Story House Ithaca brings people together to share, study, create, and enjoy stories in all their forms.

Story House Ithaca brings people together around stories. We define “story” very broadly, to include fiction and nonfiction, poetry and song, documentary, journalism, photography, audio, film, theater, puppetry, visual and performance art, graphics, dance, and every other way of communicating ideas and experience. Our definition of “house” is also broad. We hope eventually to settle into our own space, but for now we’re excited to be popping up around the community.

**The Problem**

Our society is going through a period of fracturing, as people of different socioeconomic, cultural, and educational backgrounds divide into ever more insular groups. One reason for this is a lack of opportunities for people to interact in meaningful and non-threatening ways. This has had disastrous consequences in politics, public health, and many other areas.
  
 **Our Approach**

- Story House creates. We dream up, organize, and present workshops, discussions, readings, talks, screenings, exhibitions, performances, participatory projects, and other activities. 
- Story House collaborates. We work with organizations, artists, activists, scholars, and others to plan and present compelling programming. 
- Story House connects. We help creative people and groups find new partners and reach new audiences. 
- Story House empowers. We help members of our community acquire the skills they need to tell the stories they want to tell.

In all our programs and activities, we are committed to creating inclusive spaces that welcome diversity. We strive to foster interactions between people of different cultures, ethnicities, and socioeconomic backgrounds, with the goal of working toward shared understanding and a more equitable, anti-racist society.
 
**Our Team**

Lesley Greene (co-director) is a producer, designer, writer, and director. She worked for many years at the Kitchen Theatre Company, where she curated and produced three performance series, created sound and projection designs, and served as chief grant writer and head of marketing. She is a co-founder and co-organizer of Porchfest, a festival that began in Ithaca in 2007 and now takes place in more than 150 cities across North America.
  
Jonathan Miller (co-director) is a writer, journalist, editor, radio producer, podcaster, and media project leader whose work has taken him to more than 20 countries. Since 2006, he has been executive director of Homelands Productions, an award-winning journalism collective that specializes in public radio features and documentaries. Jon serves on the board of Ithaca City of Asylum and coordinates the ONWARDS project, which seeks to help displaced writers, artists, human rights defenders, and scholars find stability in the USA.
 
**Contact information** 

Lesley Greene and Jonathan Miller, co-directors
[info@storyhouseithaca.org](mailto:info@storyhouseithaca.org) 
   

Story House Ithaca

Helping artists actualize their vision since 1965!

Intersection for the Arts is a bedrock Bay Area arts nonprofit that’s dedicated to helping artists grow. Through vital resources, including fiscal sponsorship, low-cost coworking and event space, and professional development programs, we empower people to continue creating, thinking big, and taking weird and wonderful risks.

We believe art and culture are necessary elements of wellbeing. That’s why we serve people working in the arts—from artists to educators to administrators to funders.

We take the stance that artists should be at the top of the systems that were originally created to support their work. Art institutions would not exist but for artists’ creativity, sweat, blood, tears, and enormously generous hearts. We support those who take matters into their own capable hands and make their own opportunities. We stand by artists every day in their efforts to make our communities better, healthier, more exciting and dynamic places to live our lives.

Intersection for the Arts

TapIN channels the energy and enthusiasm of tap dancing back into the community to invoke positive social change.

TapIN Youth Dance Ensemble is dedicated to **expanding access to high-quality tap dance training in underrepresented communities**. We believe every child deserves the chance to experience the joy, discipline, and creative expression that come from rhythm and movement—regardless of financial or geographic barriers.

Through **free tap classes, school partnerships, mentorships, and performances**, TapIN builds a bridge between world-class tap education and the students who need it most. Our growing network includes ongoing enrichment programs at the East Oakland Youth Development Center, public school workshops, and collaborative showcases that bring students from diverse backgrounds together on the same stage.

Since our founding, TapIN has **collected over 500 pairs of tap shoes** for redistribution and raised **more than $18,000** through our annual Bay Area Tapathon to fund free community programming. Looking ahead, we’re developing a **scholarship initiative** that will provide Bay Area dance studios with resources to train talented young dancers who would otherwise be unable to afford tap education.

When you donate to TapIN, you invest directly in **equity in the arts**—helping to sustain a pipeline of opportunity that empowers young artists, celebrates cultural heritage, and keeps tap’s rhythmic legacy alive for the next generation.

TapIN Youth Dance Ensemble

ISHIDA transforms everyday being through meaning-filled, entertaining, thought-provoking, highest-caliber contemporary dance.

ISHIDA Dance Company prompts existential questions through timeless narrative dance that celebrates universal themes of our psyche—belonging, hubris, loss and love.

ISHIDA Dance presents original ISHIDA poetic narratives as well as works by exciting new choreographers working with some of the most sought-after dancers around the world (Houston Ballet, Ballet BC, English National Ballet, Tanzmainz, Nederlands Dans Theater, American Ballet Theatre). These unique works evoke self-empathy that lead to greater kindness within the community.

Center to the mission, beyond beautiful, community-centric arts, ISHIDA brings the healing power of dance directly to marginalized communities.

- ISHIDA provides free dance workshops to at-risk youth and disabled people in the community. Outreach partners include The Mary Lee Foundation, The ARC of the Capital Area, and Title One schools: Marshall Middle and Northside High School.
- We also provide complimentary tickets to economically disadvantaged youth and adults to attend performances.

Ishida Dance Company Inc

Youth Art Exchange unites artists and SF public high school students, empowering youth as leaders, thinkers, and creators.

**Youth Art Exchange (YAX)** sparks creativity, leadership, and community by connecting professional artists with San Francisco public high school students. Since 2000, YAX has provided **free, high-quality arts education** to more than 15,000 youth—primarily students of color and low-income families who are most impacted by inequitable access to the arts.

Through classes in architecture, animation, photography, printmaking, music production, fashion design, mural arts, and more, young people explore their identities, develop leadership skills, and collaborate with practicing artists. Our programs extend beyond the classroom, with youth-led exhibitions, public art projects, and performances that bring creative energy to neighborhoods across the city.

**Your donation helps us:**

- Provide **free art programs** to SF public high school students.
- Ensure youth have access to **mentorship from working artists** who reflect their communities.
- Support **youth leadership** through our Youth Advisory Board and student-led exhibitions.
- Sustain **creative community spaces** like our [x]space arts hub in the Excelsior and studios in the Mission.
- Advance **racial equity in the arts** by prioritizing Black and Brown youth and hiring artists of color as faculty.

At YAX, we believe **art changes lives**. With your support, San Francisco’s next generation of artists and leaders can find their voice, share their vision, and shape a more creative and equitable future.

Youth Art Exchange

The largest cultural institution in Switzerland, enjoying a high reputation far beyond the country’s borders. 

With over 300 events annually – opera, ballet, classical concerts, recitals – the Zurich Opera House is one of the most productive and renowned cultural venues in Europe. Each season the Zurich Opera House features numerous opera and ballet (world) premieres such as classical concerts and attractive revivals presenting casts with the best singers from all over the world.

The Zurich Opera House is home of the Ballet Zurich and the Orchestra of the Zurich Opera.

Donations are critical to the AFZOH’s success in achieving its ambitious goals on behalf of the Zurich Opera House. This includes among others tours and guest performances in the US, young artist exchanges between Switzerland and the US and the support of young American artists in Switzerland (education program).

The AFZOH is a not-for-profit organization that raises visibility, expands appreciation and provides support for the Zurich Opera House.

American Friends of the Zurich Opera House (AFZOH)

Nonprofit co-op housing and venues for artists, writers and musicians in the city of San Francisco


P Segal, nee Roberta Pizzimenti, was born & raised and still lives in San Francisco’s North Beach. She is a professional writer. She established ArtHouse to help artists, writers and musicians to remain in San Francisco.

P Segal has been a lifelong member of the city’s arts community. In 1990, she suggested moving Burning Man to the Black Rock Desert, and she opened the Center Camp Cafe in 1995. The event was planned in her flat for a decade.

Her zine, [**Proust Said That**](https://proustsaidthat.blog), was the first serial publication on the World Wide Web, and it’s the longest running publication online. In 1994, she introduced the engineers developing the Web to the young artists who would apply their skills to building the new field of computer graphics.

The need for [**ArtHouse**](https://arthousesf.org) became apparent when the cost of living escalated in San Francisco, and the once enormous community of artists was priced out. 

According to a 2017 Arts Commission survey, 75% of the artists still here in 2010 had already moved away or were planning to soon. Much of the community was already gone by 2010. P began to develop plans for a co-op format project for artists’ housing and venues that would enable them to come back.. 

In 2019, ArtHouse joined forces with the Intersection for the Arts, our fiscal sponsor. Since then, we’ve searched for foundations that had artists’ housing in their funding guidelines, and found none, and we looked for individual-nonprofit—or corporate-nonprofit—partnerships.

