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Acknowledgments
NATIONAL
ENDOWMENT
*«53S0" FO« THE A«TS
We gratefully acknowledge the following companies, corporations,
foundations, individuals, and organizations for their support
that helped make possible the 2002 Coming Up Taller Awards.
A special thanks goes to the National Assembly of State Arts
Agencies (NASAA) for its program management assistance.
Beth Singer Design
Cranium, Inc.
CULTURAL CONTACT, US-Mexico Fund for Cultur e/CONTACTO
CULTURAL, Fideicomiso para la Cultura Mexico-EUA with
assistance from Mr. Eugenio Lopez Alonso
FranklinCovey
GMAC Financial Services
Green Family Foundation
The Harman Family Foundation, Jane and Sidney Harman
Image Graphics
Institute for Civil Society
JoAnn McGrath
Surdna Foundation
This fifth anniversary commemorative publication is made
possible by MetLife Foundation.
MetLife Foundation
Community organizations and schools that promote children's
learning in the arts and the humanities play a significant role in
the development of young people and their communities.
MetLife Foundation is pleased to help support the Coming Up
Taller Awards and the exceptional out-of-school programs they
honor. We applaud this five-year public and private investment,
and we extend our appreciation and congratulations to all the
a war dees. Well done!
-Sibyl Jacobson, President & CEO, MetLife Foundation
2002
A NNIVERSARY
AWARDS
,,5iUo*.
■SSi"'
N A T I O N A I
ENDOWMENT
fOH TME AUTS
Vi
i^a
Editors: Carol Dana, Cesar Guadamuz, Judith Humphreys Weitz
Booklet Design: Beth Singer Design
Printing: Image Graphics
Coming Up Taller Logo Design: Anthony Ruotolo and Fang Zhou,
Hachette Filipacchi Magazines
Cover Photographs: Right: Courtesy of The Dance Ring, Inc./New
York Theatre Ballet. Left: Kaitlyn Morin, age 13, works on a wall
mural as part of Project WAM, SAY Si, San Antonio Youth YES!
Coming Up Taller Staff: Judith Humphreys Weitz (Coordinator,
PC AH), Wilsonia Cherry (NEH), Mary Estelle Kennelly (IMLS),
Lee Kessler (NEA)
Permission to copy, disseminate or otherwise use information
from this report is granted as long as appropriate acknowledgment
is given.
This publication is available from the President's Committee
on the Arts and the Humanities at www.pcah.gov or
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 526, Washington, DC 20506.
Phone: 202-682-5409 Fax: 202-682-5668
There is no way to fast forward
and know how the kids will look
back on this, but I have seen the
joy in their eyes and have heard it
in their voices and I have watched
them take a bow and
Come Ud Talle
Willie Reale, Founder,
The 52nd Street Project,
describing the impact of
this theater program on
youth living in "Hell's
Kitchen, " a neighborhood in
New York City.
A Note from
First Lady
Laura Bush
Honorary Chair, President's Committee
on the Arts and the Humanities
Today across America, homeless children are painting
with water colors and studying Impressionism. Asian-
American students are reading Asian Pacific American
literature to explore their culture. Teenagers are attending
facilitator workshops to learn how to talk to their peers
about prejudice and teen pregnancy. And fifth-graders
are practicing traditional Brazilian dance and drumming,
a native custom of families in their community.
These children are expressing themselves and
having fun. And most importantly, they are learning.
They are discovering who they are, who they can
become, and that they can do anything they set
their minds to. Today, our children are gaining a
greater sense of character, confidence and community,
thanks to arts and humanities programs sponsored by
Coming Up Taller.
Through Coming Up Taller programs more children are
tuning into violins and music rather than television. More
are participating in plays and workshops than in violence.
Rather than giving up, they are giving in to the joy of paint-
ing a mural to beautify an old building or bringing Peter
Pan to life on stage.
Coming Up Taller is helping our children grow up
stronger, smarter and kinder. Arts and humanities foster
children's creativity imagination, and intellectual develop-
ment through hands-on teaching and learning. Coming
Up Taller programs engage students in learning in a safe
environment where they can make new friends and spend
Today, our children are gaining
a greater sense of character,
confidence and community, thanks
to arts and humanities programs
sponsored by Coming Up Taller.
time with caring adults who are great role models.
