, CA - January 11, 2002 Performing Arts Workshop (the Workshop), one of the oldest Bay Area non-profit arts organizations, is proud to announce that it has been awarded two grants totaling $35,000 to train and develop its staff of artist educators and to evaluate the impact of its Artists in Schools program. Thanks to $15,000 from the San Francisco Foundation and $20,000 from the California Arts Council, the Workshop will provide the following services:
• Six workshops for 18 staff artists on topics such as arts education for children with learning disabilities, critical thinking and arts instruction, introduction to the creative process, and arts curriculum planning
;
• Four 15-week training residencies for new artists;
• An evaluation of artists teaching children;
• Conference time between artists and Artistic Director;
• Artist stipends for workshops and conferences;
• An evaluation of what children learn in the performing arts; and
• An analysis and report prepared by an independent evaluator, Dr. Richard Siegesmund.

“These awards couldn’t have come at a better time. Our staff of artists has doubled in the last two years, and we’re very interested in determining the effectiveness of our arts instruction in the schools,” said Gary Draper, Executive/Artistic Director of the Workshop

“The Foundation is pleased to assist Performing Arts Workshop in its important work and we look forward to hearing about its activities,” added Geol Leonard Weirs, Program Officer of the San Francisco Foundation.

Located in San Francisco, Performing Arts Workshop is dedicated to helping young people develop critical thinking, creative expression, and basic learning skills through the arts. Through its arts education programs, it strives to:
• Promote the Workshop’s process-oriented approach to arts education - fostering students’ self-efficacy and problem-solving abilities through a dynamic, first-hand learning experience;
• Reach young people of diverse cultural, developmental, educational, and economic backgrounds through broad outreach, including partnerships with schools and community organizations;
• Train artists and educators to teach the creative process to young people and to integrate learning through the arts into classroom curriculum; and
• Give young people opportunities to discover the power of the arts to bring about personal and social transformation.

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Performing Arts Workshop Joins the Statewide Celebration of California Arts Day on October 10 Celebration Coincides with National Arts and Humanities Month

San Francisco, CA --- October 10, 2001 Performing Arts Workshop, one of the oldest Bay Area non-profit arts organizations, is joining thousands of California communities, arts organizations, and everyday people in recognizing and celebrating the first Arts Day on Wednesday, October 10.

During the week-long Arts Day celebration, Performing Arts Workshop’s twenty-two artists will conduct classes in creative dance, world dance and theatre arts in public schools throughout the Bay Area, as part of its ongoing Artists in Schools program.

“Performing Arts Workshop’s guiding philosophy is based on the belief that creative expression and critical thinking are intimately related,” said Gary Draper, executive and artistic director of Performing Arts Workshop. “We are proud to participate in California Arts Day, which celebrates the arts’ critical role in building healthy individuals and communities.”

Arts Day is part of the Year of the Arts - 2001 campaign which emphasizes two key messages: 1) the arts in the Golden State are important to its economy, the education and job preparedness of California’s children, and to healthy civic life in communities throughout the state; and 2) the arts are everywhere.

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