In recent months, we’ve opened discussion with the Community Arts Stabilization Trust, that wants to help us find buildings and return artists to the city. Artists created a new art movement here nearly every decade of the 20th century. The last new movement was Burning Man, and we’re curious about what magic will happen when the community returns.  

ArtHouse

From our inception in 1950, English National Ballet’s mission has been to take world-class ballet to the widest possible audience, whether around the UK, internationally or online.

We celebrate classical ballet, forge innovation with daring new work, develop and deliver sector-leading outreach programmes, and pioneer digital content. We collaborate with the very best choreographers, designers and ballet coaches from around the world. The quality of our work has been recognised through success at the Olivier Awards and National Dance Awards, and consistently by our critics and audiences.

As a registered charity, we need to raise £3.2 million ($4.3m) each year to deliver world-class ballet to the widest possible audience. Your donations support the creation of new work, the reinvigoration of beloved classics, the delivery of outreach programmes such as Dance for Parkinson’s, the health of our dancers and more. 

Should you like to discuss supporting English National Ballet with a philanthropic gift, you can contact Angeliki Alexandri, Head of Major Giving (email: [angeliki.alexandri@ballet.org.uk](mailto:angeliki.alexandri@ballet.org.uk) // tel: +44 020 7590 2910).

English National Ballet 

Did you know that 1.3 million children in Kenya between 10-19 years old struggle with mental health? ChezaCheza has developed a robust dance therapy curriculum built to improve the mental health and well-being of children.

ChezaCheza is a Kenyan not-for-profit founded in 2018, and we are on a mission to create access to safe spaces for children in marginalised communities where dance supports their mental health and well-being.

Through our therapeutic dance sessions, children experience the joy of dancing while flourishing into young adults with strong minds who show up in life with self-esteem and high self-awareness and approach life’s challenges with responsible actions.

Our Why
Children in marginalised communities live in a chronic environment of stress, with high levels of violence, abuse and adversity. 

This is an environment that induces toxic stress, making it difficult for children to regulate their emotions, resulting in impulsive actions and decisions, physical acting out, drug abuse, anxiety, and low self-esteem. ChezaCheza wants to use dance as therapy to combat this.

Community Dance Coaches
We find, train and equip dancers from marginalised communities to become Community-Based Dance Coaches who create safe spaces in their communities and schools.

Through an intensive training program, they gain skills to guide a ChezaCheza session, where they teach children how dance can be a tool for expressing their feelings, releasing stress, and building confidence.

Weekly Dance Sessions
Children receive a child-friendly, fun and culturally appropriate mental health service through weekly therapeutic dance sessions.

Each session incorporates Dance Movement Therapy, Social-Emotional Learning and Mindfulness Meditation.

ChezaCheza 

We are the oldest educational institution for the performing arts in Greece, founded as a non-profit organization in 1871. 

The Athens Conservatoire (greek: Odeion Athinon) is the oldest educational institution for the performing arts in modern Greece, founded as a non-profit organization in 1871, by the "Music and Drama Association "Athens Conservatoire - 1871"
The institution played a significant role in the advancement of music studies in Greece since day one. Some of the most renowned international musical personalities have graduated from or taught at the Athens Conservatoire, including conductor Dimitiris Mitropoulos (NY Philharmonic music director from 1951 to 1958), composers Nikos Skalkottas and Mikis Theodorakis, opera diva Maria Callas, pianists Gina Bachauer and Dimitris Sgouros and many others. Today, apart from continuing to offer to its c.700 music students the full range of classical music studies from the earliest stages to the concert diploma, the Athens Conservatoire is constantly expanding into new areas: thus, the Jazz Music Department includes leading Greek jazz musicians among its teaching staff and has already gained significant momentum, the Centre of Early Music offers new insights into historically informed performance to a growing number of students in collaboration with international institutions such as the Leeds University (UK), while a new program of studies leading to a BMus (Hons) degree in classical music performance is being developed in collaboration with Goldsmiths College, University of London (UK). 

Meanwhile, the first Drama School in Greece, also founded in 1871, has had a pivotal role in the advancement of theatrical studies in the country. Today, the Drama School of the Athens Conservatoire, member of the World Theatre Education Alliance (WTEA) – Beijing, is included among the select few top professional drama schools in Greece, officially recognized by the Ministry of Culture. The school students and its staff regularly stage cutting edge performances and cooperate with leading drama institutions abroad.

The Athens Conservatoire School of Dance, although established in the ‘00s, has been constantly expanding ever since and today features one of the few state-accredited Higher Professional Dance Schools in the country, complementing perfectly the Athens Conservatoire's wide portfolio of performing arts disciplines.

The Athens Conservatoire Centre for Research and Documentation, initially founded in 2015 to rescue from oblivion and decay our institution's extensive historical archives, is currently developing a broad range of research and editorial initiatives such as the preparation and edition of the first ever extensive History of Music in Contemporary Greece. The AC Centre for Research and Documentation participates and regularly contributes to international fora like the IAML (International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres), publishes scientific papers and a magazine, and organizes various exhibitions, such as a major exhibition on the composer Iannis Xenakis in collaboration with the Greek National Museum of Contemporary Art.

Many other major Greek arts organizations such as the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre, the Greek National Opera, the Athens & Epidaurus International Festival, the Onassis Cultural Centre, the Athens Concert Hall (Megaron) and many others regularly invite us to participate in leading cultural events.

The Athens Conservatoire iconic building, located in the heart of Athens near the Presidential Palace and the Aristotle Lyceum, is designed by the famous Greek architect Ioannis Despotopoulos (1903-1992) who holds a prominent position within the modernist architectural movement of the 1930s and the Bauhaus School in which he actively participated. His work for the Athens Conservatoire is the only completed part of an ambitious large-scale cultural complex commissioned in 1959 by the then government for Athens. For these reasons, the building is officially designated as a "Modern Architectural Monument" by the Greek Ministry of Culture. Today, this recently renovated building is functioning as a unique and enviable cultural hub for various contemporary artistic and cultural high profile events.

WHY DONATE TO US:

Since our establishment more than 150 years ago, we offer top-class education in the fields of Music, Drama and -more recently- Dance.

However, our main goal is to create a level-playing field for all children and young artists, offering equal opportunities for all interested in performing arts to join our programs, irrespective of their background, financial situation, class, ethnicity, religion or sex. 
We strive to serve this goal via a series of endowments and donations which support many students for the realization of their musical and artistic dreams. 

Therefore, your contributions are valuable since they will greatly help to ensure the seamless continuation of our efforts and programs from one year to the next and will also enhance our capacity to offer unique life-changing opportunities to even more aspiring young artists.

The Athens Conservatoire 

American Patrons and Friends of the Prix de Lausanne International Ballet Competition

Join us and become a member of the American Friends of the Prix de Lausanne. Help underwrite the future of a young dancer and attend the Prix de Lausanne as a VIP guest. Find out more here below, by clicking on one of the fundraising categories in our profile, or by contacting us at demian.vargas@prixdelausanne.org

Please join us for the thrilling culmination of the **54th edition of the Prix de Lausanne!** The busy weekend, **from Thursday February 5th to Sunday February 8th, 2026**, is a highlight of Lausanne's cultural and social season and will include studio visits and privileged behind-the-scenes access, the selection of finalists followed by a festive announcement cocktail, the extraordinary finals competition, an exclusive gala dinner at the historic Beau Rivage Palace gathering esteemed artists, jury members, prize winners and international patrons, and the delightful Rising Stars performance, featuring some of today's biggest international names and most promising talents.

One of the world’s most prestigious and highly anticipated dance events, the Prix de Lausanne is an annual international competition open to dancers aged 15 to 18 from all over the world. Unique in its kind, the Prix de Lausanne has been recognized worldwide for over 53 years as a symbol of excellence and a role model for its exemplary ethics and focus on the dancers' wellbeing. Over the course of one intense week, it allows a selection of high potential artists to strengthen their skills through classes and coaching with world-class professionals, to reinforce their abilities on stage and, finally, to continue their training thanks to an annual scholarship or apprenticeship at one of our top-tier partner schools and companies.

The Prix de Lausanne enjoys key relationships with many American companies and their schools, such as American Ballet Theatre, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, San Francisco Ballet and the School of American Ballet, as well as the Paris Opera Ballet and the Royal Ballet, among other prestigious institutions. 

**Your support as a Patron or Benefactor will help ensure that prize and scholarship winners continue their training at the highest level and join the ranks of the world’s finest dancers, following in the footsteps of Julie Kent, Alessandra Ferri, Darcey Bussell, Carlos Acosta, Gillian Murphy, Ethan Stieffel, Marcelo Gomez, Precious Adams and so many more.**

***In addition to the life-changing scholarships offered each year to the prize winners, the Prix de Lausanne also offers substantial support to dancers who need financial aid to attend the competition, as well as stipends to the dancers and coaches who enhance their training and visibility by participating in the Choreographic Project and Young Creation Awards.***

**If you are unable to assist in person, we invite you to help underwrite the future of a young artist by making a tax-deductible gift to the American Friends of the Prix de Lausanne Fund**. 