Children share their ideas and express how they feel
through music, painting and writing. Through performances
and exhibitions, children are recognized and applauded
for their accomplishments. They learn success, discipline
and teamwork. And above all, they learn to love learning.
Arts and humanities are critical building blocks for a
child's development and provide a strong foundation for
learning in the classroom and throughout life. Drawing helps
children improve their writing skills. Poetry helps with
memory. Theater brings history to life. Arts and humanities
help to further develop vocabulary and critical thinking
skills and an appreciation of math and science.
Coming Up Taller arts and humanities programs provide
all of this in a fun and engaging way that children respond
to. And they especially respond to the gifted teachers,
artists, and musicians who share their love, their time and
their talent with our children.
I am delighted to be part of the Coming Up Taller
Awards, which celebrate the creativity and individuality of
our children and the dedicated Americans who help them
to realize their dreams. As Honorary Chair of the President's
Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, I join with the
members of the President's Committee, the National
Endowment for the Humanities, the Institute of Museum
and Library Services, and the National Endowment for the
Arts in saluting the Coming Up Taller Award recipients for
the remarkable difference they are making in our children's
lives, in our communities and in our country.
A Note from
Executive Director
Henry Moran
President's Committee on the Arts
and the Humanities
Senior Deputy Chairman
Eileen B. Mason
National Endowment for the Arts
Chairman
Bruce M. Cole
National Endowment for the Humanities
Director
Robert S. Martin
Institute of Museum and Library Services
We are farmers, really, with tool sheds full of
paintbrushes and clay and pianos and the-
sauruses and frog costumes. We go out every
day and hope things grow right The Coming Up
Taller Award provides a boost to the boosters.
It enlivens us with that springy energy that is
attendant to pride, which helps us to better bend
to the needs of the young and to come up taller
at the day's end.
-Willie Reale, Founder, The 52nd Street Project, a 1998 Coming
Up Taller Award recipient.
After-school, weekend, and summer arts and humani-
ties programs all over the country are giving children
of all ages productive outlets for their energy; a chance to
discover their potential through the arts, words, and ideas;
and an opportunity to acquire new skills. There is nothing
more challenging and ultimately satisfying than enabling a
child to experience a newfound sense of pride stemming
from discovery, mastery, and accomplishment.
To pay tribute to and support the excellence of these
arts and humanities programs, the President's Committee
on the Arts and the Humanities annually presents the
Coming Up Taller Awards. This is the fifth-year anniversary.
During the last five years, more than 1800 Coming Up
Taller nominations have come from every state in the
country. In all, 165 organizations have been recognized for
their excellence; 53 have received $10,000 awards for their
achievements for children.
This activity happens through a partnership initiative of
the President's Committee, the National Endowment for
the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and
the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Leading
foundations and corporations provide additional critical
support. Together, this national commitment and investment
reinforce the importance of out-of-school culturally based
learning opportunities for children.
For Coming Up Taller Awards recipients, their $10,000
award represents a special, tangible infusion. The yield
can be measured by an increase in the number of community
sites; children served; the frequency of program offerings;
the number of teaching artists or scholars; new equipment
such as sound systems or portable dance floors; and a
broader range of such services as tutoring, college or job
counseling, and transportation. There is another important
outgrowth: the leverage provided these programs as they
seek new and continued funding.
Coming Up Taller enhances the efforts of artists,
museum and media experts, historians, and writers to
engage children, develop their skills, and chart a course
for the future. What Bill Shore, in The Cathedral Within,
writes about the Chicago Children's Choir, recipient of
a 2000 Coming Up Taller Award, could also be said of the
programs these professionals create and sustain:
For these kids, the choir is everything: their
safe space, their caring adult, their form of family
discipline, and their proof that hard work yields
rewards. It is their ticket to places across the
city and around the world where most of their
classmates will never go. It is both saving and
shaping their lives.
We rejoice in the creativity and resilience of this
nation's young people. We celebrate the Coming Up Taller
awardees. And we look forward to growing the Coming Up
Taller Awards program in the coming years.
