SEGERSTROM CENTER FOR THE ARTS RECEIVES
BOEING GRANT TO SUPPORT
EQUITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION EDUCATION
THROUGH THE ARTS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
Segerstrom Center for the Arts has received a $50,000 grant from The Boeing Company to support Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (ED&I) classes, workshops, and residencies offered through the Center’s Education Department Arts Teach program. Thanks to this grant, curated ED&I program offerings will be provided to qualifying schools or organizations at a free or reduced cost. The Center estimates that, through this program, thousands of students and teachers in schools throughout Orange County will experience these uplifting, character-building programs this school year.
Center President Casey Reitz said, “The expanded ED&I element in the Center’s Arts Teach programs made possible by this generous grant from Boeing represents a significant enhancement. These new tools will help our teaching artists to create awareness of social and racial disparity, encourage dialogue about these persistent and too frequently unaddressed issues, and motivate students to explore solutions. The Center is always looking for ways to expand the relevance of our education and community programs. We thank Boeing for its confidence in our programs and for helping us to serve Orange County in meaningful ways with lasting impact.”
“The Center’s Arts Teach program is exactly the type of work we want to be a part of to help advance ED&I, utilizing the power of art, creativity and representation. At Boeing, we know that being an equitable, diverse, and inclusive company requires a commitment not only to our team members, but to our communities. This is how we can help create meaningful change,” said Kristie Hernández, Senior Government & Community Relations Specialist.
The Center’s Arts Teach program is made up of professional teaching artists in music, dance, theater and the visual arts from around the globe and who specialize in assemblies, workshops, and residencies. Their art becomes a tool that helps students discover new ways of looking at ideas and concepts they are studying in their classrooms. The Boeing grant will enable schools to engage these artists and help students see history, life and situations through a new lens of social awareness and sensitivity.
Participating schools will be provided with free or reduced cost programming from artists, including Sakina Ibrahim, an NAACP Image Award-Nominated author, professor and speaker whose empowering curriculum demonstrates how dance can be a means of sharing cultural history, healing and community building. By exploring dance traditions from West African, Latin America, as well as Hip Hop, students will work together to create community and gain embodied understanding about how dance connects everyone.
World Champion Native American Hoop Dancer Terry Goedel opens the door to Native American culture in an engaging, enriching, and dynamic Hoop Dance performance. This interactive education program provides a positive outlet for artistic expression, community dialogue and allows students to build and experience community, collaboration, and storytelling through this unique cultural dance. Included in his topics are saying no to bullying and promoting drug prevention, career building and positive behavior and intervention supports (PBIS).
Baba the Storyteller
Additional teaching artists include Eric Cyrs with Baba the Storyteller, Ashli St. Armant with Jazzy Ash and the Leaping Lizards, Jacque Nunez with Journeys to the Past, N8tiveHoop, UniverSOUL Hip Hop and Armando Ortega and David Prather in their show, John and Juan. These artists’ original programs for students address issues related to anti-bullying and acceptance through embracing cultural equity and diversity.
The Boeing grant also supports ED&I training for Segerstrom Center staff and volunteers, ensuring those who create and administer this vital programming are best equipped to support educators and students throughout the process.
When schools return to full on-site attendance, the ED&I classes will be available live on campus. At this time, they will be available as live online residencies, assemblies or workshops. For more information about the Boeing grant and the Arts Teach program visit Segerstrom Center’s website at http://scfta.org/ED&I or email Arts Teach@SCFTA.org.
About The Boeing Company
Boeing is the world’s largest aerospace company and leading provider of commercial airplanes, defense, space and security systems, and global services. As the top U.S. exporter, the company supports commercial and government customers in more than 150 countries and leverages the talents of a global supplier base. Building on a legacy of aerospace leadership, Boeing continues to lead in technology and innovation, deliver for its customers and invest in its people and future growth.
Segerstrom Center for the Arts is an acclaimed arts institution as well as a beautiful multi-disciplinary cultural campus. It is committed to supporting artistic excellence, offering unsurpassed experiences and to engaging the entire community in new and exciting ways through the unique power of live performance as well as a diverse array of inspiring arts-based education and community engagement programs.
Previously called the Orange County Performing Arts Center, Segerstrom Center is Orange County’s largest non-profit arts organization. In addition to its six performance venues, Segerstrom Center is also home to the American Ballet Theatre William J. Gillespie School and Studio D: Arts School for All (previously named School of Dance and Music for Children with Disabilities).
The Center presents a broad range of programming for audiences of all ages, featuring international ballet and dance companies, national tours of top Broadway shows, jazz and cabaret, contemporary artists, classical music performed by renowned chamber orchestras and ensembles, family-friendly programming, and free performances on its plaza, such as outdoor movie screenings, concerts, community and cultural festivals.
Segerstrom Center is a leader among the nation’s performing arts centers for providing education programs designed to inspire young people through the arts. The Center’s programs reach hundreds of thousands of students each year in five Southern California counties. The CDI supports flagship artistic programming and a wide range of projects that celebrate innovation, nurture creativity and engage audiences of the future. The Center Without Boundaries develops partnerships with non-cultural organizations to help them in their own efforts to respond to the ever-changing needs of the community.
Segerstrom Center for the Arts is also proud to serve as the artistic home to three of the region’s major performing arts organizations: Pacific Symphony, Philharmonic Society of Orange County and Pacific Chorale. Each contributes greatly to the artistic life of the region with annual seasons performed at the Center.
In addition to Segerstrom Center for the Arts as a presenting and producing institution, it also identifies the beautiful 14-acre campus that embraces the Center’s own facilities as well as two independently acclaimed organizations: Tony Award®-winning South Coast Repertory and the Orange County Museum of Art.
Information provided is accurate at the time of printing, but is subject to change. Segerstrom Center for the Arts is a private, non-profit organization. “Segerstrom Center for the Arts” is a registered trademark.
Photo Credit: “Segerstrom Center for the Arts”