Thanks to the American Friends of the Prix de Lausanne, U.S.-based individuals and organizations can make payments of any amount via credit card, check, or wire transfer; all contributions are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by the United States Tax Code.

KEY DATES 2026
54th edition of the Prix de Lausanne: February 1-8, 2025
Competition's Finals: Saturday, February 7th, 2026 at the Beaulieu Theater
Gala Dinner: Saturday, February 7th, 2026 at the Beau Rivage Palace
Rising Stars Closing Performance: February 8th, 2026 at the Beaulieu Theatre

**More about the Prix de Lausanne:**

Since 1973, the Prix de Lausanne has successfully worked to promote the art of dance and choreography with the help of donations and grants to support young talented dancers in their pre-professional journey.

As a non-profit foundation, the Prix de Lausanne works year-round beyond the main competition to develop educational programs and initiatives with high added value for young dancers, such as the International Summer Intensive Program, the Partner School Choreographic Project, the Swiss Workshop, or the now famous Young Creation Award. Our international preselection rounds in Latin-America, Asia-Pacific, and other regions, aims to support young dancers from underprivileged areas while promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion in the dance world.

A pioneer in innovation, the Prix de Lausanne has developed a digital platform connecting its vast network of schools and companies with its candidates from around the world, allowing all candidates of the competition to receive offers of scholarships and apprenticeships through their participation. 

OUR FOUNDATION'S MISSIONS ARE:
• Discover exceptionally talented young dancers from all over the world, allowing them to be seen and recruited by renowned professionals and directors;
• Support their education and develop their talent by awarding them full training scholarships to the best schools and companies;
• Promote their school education (the dancer’s career is short, from around 18 to 38 years old, on average) by ensuring that they obtain an end-of-studies certificate;
• Raise awareness among young dancers on the absolute priority of their physical and mental wellbeing by applying a strict health policy and promoting exemplary ethics in the field of dance;
• Foster diversity and inclusion, promote contemporary creation and emerging artists;
• Encourage and develop outreach actions through community initiatives and local partnerships.

American Friends of the Prix de Lausanne

Art Haus creates engaging and innovative classical music experiences that defy expectations.

Art Haus Collective is dedicated to bringing spectacular performances of classical and contemporary works into unique spaces. Our 2017 performance of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring at Burning Man drew an estimated audience of 10,000, and a photo capturing the moment earned a spot in the “No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man” exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution.

Since 2017, we have produced 4 more full ballet performances, and put on numerous smaller performances in collaboration with organizations like the Burning Man Project and the San Francisco Symphony.

Art Haus Collective

The Move with Kindness Foundation aims to carry on the legacy of Stephen tWitch Boss by spreading love and mental health awareness

If you would like to make a donation in honor of Stephen tWitch Boss to support mental health initiatives, we invite you to do so here.  We appreciate your support of this foundation that was created in his honor and as a lasting part of his legacy.

Sincerely,
Allison, Weslie, Maddox and Zaia Boss

Move with Kindness

Dancers' Group promotes the visibility and viability of dance. We serve San Francisco Bay Area artists, the dance community and audiences through programs and services that are as collaborative and innovative as the creative process itself.

Donations to [Dancers’ Group](https://dancersgroup.org/) ensure we’re able to communicate with over 2,100 free community members about jobs, auditions, grants, discounts to classes/performances and more.

Your support also helps us provide a variety of free programs and services that include ***In Dance***, the annual **Bay Area Dance Week** festival, and our work to provide financial resources to artists through the **Fiscal Sponsorship** program and grants to artistis and organizations through the **CA$H Dance** program.

Dancers' Group

Celebrate and share Estonian culture in an architectural jewel in the heart of Toronto, North America's 4th largest city.

Estonian Arts Centre (EAC) is the charity associated with KESKUS International Estonian Centre being built in the heart of Toronto, North America's 4th largest city.  EAC promotes development of KESKUS in Toronto in which to further its charitable objects, and these include promotion and support of the arts, multiculturalism, preservation of literary, musical and visual arts and the welfare and education of artists.

KESKUS will be a dynamic hub showcasing Estonian heritage and promoting Estonian innovation. It will be a vibrant gathering place for Estonians of all generations and backgrounds to connect, celebrate, and share Estonian culture and achievements with each other and the world. It is scheduled to open in 2026

Please sign up for the monthly newsletter at our website and donate today, to help EAC achieve its mission in KESKUS.

KESKUS International Estonian Centre

Supporting sustainable innovation in opera and dance.

Do you believe that artistic innovation and creativity have the power to change the world?

Opera and dance are an important part of our cultural heritage that have stood the test of time. These interdisciplinary art forms play a unique role in making our world a better place, because they engage our hearts and inspire our minds.

Our philanthropic community supports and encourages  the next generation of emerging talent, artistic experimentation and international collaboration.  We help make innovative artistic work accessible to all while fostering intercultural dialogue and social integration through the arts.

The FEDORA network federates 105 opera houses, festivals, dance companies  and friends associations in 28 countries, as well as individual, corporate donors and foundations to create a sustainable ecosystem between the cultural and economic sectors guaranteeing the future of opera and dance. This European platform supports innovation on, but also behind and beyond the stage through its two funding programmes, the FEDORA Prizes Biennale and the Next Stage initiative.

Together, we can reimagine opera and dance for the 21st century.
Join us and let's shape the future now!

The non-profit organization FEDORA is based at the Palais Garnier in Paris and is organizing the largest opera and dance competition in the world. It is co-financed by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Commission and by an international community of private philanthropists.

With a donation to FEDORA US Fund you will contribute to:

1. The FEDORA Prizes Biennale: support innovation on stage   

"The largest competition for ballet and opera in the world." Das Erste - Europamagazin, 2019

The FEDORA Prizes Biennale match cutting-edge innovative projects with international funding opportunities enabling the unexpected to reach the stage. Every year, FEDORA awards privately-funding prizes to new operas, dance as well as to education and digital artistic projects.

FEDORA has a decade of impact in the sector with:

4 prizes categories  (FEDORA Opera Prize, FEDORA - VAN CLEEF & ARPELS Prize for Dance, FEDORA Education Prize,  FEDORA Digital Prize)
€ 6.5 million public and private funds raised for new creations
75 new co-productions financially supported
+2,000 artists & creatives involved in the FEDORA Prizes winning projects
+500,000  spectators of performances of winning projects in 25 countries including more than 200,000 young people
+50%  of users of our platform are between 18 and 44 years old
+95,000  public votes on our Platform since 2018

Click here to discover the trailer of the FEDORA Prizes Biennale 2022-2023: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMgupsoMwac

2. The Next Stage Initiative: innovation behind and beyond the stage 

In 2021, FEDORA and Opera Europa launched  the Next Stage Initiative  to trigger change and recovery in the opera and dance field as a response to the shock of the pandemic on the sector. This initiative provides financial support and skills development to boost innovation through sustainability, inclusivity, and digital transformation.

The Next Stage Grants financially support projects that help create new industry standards and opportunities. Moreover, through the Next Stage Forums, professional development and trainings will be provided to management and artistic teams to boost knowledge sharing and peer-learning.  The first five recipients of the first edition of the Next Stage Grants were awarded this year. These transformative projects in the fields of opera and dance will drive innovation through sustainability, inclusivity and digital transformation. They involve 13 cultural organisations in 9 countries in Europe and were awarded €250,000, thanks to the support of a private foundation.

Click on this link to listen to opera professionals around Europe describing the Next Stage manifesto : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4YEf\_aa6\_4

Contact us for more information and to discuss Major Gifts

Edilia Gänz

edilia.gaenz@fedora-circle.com

M: +33 (0) 6 72 20 99 66

FEDORA
Palais Garnier
8, rue Scribe
75009 Paris
France

FEDORA - The European Circle of Philanthropists of Opera and Ballet

Raising consciousness and nurturing compassion through groundbreaking performances and life-changing education programs.

CPT ENGAGES YOUTH AND COMMUNITIES
Each year CPT engages nearly 1,000 youth and adults in programs that enhance academic achievement and teach job skills, compassion, mindfulness, and community pride. Original productions, created by participants, are performed in public parks, treatment centers, shelters, prisons, universities, and juvenile detention centers, and attended by 15,000 community members.

CPT INCUBATES INNOVATIVE NEW WORKS BY LOCAL ARTISTS
CPT produces more new work by local artists than all the Northeast Ohio professional theatres combined. Through four developmental programs, CPT serves local artists at every step of the creative process, from early ideas all the way to full productions and the entrepreneurial step of launching a new work. In the last 10 years, CPT has produced more than 55 world premieres, 45 of which were by local artists. Our DanceWorks series also regularly includes world premiere dance pieces.

