|
Hello, New Subscribers!
Welcome! We hope you'll enjoy this monthly update on all things Upstream Arts. We only include highlights here, so be sure to keep tabs on our website to learn more about our multidisciplinary arts programs for people with disabilities at every stage of life, as well as public trainings and events.
| |
| Report to the Community: Saint Paul Public Schools Extra, extra! We just completed a brand new Report to the Community on our 2015-2016 programs in Saint Paul Public Schools, and we're so excited to share it with you. In the Resources section of our website, you can download this report and others chock full of data, quotes, photos, paintings, and poetry that demonstrate the impact of our programs. Click here to learn more.
| |
| The Lion King: Sensory-Friendly Performance
In collaboration with Disney Theatrical Productions, our friends at Hennepin Theatre Trust are offering a sensory-friendly performance of The Lion King on Saturday, July 30 at 2pm. Amazingly, this event marks the first ever sensory-friendly performance of a touring Broadway show in Minnesota! Click here to learn more.
| |
|
Join the Conversation
This month, we're excited about the work happening over at Cow Tipping Press, a new nonprofit organization that teaches and publishes creative writing by people with developmental disabilities, "encouraging readers to reconsider the dynamism and assets of this rich form of human diversity." Cow Tipping Press, its director Bryan Boyce, and several of its published writers were featured last month in the Twin Cities Daily Planet.
Check it out and then let us know: How does this work connect with your own experiences? We'd love to hear from you!
| |
|
| Dear Friend, This month in The Current, we're excited to share:- A warm welcome to three new Teaching Apprentices
- A remarkable honor from one of our program partners
- A sensory-friendly performance of The Lion King
- Some awesome work happening at Cow Tipping Press
- Gratitude and our new 2016-17 fundraising goal
As ever, we're so grateful to have you in our community! Thank you for moving upstream with us.
| |
|  | L-R: New Teaching Apprentices Theo Langason, Gregory Parks, and Cristina Castro |
| New Teaching Apprentices
The Upstream Arts ensemble continues to grow! This summer, we're thrilled to welcome three new Teaching Apprentices to our fold. Fun fact: Our Teaching Artists always begin as Apprentices, experientially learning Upstream Arts' unique curriculum and approach by participating in trainings and supporting fellow Teaching Artists during programs, before taking on the role of Teaching Artist themselves. As usual, our new Teaching Apprentices are highly accomplished, multitalented professional artists working in the Twin Cities and beyond. Please join us in giving a warm welcome to Cristina Castro, Theo Langason, and Gregory Parks! Click here to read more about our artists.
| |
|  | The CIP Partnership Award |
| CIP Partnership Award
At Community Involvement Programs (CIP)'s 45th Annual Meeting on June 27, Upstream Arts was honored to receive a Partnership Award, for our "partnership with CIP as an ally, sharing and achieving a common goal of people living their greatest lives." Upstream Arts is proud to have partnered with CIP since 2014, bringing programs like The Art of Working and, most recently, The Art of Retirement to adults with disabilities throughout the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area. Enormous thanks to everyone at CIP! We're so grateful to collaborate with innovative partners like you. Click here to learn more about CIP.
| |
|  | Teaching Artist Matt Sciple with an Upstream Arts participant, Eastview High School, 2016 (photo by Chris Garza) |
| Gratitude & The Work Ahead
Last month, we shared a recap and gratitude for The Art of We: Upstream Arts' 10th Anniversary Celebration and Fundraiser and celebrated reaching our big fundraising goal of $100,000 by June 30. You made it happen! Thank you, thank you, thank you again.
We're also deeply grateful to Bob Goodfellow, The Graham Smith Team, Gillian Spence, Jenelle Zumbusch (in memory of Francis J. Sullivan), and two anonymous donors for gifts made since then, laying a firm foundation for the new fiscal year.
What does "new fiscal year" mean? Well, the reality of nonprofit life is that the work never stops! Every July 1, our budget resets, which means fundraising also begins anew from zero to sustain and advance our work of bringing high-quality arts learning experiences to people with disabilities at every stage of life. At ten years old, Upstream Arts is more seasoned and innovative than ever; and while we're committed to quality over quantity, there's an exponentially increasing high demand for this work that we are ever striving to meet.
Therefore, we're excited to announce that our fundraising goal for this new 2016-17 fiscal year is, once again, a full $100,000. As we've sifted through evaluations from the past twelve months to create the Report to the Community mentioned above, we've loved reading comments like this one from a Special Education teacher in St. Paul: “So many successes!!!! This session of Upstream Arts was a total home run as far as reaching deep into the social and emotional needs of our students.” You, our community, continually inspire us to keep building on this momentum - to keep moving upstream.
We are grateful for your partnership. Thanks for all that you do!
| |
|