CPT ATTRACTS YOUNG AND DIVERSE AUDIENCES
CPT attracts a young and diverse audience with a contemporary aesthetic and an informal, welcoming environment. A recent community-wide survey noted that CPT is the only major theatre with an audience that includes above-market representation of singles under 30 and residents of the City of Cleveland. CPT co-founded Gordon Square Arts District, which has attracted neighborhood investment in new businesses, market-rate housing, and retail stores.

CPT LAUNCHES NATIONALLY SIGNIFICANT NEW PLAYS
With a national reputation for developing new plays and producing innovative interpretations of classic works, CPT has garnered praise for its work and received notices in articles and reviews by The New York Times, American Theatre magazine, Theatre Journal, The Dramatists Guild, and Canadian Theatre Review. Shows created at CPT have toured to New Orleans, New York, Toronto, Minneapolis, Belgrade, and the United Kingdom. CPT engagement programs have served as a model for similar programs in Turkey and Uzbekistan.

Cleveland Public Theatre

Harmony Theater is an organization focused on performing arts for people with disabilities based in southeastern PA. 

Harmony Theater

The Connecticut Hurricanes Drum & Bugle Corps is an All-Age performance organization based in Seymour, CT.

The Connecticut Hurricanes Drum & Bugle Corps is an All-Age performance organization based in Seymour, CT. The Corps prides itself in being the only World Class All-Age Drum Corps in New England, and draws its members from throughout Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, as well as New York State and the New York City metro area.

Founded in Derby, Connecticut in 1932 as the John H. Collins American Legion Post Fife Drum & Bugle Corps, the Hurricanes transformed to the competitive arena in 1955 as a drum & bugle corps and became a charter member of Drum Corps Associates (DCA) in 1963. They reigned as the oldest, continually active organization in the DCA. They currently participate in the All-Age division of Drum Corps International (DCI)

The Hurricanes have won every major championship title in All-Age drum corps storied history, including three DCA World Championship titles. The Corps prides itself in being one of the most cutting-edge and entertaining groups in our activity. Year after year, the Corps performs with excellence and precision that consistently keep us in the forefront and upper echelon of the Drum Corps activity.

Connecticut Huricanes Drum & Bugle Corps Inc

Pollinator is a growing network of aligned peers.

The inaugural Pollinator Program launches in October of 2025.

The Pollinator Program is like a virtual residency of mutual support. Participants get matched with a small cohort of compatible peers, and work on your new website in good company.

**How it Works**

1. Get invited to join: All members are alumni from our network of vetted residencies, fellowships, and cultural institutions.
2. Match with an aligned peer circle: We place you in a dedicated cohort with five other members. These are your people. (One might even be your creative soulmate?)
3. Learn a new goal-setting method: Join video calls with your circle each week, guided by our curriculum.
4. Make real connections, and real progress: join the next Program cycle to continue cross-pollinating.

**Network**

Pollinator supports interdisciplinary practitioners across art, technology, ecology, and social impact. We are currently accepting alumni of over 50 institutions and programs. See https://pollinator.coop for the full list of institutions.

**Team**

We build collaborative technology for artists, by artists. We believe in the magic of human-to-human intelligence and see Pollinator as a way to strengthen cultural ecosystems through peer-to-peer connection.

Pollinator Co-Directors Caroline Woolard and Or Zubalsky are artists, educators, and technologists who have been collaborating for 15 years. From 2008-2018, they built and maintained TradeSchool.coop, an international peer-to-peer learning platform that was used in 30 cities internationally. Caroline Woolard is the co-founder of Art.coop, a national network of art and design cooperatives, and the co-author of Making and Being, a book about collaborative pedagogy. Zubalsky and Woolard have taught for over a decade at The New School, Rhode Island School of Design, Cooper Union, the School of Visual Arts, the University of New Mexico, Bennington College, George Washington University, and the University of Hartford. Learn more about Zubalsky here and Woolard here.

Zubalsky and Woolard got together to build Pollinator with a team of aligned engineers in 2024. The team at Minima has worked together since 2014 to deliver cutting-edge software-based solutions for corporate clients. Minima has built and managed widely used web, mobile, and server-side applications, including Apple's Music TV. Minima builds complex systems that scale, are maintainable, and cost effective. Minima prioritizes the end user across axes of accessibility, security, communication, and simplicity.

**Praise**

“We need more networks to connect us to share resources at this time.” —Wendy Woon Artist, former Edward John Noble Deputy Director for Education, MoMA

“Pollinator is something all artist-serving organizations want to offer but struggle to pull off alone. It's an investment in all the artists [and aligned peers] we're supporting across all 40+ organizations.” —Blair Benjamin, Assets For Artists

“We have been gathering artists and technologists across borders for over a decade. Finally, Pollinator can help us to connect people in small groups at scale on an international level.” —Mechu Rapela, Tenthaus Oslo

“Pollinator is a great idea because it takes existing networks of fellows and says: We’ve been missing an opportunity to interconnect Fellows. What if we did this in a meaningful way?” —Cate Fox, Center for Cultural Innovation

“The world doesn’t need another big tech platform; it needs pollinators— something fluid, alive, and relational. Circles foster interconnection, cross-pollination, and shared growth.” —Martin Pettis, YMCA

“Pollinator is another example of what the founder has been doing for the last fifteen years - finding ways to connect people in the arts so that they can support one another. She is persistent in her dedication and vision.” —Samuel Hoi, former president of Otis College of Art and Design and Maryland Institute College of Art

Pollinator

http://www.celebrityseries.org  (617) 482-2595

We are a multi-disciplinary non-profit performing arts presenter, founded in 1938. 

**Our mission is to enrich and inspire our community through exceptional live performances.** 

Our subscription series is the core of our business since 1938: we present renowned artists at venues across Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville. We are one of the nation’s most highly regarded independent presenting organizations, partnering with established, internationally-acclaimed artists and emerging talent to curate a diverse lineup of performances.

Top local artists perform free and low-cost concerts in [Neighborhood Arts](https://www.celebrityseries.org/live-performances/neighborhood-arts-2/), often brought to life through deep collaboration and co-creation with youth arts groups, at community venues in six Boston neighborhoods. Our [Take Your Seat](https://www.celebrityseries.org/in-the-community/take-your-seat/) ticketing program makes subscription season performances accessible for community organizations and school groups, and [Artist Connections](https://www.celebrityseries.org/in-the-community/artist-connections/) brings masterclasses and workshops to students of all ability levels.

The Celebrity Series of Boston

Narrative Arts is a nonprofit organization based in Wilmington, NC. 

Narrative Arts

Appel Farm Arts & Music Center envisions a world in which the arts are recognized and valued as central to the human experience.

Mission: Appel Farm strives to co-create experiences that inspire people to unleash their inherent creativity, leading to self-discovery, personal growth, community building, and joy.

Appel Farm Arts & Music Center is a community of friends, neighbors, partners, donors and funders who envision a world in which the arts are recognized and valued as central to the human experience!

Founded in 1960 by professional musicians and music educators, Albert and Clare Appel believed that the arts play a crucial role in developing a child’s learning and education skills, encouraging personal growth, and instilling a sense of community and responsibility. We offer connection and learning through an arts-based curriculum, while providing a safe space for all, both adults and youth alike to be themselves and explore art free of judgement where safety, community, personal growth and fun are valued.

Appel Farm Arts & Music Center was incorporated in 1978 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a professional staff and a volunteer Board of Trustees. Now in its sixth decade, Appel Farm has evolved into a multidisciplinary regional arts center. 

Year Round Appel Farm programming include:

- Arts residencies and professional development for schools/educators
- Arts Labs: after school and weekend arts classes for youth and families, including free Community Arts Labs hosted at nearby partner locations such as libraries 
- On-site free community festivals including South Jersey Arts Fest and Artober
- Overnight experiences such as Mother’s Day Weekend Arts Retreat 
- Collaborations with regional and statewide youth arts programs, including the Salem & Gloucester Teen Arts Festival, and the Scholastic Arts & Writing Awards
- Innovative arts-based collaborations with service organizations like Acenda Integrated Health, the Center for Family Services, and Inspira Health Network
- Residential Summer Arts Camp for youth aged 8 to 16 including dance, theatre, visual arts, music arts, green corp (environmental arts), sports & swim, 



Appel Farm Arts & Music Center

P.S. ARTS is dedicated to advancing equity and opportunity by providing arts education in public schools and communities.


P.S. ARTS is dedicated to improving the lives of children by providing arts education to underserved public schools and communities. P.S. ARTS is the only organization in Southern and Central California that provides yearlong arts education in dance, music, theater, and visual arts to every child in a school during the regular school day. Without our programs, children in these underfunded school districts would not have access to the arts. 

P.S. ARTS also coordinates with school administrators and parent groups to provide community outreach services designed to increase the community’s capacity to advocate for educational equity and to provide critical cultural experiences for the entire family. 

P.S. ARTS programs help level the educational playing field by teaching creative and cognitive skills to students struggling to overcome economic, ability, or literacy barriers that will better equip them to be competitive and successful people. Studies show the arts keep children motivated and engaged, and with the high school dropout rate in Los Angeles County as high as 50% in recent years, the children in our community need the arts!

P.S. ARTS

Apollo Arts is a nonprofit organization creating classical artistic experiences through ballet, music and theater performances.

**Apollo Performing Arts** began in the early 70's on beautiful grounds in the Sierra Foothills of Northern California, and from the very beginning gained a strong artistic momentum. Even before our first official Concert Hall was built, a Concert Series was attracting every week professional artists from the Bay Area and Los Angeles.

Our initial Chamber Concert Series lasted four years, and concerts eventually moved to the newly built Festival Hall, offering classical music to our audience every week.

One of the most involved musicians at Apollo Performing Arts at that time was pianist Anna Gold, who moved to our area and built her home. She was part of a trio with her sisters, violinist Ida and famous cellist Zara Nelsova, who could count Pablo Casals among her teachers and was widely recognized for her concerts all over the world. Zara performed at Apollo many times, and was often accompanied by famous accompanist pianist Brooks Smith.

In its relentless pursuit of classical arts, Apollo Arts was able to attract many outstanding artists such as Menahem Pressler and the famous Beaux Arts Trio, famous violinist Sidney Harth, renowned violinist Eudice Shapiro who was also accompanied by Brooks Smith, and later on pianist Brian Ganz who held his concerts and masterclasses at Apollo Arts in several occasions.

By the 80's Apollo Arts had grown into a more solid art organization: with the arrival of European-trained conductor Michael Goodwin, Apollo Arts widened its scope and developed into different branches: Apollo Orchestra and Chorus, Apollo Theatre and Apollo Opera.

Apollo Theatre has presented through the years a wide array of the most outstanding theatrical plays, from the Greeks to Shakespeare.

Apollo Opera hosted several productions throughout the years including Monteverdi's operas Orfeo, L'incoronazione di Poppea, Il ritorno di Ulisse in Patria, Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda, Gounod's opera Faust, Mozart's operas Cosi' Fan Tutte, Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro, The Magic Flute, Verdi's opera Rigoletto and Puccini's operas Madama Butterfly and la Boheme. Beautiful costumes and sets by accomplished costume and set designers have always framed our performances offering a visual feast to our audience.

​Michael Goodwin served Apollo Arts relentlessly for 40 years raising it to what it is today, and his untimely death in 2012 was a deep loss for our community. Our indoor concert venue, the Apollo Festival Hall, has been dedicated to his loving memory.

At the turn of the Century Apollo Arts developed its major branch: classical ballet. Our quest for the highest artistic expression of classical beauty was enriched further once our outdoor classical amphitheater, the Da Vinci Theatron, was conceived and realized, making possible to host ballet galas and to invite the best dancers from the Bolshoi and Marinsky Theatres in Russia and from renowned US ballet companies: Diana Vishneva, Maria Alexandrova, Olga Pavlova, Alina Somova, Nikolay Tsiskaridze, Farukh Ruzimatov, Alexander Vetrov, Denis Matvienko, Igor Zelensky and more renowned artists.

From 2003 to 2008 Apollo Arts has offered to its audience long seasons of enchanting outdoors ballet performances each year, from May to September, with some of the best dancers in the world. Concurrently, classical music and theatre took place all year round, and until today.

In 2017 classical ballet has come back to Apollo on the occasion of our Da Vinci Theatron reopening: our 'Masters and Youth' gala on August 5th and 6th has welcomed back our world-class dancers from Russia, now friends of Apollo Arts, who have graciously shared our stage with Marat Dukayev's School of Ballet from Los Angeles.

Apollo Arts

Celebrating the power of Space to bring the world together, educating and developing the next generation of explorers.

The mission of The SpaceKind Foundation (and associated projects Yuri's Night, Cosmic Odyssey Scholarship, AstroAccess) is to use the excitement and inspiration of space as a catalyst for educating and developing the next generation of explorers. We fulfill this mission through a commitment to empowering leaders, building communities, bridging cultures, encouraging science literacy, and promoting a sustainable and peaceful future. We are also launching a massive movement to get 50 million people to stand in the path of totality for the total eclipse of the sun on Mon April 8, 2024 in a 100 mile wide band from Mazatlan, Mexico to Montreal Canada to LOOK UP. The sight of the sun completely blocked by the moon, letting the stars shine in the middle of the afternoon, is breathtaking and worth driving a few states to see. I hope you will join us! www.eclipsefest.org

The SpaceKind Foundation

Founded in 1985, Musicals At Richter Inc is a community theater dedicated to musicals, operettas, and plays in Danbury, CT. 

Musicals At Richter Inc is a community theater dedicated to adult and youth theater programs in musicals, operettas, and plays. The organization has been performing at Richter Park in Danbury, CT since 1985.

Musicals At Richter Inc

National human services organization. Our mission is to foster stability and resiliency, and provide a safety net for performing arts and entertainment professionals over their lifespan.

Founded in 1882, we serve all professionals—and not just actors—in film, theater, television, music, opera, radio and dance through programs that address our community's unique and essential needs.

Employment in any division of the performing arts and entertainment industry is unpredictable. Work is erratic, security is fleeting and health insurance is often just a dream. For all of these reasons and many more, The Actors Fund is an indispensable and deeply significant part of the entire entertainment community.

As a national organization with offices in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, we directly serve thousands of performing arts and entertainment professionals across the country every year, in person and via our online resources. Our programs are wide in scope, responsive in nature and produce significant results.

Entertainment Community Fund (formerly The Actors Fund)

A rigorous academic curriculum with intensive dance instruction -- all under one roof!

Ballet Tech Foundation Inc. is committed to introducing New York City public school children to the beauty, integrity, and joy of dance. Annually, we provide the rigorous dance training necessary to fulfill and nurture students’ intrinsic dance talents, all tuition free. We are developing the dancers and leaders of tomorrow by offering young people, who reflect the rich diversity of our city, a world class dance education and enrichment that encompasses a wide variety of genres of movement and choreography, alongside an excellent academic education in collaboration with the NYC Department of Education.

Ballet Tech


ACMS offers opportunities to learn the joys of music for all ages and skill levels. 

The Armstrong Community Music School was founded on the principle that a high-quality music education should be available to everyone, regardless of circumstances. At ACMS you might see a small child attending an Early Childhood Music class while across the hall a grandparent goes to her first ever violin lesson. For 20 years, ACMS has provided Central Texans of all ages and skill levels the opportunity to express themselves through joyful music-making.

In conjunction with the excellent music instruction provided in-house, ACMS partners with local organizations to offer free programming for a wide variety of populations. Collectively these programs are known as the Harmony Initiative. Each program in the Harmony Initiative is designed by faculty and staff to meet the intellectual and situational needs of the communities they serve, positively impacting the lives of underserved populations with the power of music. These partnership programs include: 

Early Childhood Music programs and ukulele classes for the children of
The SAFE Alliance, the merger of Austin Children’s Shelter and SafePlace, Austin’s domestic violence shelter

Musical sing-alongs for the families of Todos Juntos Learning Center, an education center for immigrant and refugee families

We Are the Chorus and We Are the Chorus, Too!, choruses for individuals with special needs and their singing buddies

The Veterans Guitar Project, weekly guitar classes and performance opportunities for all veterans

Early Childhood Music classes at Travis and Navarro High School Child Development Centers for the children of teenage parents

Music for All: Creating Yes for Every Family, a collaboration with Education Service Center Region 13 providing twice monthly Early Childhood Music family classes to children with visual and mobility impairments

All Harmony Initiative endeavors share the goal of supporting health and well-being and are tailored to the needs of their populations. Studies indicate that sharing their stories can help veterans cope with post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injury, and depression, and that arts engagement can aid in suicide prevention. Research has continued to show the developmental benefits of music education. Nevertheless, the decline in arts education is most drastic for underserved minorities. Your contribution to ACMS programs helps to fill the gap and provide individuals all the benefits of music-making.

Armstrong Community Music School

We're an arts org welcoming audiences into moments of joy, healing, and subversion. Founded in 2010; Became 501c3 in 2022. 

**The Bearded Ladies Cabaret is a queer arts organization that sits on your lap and sings you a story.** Whether it’s an opera, a home-made cabaret, a musical walking tour, or a show on a truck, we employ song, spectacle, storytelling, and heart to welcome audiences into moments of joy, healing, and subversion. Through sharing our original pieces and creating bespoke platforms for performance at home in Philadelphia, nationally, and abroad, we nurture artistic connection for a community of misfits, rabble-rousers, chanteuses and the people who love and need them. Your donation will go to support our thriving community of artists and change-makers! 

Bearded Ladies Cabaret

Uplifting the community, one child at a time, through the performing arts.


Amoyo Performing Arts Foundation (Amoyo) is a Cape Town based educational and developmental non-profit, founded in 2015 that offers an effective, scalable and replicable after-school and holiday performing arts programme that is age-appropriate.  Our core mission is for each beneficiary to transition from Amoyo as success driven, integral and foremost employable young people who have acquired core values, life and communication skills that seems to lack in most of our impoverished youth. Since our founding, we have successfully enrolled and trained more than 300 young people (aged 5 – 19) from poor communities into our project through the generous financial support of our co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Kim Conley, a private fund loan, National Lotteries Commission of South Africa and other donors and sponsors. In November 2017, Amoyo won a ministerial award from South Africa's Department of Social Development for Excellence in Youth Development.  Our long-term goal is to have a 4-6 studio facility with a dedicated kitchen and dining area, tutor centre, computer room, counseling room and suitable bathroom and changing facilities and a small bus so that we can bring more children from outer lying areas to also benefit. 

Amoyo Performing Arts Foundation 

Animals 4 Healing is a nonprofit organization focused on mental health and crisis intervention. It is based in Kaysville, UT. It received its nonprofit status in 2017.

Mission and Statement of Purpose 
Animals 4 Healing is a 501(c)3 community mental health clinic for children, adolescents, adults, veterans, and their families who have experienced a trauma. We define trauma as physical and sexual violence, neglect, community-based violence, extreme poverty, loss of a parent or primary caretaker, natural disaster, childhood abuse, human trafficking, car accident, burn, combat, amputation, bullying, surgery, or anything that has caused a person to have posttraumatic stress disorder like symptoms. 
We follow a person-centered approach and draft each person’s treatment plan to reflect that no two patients are alike. We also follow a family centered approach and treat the entire family affected by the trauma. 
The mission of Animals 4 Healing is to help individuals and their families achieve balance and presence by connecting their body, mind, heart, and spirit.  Using therapeutic techniques that integrate the mutually beneficial relationship of animals, nature, music, and movement with evidence-based practices.

Animals 4 Healing’s charitable purposes are to:
1.	Help those populations struggling with trauma and co-occurring mental health disorders. 
2.	Provide free or discounted treatment for the patients who cannot afford treatment
3.	Conduct experiential therapies, (e.g. canine-assisted, equine-assisted, therapeutic horseback riding, horticulture, nature, gardening, music, dance, yoga, drama, play, art, etc.) in combination with evidenced based practices for trauma
4.	Provide animals, resources, and facilities for use in animal-assisted therapy
5.	Advocate for benefits of new therapy techniques, and educate and train professionals and others about new therapy techniques
6.	Conduct scientific research and develop best practices for new therapy techniques.


Animals 4 Healing

Founded in 2005, CHYP is a national online nonprofit providing education, peer support & programs for youth and their caregivers. 

At Creative Healing for Youth in Pain our mission is to cultivate a supportive online community for youth ages 13-24 and their caregivers while they navigate the challenges of chronic pain. CHYP strives to inspire and empower participants and guide them toward a journey of healing and hope by giving them the tools needed to overcome the obstacles of chronic pain, including creative non-clinical interventions, education, and peer support. CHYP aims to provide its participants with community and healing tools without the limitations imposed by geographic location or socioeconomic status.

Creative Healing For Youth In Pain

A catalyst for creative freedom and cultural vitality across the Arab world.

As the largest fund for independent artists and cultural institutions in the Arab world, AFAC serves the collective necessity to pursue bold ideas, reclaim space, and share stories from our region on our own terms.

Culture shapes how we see ourselves, how we remember the past, and how we imagine the future. Independent voices are being silenced by war, repression, and economic collapse. Youth, who represent the region’s largest demographic, are largely excluded from cultural production and denied platforms to shape their futures. The threat of talent drain and cultural fragmentation has never been higher.

Since 2007, we have supported over 2,400 projects across 22 countries and their diasporas, awarding over $40 million in grants. Our model sustains not only the production of art but the long-term resilience of the cultural ecosystem. 

AFAC stands at the forefront of expression—investing in independent storytellers, visionaries, and institutions who challenge convention, spark dialogue, and preserve the richness of our collective narratives. We must act now to preserve cultural sovereignty and ensure that artists continue to imagine, question, and build the future of the region.

Our support spans cinema, music, literature, performance and visual arts, documentary photography, research, and critical training, reaching emerging talents and established voices, from the heart of the region to the edges of the diaspora. 

AFAC is more than a funder. We are a platform for connection, advocacy, and continuity. Through open calls, mentorship, strategic partnerships, and direct support to institutions, we create ecosystems, for the region and by the region, that allow independent culture to thrive.

At a time when global attention often overlooks the nuance of Arab realities, AFAC helps ensure that our stories—rooted in diversity, contradiction, and creative force—are not just told, but heard, remembered, and felt. We invite you to imagine a world where every voice can create, connect, and contribute to the cultural future of the region.

**With your support, AFAC can:**

- Sustain and expand critical funding for artists and institutions
- Launch bold new programs in underserved geographies
- Build a long-term ecosystem for Arab cultural philanthropy

Arab Fund for Arts and Culture

We are a world-class space where culture, education, and the arts are the driving force behind social transformation

We are a space where culture, education, and the arts are the main driving force behind social transformation, in support of our communities. 
**Our Mission**
To create meaningful artistic experiences and enable children and young people to embrace the spirit of excellence that the arts and their foundational values make possible.
When individuals and communities gain access to the arts, cultural diversity is enriched, and mutual understanding is promoted. This access not only reduces cultural gaps but also fosters critical thinking, empathy, and imagination, strengthening creativity as an essential skill for human and collective development.

Ensuring that the arts are accessible requires eliminating physical and economic barriers, encouraging comprehensive artistic education, and promoting diversity in the creation and dissemination of the arts. By doing so, we not only enrich people's lives but also build a more just, resilient, healthy, and prosperous society.

Fundacion Teatro del Lago

Through dance and art, Vidançar brings education to children and families in vulnerable neighborhoods in Rio de Janeiro and Bahia.

The Associacao de Apoio e Fomento a Economia Criativa is a organization that promotes  artistic, cultural and scientific programs and act in various artistic spheres such as theater, music and dance.

One of the projects that we host is Vidancar initiated by Ellen Serra, a lawyer and cultural producer,  who hired a teacher to give classical ballet lessons to the first 14 students, residents of Complexo do Alemão. Thus Vidançar was born, with the aim of transforming lives through dance. The Vidançar Project was a pioneer in requiring vaccination cards, proof of school enrollment, attendance and the presence of guardians in order to build education as a tool for the students' personal growth.

The project took a life of its own, and by 2011 there were 90 applicants. The space provided by the Nova Brasília Residents' Association became too small. More than 1,000 children and young people have passed through Vidançar in its almost 13 years of existence! Today, there are more than 600 students, residents of communities not only in the Complexo do Alemão, but also Duque de Caxias, Espírito Santo and  in the Bahia, where it serves indigenous communities. In addition to Arts and Culture, Vidançar's pillar is Education, offering classes in ballet, tutoring, audiovisual, storytelling, English, Spanish, chess and singing workshops. Since 2013, Vidançar has been preparing its students for major auditions at the best schools in the country and some internationally. The project has already placed more than 50 students in professional dance centers, including the Bolshoi School; and the Brazilian Dance Conservatory. One of the students who took his first steps in the project é today professional dancer with the Tivoli Ballet Skole in Denmark.

"I was a victim of pedophilia from the age of five to 12. I got pregnant at 16 and became a mother at 17, having to give up my dream of working with the arta. After an attempted femicide, I separated at the age of 23, with a lot of pain to deal with. In 2001 I met my life partner, who gave me two more incredible children! But I also lost my father and fell into a state of depression... in December of that year, a good friend invited me to the Complexo do Alemão. [CPX, one of the largest favelas in Rio de Janeiro] and I never left. In 2005, I started doing voluntary social work and CPX saved my life. In 2006, I graduated in Law and worked as a lawyer for 14 years, alongside my volunteer work in the favela. I became a cultural producer by training and vocation, because the soul of someone who loves culture never gives up! After five years of social work, I realized that it was very important to support children in the area in building dreams and changing lives. My three children inspired me on this path of transformation through art and education and so, in 2010, the Vidançar Project was born. Ballet as a source of cultural knowledge, art, strengthening self-esteem and self-care has become the most beautiful path to this transformation that I wanted so much!" Ellen Serra, lawyer, cultural producer, founder and CEO of the Vidançar Project

Vidançar Women's Network

In 2021, the ViDançar Women's Network was born, a women's empowerment project that brings together sewing workshops and conversation circles, with the guidance of a volunteer social worker. The initiative was born out of attentive listening to the women of Complexo do Alemão, who brought their sons and daughters to the Vidançar Project's dance and education workshops. They said they wanted to "improve their lives", "earn my own money", "get rid of my violent husband", "take care of myself and be beautiful again". The Vidançar team felt the need to create a space to listen to these women that could welcome them. - them, but also a movement of empowerment and strengthening so that together these women can find community solutions to generate income and flee domestic violence.  Many lives have already been transformed by the Network. One of our students was in a serious situation of domestic violence. With the support of the Women's Network, it was possible to get her out of the state, allowing her to have a new life, with her children. Artists Zélia Duncan and Elymar Santos are sponsors of the Network. The Vidançar Women's Network received a donation of semi-professional sewing machines from singer Elymar Santos, who helped the team get the project off the ground. Singer Zélia Duncan, an institutional supporter of the Vidançar Project, also supports the Network and the space where the activities take place has been named the Zélia Duncan Room - Vidançar Women's Network, with the singer's presence at the inauguration of the space!

The project plans to increase its education offerings in the more vulnerable and remote locations it currently operates in Bahia, while also providing basic food security to students. All ViDançar students come from vulnerable communities, but in the Bahia location access to basic services is further diminished by its distance from major cities. For 2024 ViDançar plans to offer monthly basic staples' baskets to each family, hire a full time counselor and teacher dedicated to that locality alone.

Another project for 2024 is to hire teachers who are currently working on a volunteer basis, to guarantee uninterrupted service to children and their mothers.

Projeto Vidançar (AFEC - Associação de Apoio e Fomento à Economia Criativa)

HERE builds a community that nurtures career artists as they create innovative hybrid live performance in theatre, dance, music, puppetry, media, and visual art.

HERE Arts Center

Vashon Events is a dedicated to building community and supporting artists-musicians on Vashon Island, WA. 

Our mission is to create, provide, and expand positive life experiences through music and art for all. We provide an information hub for Vashon Island including a business directory, information about events and classes happening on the island, and programs that support arts and local music. We believe that keeping Vashon Island vibrant means supporting our local businesses and artists.

Our programming provides critical and unique support for artists and musicians. We also produce concerts and other performing arts events at festivals, showcases, concerts in the park, and venues all over the island. We believe the arts should be accessible to everyone, therefore all our events are free or low-cost. At the same time, at every event we provide, we ensure that musicians and other performers are fairly compensated.

We support local musicians and artists by providing programs and services dedicated to helping them succeed in making their art. 

Music Instrument Library - Vashon Events’ musical instrument lending library provides free access to musical instruments for children and adults. We loan amplifiers, cords, tuners, and other accessories needed to make music.

Music Teacher Directory - Vashon Events’ Music Teacher Director provides a portal for information about local music teachers so students of all ages can learn to play music on a range of instruments.

Vashon Events

ISMP increases access to sports and music education for kids in shelters, schools, and underserved communities all over the world.

ISMP works with some of the most vulnerable individuals in the world. In underserved schools, shelters, and refugee camps, children and their families are facing profound mental and emotional trauma. Beyond a general lack of funding for children’s programs, many individuals we serve also suffer as victims of human trafficking, abuse, and other atrocities. 

The positive impact that comes from a child participating in a sport or music activity that they are passionate about is vast and well-documented. Outcomes include the opportunity for kids to have a fun and constructive use of their time, to make friends and be mentored, to learn how to handle the emotions of winning and losing in a safe space, and the positive effects it has on physical and mental health. It also serves as a welcome distraction from the extreme challenges children are facing, and comfort to parents who are not able to provide these opportunities to their children without support. 

We are narrowing the resource gap to ensure that kids, particularly those in vulnerable communities, have access to people and activities that will make them feel supported, comfortable, and fulfilled. Through sports and music programs, children can find relief, expression, and joy. 


International Sports and Music Project

Road Recovery: a music industry-driven non-profit dedicated to helping youth battle addiction & other adversities in their lives 

[Road Recovery](http://www.roadrecovery.org) strives to empower young people to identify, express and amplify their voices in hopes of affecting positive change in themselves and their community. Our goal is to help young people develop healthy coping, communication, and life skills. Established in 1998, Road Recovery is a music industry-driven non-profit 501(C)(3) organization dedicated to helping young people as they battle addiction and other adversities in their lives. Mentored by entertainment industry professionals who have confronted similar life struggles, and with support from the mental health field, Road Recovery’s action-driven programs offer “all access” opportunities for young people to engage in the process of creating, planning, and presenting their own live performance events and studio recording projects to affect positive change in themselves, their families, and their communities. Learn More: [www.roadrecovery.org](http://www.roadrecovery.org)

Road Recovery Foundation

CCC is the creative cog in the Spartanburg community by providing major funding & support for local arts & cultural organizations.

Chapman Cultural Center is more than just a destination. As a Local Arts Agency, our organization provides major funding and support for many of Spartanburg’s arts and cultural organizations. Our educational programs serve more than 40,000 public and private school students throughout Spartanburg County (SC), with residencies by professional artists in the disciplines of music, dance, visual arts, literature, media, theatre, and crafts. We are the creative cog of Spartanburg's Arts & Cultural community. We let Spartanburg's professional arts organizations run the show while we provide the financial support to ensure they succeed. 

Chapman Cultural Center

ARTNOIR is a female-majority and Black + brown owned, with a mission to celebrate and highlight the work of creatives of color.


ARTNOIR is a female-majority and black + brown owned, NYC-based global collective and 501(c)(3) with a mission to celebrate and highlight the work of creatives of color while catalyzing cultural equity across the arts and culture industries. 

We seek to empower artists, enthusiasts, curators, forward-thinking organizations, storytellers, designers, and patrons to explore alternative perspectives to the traditional arts narrative while leveraging the intersectionality of art and culture to develop new access points for discussion, exploration, and collaboration.

Over the last 10 years, we have worked with artists, organizations, brands, and collectors around the world, including Hank Willis Thomas, Derrick Adams, Nina Chanel Abney, Mickalene Thomas, Kehinde Wiley, Harvard University, Airbnb, Google, UBS, Sotheby’s,  The New Museum, Coca Cola, KITH, and Essence to name a few. We have been featured in press outlets such as CULTURED, Artsy, Complex, and Black Enterprise. 

We were listed in ARTnews's “The Deciders” issue in 2021 as an institution currently contributing to the cultural conversation in a pointed way. 

ARTNOIR has cultivated a global community of over 30,000 people actively working to change the paradigm of the global arts and culture ecosystems while creating forums for all creatives of color and communities of color to thrive and succeed. 

The ARTNOIR Jar of Love Fund is intended to provide relief for artists, curators, and cultural producers of color. The Jar of Love Fund has distributed over $100,000 USD and was first launched in 2020 in response to the unprecedented times of uncertainty, unrest, and the subsequent adverse impact on our community.  

As an organization based on the foundation of community first, we want to do our part to provide love and care for artists, curators, and cultural producers of color when they need it most. 



ARTNOIR

The Peace Studio develops artists and journalists who seek to inspire hope and catalyze transformative change in local communities

The Peace Studio

Teaching teens to relentlessly fight for positive social change through practical application of the performing arts since 1999.

A BRIEF HISTORY & MISSION
Developing Artists (DA) teaches undervalued teens to relentlessly fight for positive social change through practical application of the performing arts.  We help diverse students to proclaim themselves as artists and activists, to find their place and their connection in their community, and to bring about positive social change through participation in the arts. 

DA offers rigorous theater education to underserved high school students (aged 13-19) in the New York City metropolitan area and produces REBEL VERSES Youth Arts Festival. Our goal is to provide young people with professional performing arts training that will equip them with valuable artistic and life skills, and the confidence to take action in their lives. 
DA was founded in 1999 with a simple act of protest against youth discrimination. Following Artistic Director Jill DeArmon's experiences teaching performing arts in NYC public schools and established studios, she was astonished by the lack of freedom students were given to create and empower and felt they were censored rather than amplified and trusted. While teaching at one of these institutions, she was threatened to either stay and stick to the status quo or be fired. Jill told her class that she was leaving, because she could not accept ageism towards her students. Every student decided to follow her out and the first DA Ensemble was born. In collaboration with the ensemble, Jill offered classes where teens could be heard, with support to create original work that tackles important social issues. She committed to empowering students through art by giving them practical tools to express themselves and learn to collaborate.

THE NEED OR PROBLEM WE WORK TO ADDRESS 
We impact students by creating a forum to navigate life's increasing challenges (e.g. age discrimination, social injustices, gender inequality, institutional racism, economic disparity, sexism); to use their voice in dealing with these issues; and channel that energy into self-expression and self-confidence. DA has a track record of engaging positively with those who face significant barriers in their daily lives. 

Developing Artists serves students aged 13 to 19 from all five boroughs of New York. 35% of our students identify as Latinx, 40% as African American, 20% as Caucasian, and 5% as Asian/other. Most of our students face socio-economic challenges; many experience physical, sexual or emotional abuse. We are committed to invite and include all of these young artists so their voices can be heard, their lives healed and their lifetime trajectory changed. 

We can confidently say that participation in our programs has a life-changing long-term impact on the young people we serve – 95% of whom go onto college. We know that our students subsequently utilize their arts training in their careers in a variety of different ways – as professional artists, writers, producers, drama therapists, etc. In our recent past, we helped DA students get into notable high school and college performing arts programs, and some have gone on to study at prestigious institutions such as The Juilliard School, University of North Carolina School of the Arts, New School, Royal Conservatory of Scotland, Liverpool Institute of the Performing Arts, Fordham University, Rutgers University, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, AMDA, Elon College and Yale Drama.

In the past, we charged for classes while providing full or partial scholarships for students in need (about 85% of students received a full or partial scholarship). In 2018, Developing Artists began making all classes 100% FREE so that we could abolish this financial barrier once and for all, and serve those students who were overlooked by so many other programs.

As emphasized in our mission, equity, access and inclusion are some of our primary objectives.  The last three years also helped solidify the identity of DA: Our ensemble engages with individuals on the frontline of important social issues then utilizing various performing arts, we bring to light these issues to a broader audience as we seek allies along the way to impact positive social change. Developing Artists was tapped to perform in numerous events including: We Rise: A Celebration of Resistance at the Delacorte Theatre (Public Forum in Collaboration with Resistance Revival Chorus), New York Women’s Foundations Celebrating Women Breakfast 2019, City Hall rally hosted by New York 4 Culture and Art to protest the proposed 6 millions dollar cut in cultural and arts funding. Developing Artists’ trajectory is leading us to connect and work with many social justice organizations for our future projects. 

Through the years, DA has directly served over 3,000 students and thousands of audience members. DA fostered a community of diverse artist citizens and maintains ongoing connections with our alumni network, some of which return as Teaching Artists. One alumnus, Julian Elijah Martinez, recently made his Broadway debut in NETWORK starring Bryan Cranston and was one of the stars of WU-TANG: AN AMERICAN SAGA on Hulu. Another alumna, Jessica Asch, Program Creator and Lead Clinician at Shine MSD, Inc, became a licensed arts and drama therapist whose work with at-risk youth has included developing and implementing a creative arts therapy program around collective healing in Parkland, Florida.

REBEL VERSES Youth Arts Festival
Founded in 2001, REBEL VERSES is a 2-week festival of performances by some of the best youth companies in NYC & beyond. This festival was born out of the dire need here in New York City for new voices in theater.  It is a journey into the unapologetic, unrelenting creativity of the next generation. Since the festival’s inception, REBEL VERSES has provided youth companies with the opportunity to collaborate and network with their peers and prominent artists, encouraging the development of new works in theater through this two-week event.  In 2017, Developing Artists began a partnership with the notable Vineyard Theatre to co-produce REBEL VERSES. The Vineyard Theatre (108 East 15th) hosts RV at its 132-seat off-Broadway venue and provides technical, management, audience development and promotional support, resulting in increased visibility, participation and audiences for REBEL VERSES.

TESTIMONIAL
"I’ve been continually impressed with these students’ critical engagement with the most pressing issues of our day: social responsibility, economic access, representational inequity, voting rights, and much more. On top of their mastery of civic literacy, they are astonishingly talented artists, both as writers and performers.

These teens’ capacity for this level of discourse and creativity is clearly traceable to their training and experience through Developing Artists. Jill and Jinn’s personal and professional dedication to the holistic development and success of each student is total. Their high expectations elicit excellence, dedication, maturity, and long-lasting relationships across a wide diversity of backgrounds. They’ve formed a family commitment to one another that far exceeds any after-school arts program I know."

Kenneth J. Cerniglia, PhD
Former Literary Manager and Dramaturg, Disney Theatrical Productions Past President, Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA) 

Developing Artists Theater Company

Theatre starring people with intellectual disabilities and autism. Actors gain confidence, social skills, friends.

Mission: Through collaborative performance and lifelong learning opportunities, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities gain the skills and confidence to engage with the world.

ArtStream fuels students' imagination, creativity, and focus. We offer over 850 classes and workshops each year for 1,617 participants, six Theatre Companies totaling 90 participants and four Cabaret Companies totaling 30-40 participants, all of whom create and perform original theater works.

WHY ARTSTREAM?
People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities - including Autism - frequently face isolation or marginalization, and are excluded from activities and spaces where community, friendships, and connections are made. Creative opportunities are even fewer and farther between. In ArtStream’s drama and performing arts classes, workshops, and theatre companies, participants learn skills that apply to all aspects of life, including how to be present, pay attention, listen to instructions, participate in the activities that the class is doing that day, and perhaps most important of all, build friendships. 

Performance is transformative for every actor. This is also true for people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, including Autism. Whether in classes, workshops, or rehearsals, ArtStreamers play theatrical games that require them to listen, to engage, to communicate, and to collaborate with each other; and improvisational games that teach them how to make eye contact, think on their feet, make connections, synthesize information, and solve problems. ArtStream’s demanding and very entertaining process encourages ArtStreamers to discover their creativity and strengths, and perform with confidence! What’s more, at ArtStream, our participants create their own scenes, dances, and songs for their performances, whereas most other theaters and non-profits serve people with disabilities by enacting or adapting plays or scenes written by professional playwrights. This is the “ArtStream difference.” 

A 55-year-old, 15-year ArtStream veteran expressed it better than we could ourselves: “I don’t get nervous on stage because I feel such happiness. I like to perform 24 hours a day! I love this place! ArtStream is making me happy!” 

ArtStream’s collaborative programming gives people with interest, talent, drive, and creativity – but few opportunities – a unique chance to build skills they will carry with them throughout their lifetimes. Our retention rate is 90%, attesting to the effectiveness of our organization in carrying out our mission. 



ArtStream, Inc.

Our mission is to help students Discover, Strive, and Inspire them to become the critical thinkers, creative leaders and technologists of tomorrow.

Dreams for Schools was established to inspire, create and educate students to be STEM literate with hard and soft skills needed to become the critical thin

Dreams for Schools

Supports movement-based artists through new and adaptive approaches to producing, presenting, education and community engagement.

New York Live Arts is a center of diverse artists devoted to body-based investigation that transcends barriers between and within communities led by world-renowned artist Bill T. Jones. We are a place that brings people together to explore common values through live gathering and performance reminding us of our humanity and elevating the human spirit.

We are an institution with an unequivocal commitment to supporting the creative identities of people living together in creative community. We provide much-needed resources to artists at every stage of their career, in a world where funding for the arts is increasingly reliant on the generosity of individuals.

We enable the creation of work by Artists at every level: from emerging talent being seen for the first time, to the mid-career artists who will be our next great masters. We foster artists who participate courageously in the world of ideas and ask difficult questions.

We believe the artist plays a distinct role as a witness to truth, by participating in free speech and expression that often comes at personal risk. We believe that live art has the ability to create communities, confluences, and platforms for the exchange of ideas.

We are living in a critical moment in which the social, political, and cultural tides are changing and these challenging times call on us to convene in a central place devoted to bringing people together in exploration of our common values.

With all that is happening globally and within our borders, we believe even more in our vision to be a conduit for engagement through the arts. The repertoire we present and the conversations we host, work to address themes spanning personal and communal responsibility, racism, gender equality, and civil liberties.

We are asking those who share our values to join us as we build the community of this important space for live gathering in the heart of New York City and to continue to elevate live performance – an act that has the power to remind us what humans are capable of.

“Where thinking and movement meet the future.” — Bill T. Jones

Located in the heart of Chelsea in New York City, New York Live Arts is an internationally recognized destination for innovative movement-based artistry offering audiences access to art and artists notable for their conceptual rigor, formal experimentation and active engagement with the social, political and cultural currents of our times. At the center of this identity is Bill T. Jones, Artistic Director, a world-renowned choreographer, dancer, theater director and writer.

We commission, produce and present performances in our 20,000 square foot home, which includes a 184-seat theater and two 1,200 square foot studios that can be combined into one large studio. New York Live Arts serves as home base for the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, provides an extensive range of participatory programs for adults and young people and supports the continuing professional development of artists.

We acknowledge and offer deep gratitude to Lenapehoking where our theater sits – the land, and waters of the Lenape homeland.

About Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company
Founded in 1982, the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company was born out of an 11-year collaboration between Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane (1948–1988). During this time, they redefined the duet form and foreshadowed issues of identity, form and social commentary that would change the face of American dance. The Company has performed worldwide in over 200 cities in 40 countries on every major continent and is recognized as one of the most innovative and powerful forces in the dance-theater world.

New York Live Arts

Our mission is to entertain, educate, and enrich the diverse population of Stamford, and Fairfield County. 

Stamford Center for the Arts' Palace Theatre

Ascend Performing Arts mission is to further the education and growth of young people through participation in performing arts programs of the highest caliber, which promote teamwork, discipline, develop leadership skills, and enhance self-esteem.

Ascend Performing Arts

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We are a nonprofit, so instead of charging fees we rely on the generosity of donors like you.