A Company of Girls
East End Children's Workshop
On the stage of an old church in Portland, Maine, Shakespeare's
and others' plays are rehearsed with an interesting twist.
King Lear is transformed into Queen Lear, an all-girl production
that gives young cast members a chance to explore familial
relationships and power. The Lord of the Flies is rewritten for
an all-female "gang" whose members use the play to explore
bullying and violence among girls.
These plays are part of the repertoire of A Company of Girls,
a six-year-old after-school theater program. Here girls from
different cultural backgrounds come to learn about theater and
other arts, and to discuss important issues in their young lives.
The program operates five
days a week and some week-
ends during the school year.
Participants spend most of
their time in traditional theater
activities, such as writing,
rehearsing plays, and building
sets, assisted by theater
experts from such professional
theater groups as The Portland Stage Company. The program
also includes daily "check in" circles, lots of directed journal
writing, and counseling support to help participants develop
confidence, and social and communication skills.
In addition, the program works to expand girls' connections
with the wider community. They have taken field trips to art
museums and performance
venues, and participated in
other arts and dance projects.
Some of these experiences
come full circle, finding
their way back into theater
productions.
After conducting oral-his-
tory interviews with women
in assisted living, the girls
created Sticky Like a Frog, a
play that blends their own
writings with stories from the
seniors. "The idea grew out of
what the elders wanted most
and what the girls enjoyed
doing — sitting and talking,"
notes Director Odelle Bowman.
The result is a play that was the
only youth-theater performance
included in the 2001 New York
International Fringe Festival.
East End Children's Workshop
2 1 5 Congress Street
Portland, ME 04101
Tel: 207-874-2 1 07
Fax:207-871-5717
E-mail: retablos@rcm.com
Focus: Theater Arts
Annual Number Participating: 52
Ages: 8-18
Annual Budget: $ 1 1 5.923
"A Company of Girls recognizes
the potential of the arts and
humanities to help young people
plumb their depths, develop
tolerance and respect for them-
selves and others, and increase
their ability to make better
choices in their lives."
-Victoria Bonebakker, Associate
Director, Maine Humanities Council
8
But Director Bowman looks closer to home to measure success.
"At A Company of Girls the impact is seen daily in improved
grades and attendance, stronger self-esteem, dreams for the future,
a commitment to each other and, in turn, to their communities."
Michael Reidy
Above: Brittany Randall plays the
Prime Minister in Cynerella Cycle.
Above Left: Laura Peters and Amber
Randall in The Big Family Giant.
Arts in Education Program
in Architecture and
Design/Community Studies
Henry Street Settlement
265 Henry Street
New York, NY 10002
Tel: 2 1 2-598-0400
Fax:212-505-8329
E-mail: sfnarts@aol.com
URL: www.henrystreet.org
Focus: Architecture, Design,
Humanities, Visual Arts
Annual Number Participating: 410
Ages: 7- 1 3
Annual Budget: $60,000
"The success of the program, which
integrates the humanities with
school and community improvement
projects and includes extensive
work with teachers, is reflected in
the increased academic achievements
of the students and their positive
response and attendance."
-Gary Dayton, Program Officer,
New York State Council on the Arts
Below Right: Fifth grade
students present their designs
for a school concession stand.
Far Below: Fifth grade students
build a scale model of a new
security guard desk.
\f
Many children may not have much art on the walls at home,
and they may have little access to live theater, dance, or
works of great literature. But no matter where they live, in one
sense, children are surrounded by art. There is rich architectural
detail and cultural history in their neighborhood homes, schools,
and civic buildings. And there are elements of design in every-
thing from streetlights to trash cans.
Ten years ago, the Henry Street Settlement, an arts and social
services agency in Manhattan's Lower East Side, launched an
innovative design education project to tap the learning opportunities
available in the built environment. Through its Architecture and
Design/Community Studies project, Henry Street Settlement
works extensively with PS #20 and two other public elementary
schools to provide in-school and extended-day design education
programs to children.
In both programs, architects and design educators sensitize
students to issues of design through neighborhood walks; lessons
in design, urban planning, and local history; and visits to archi-
tects' studios. Students get
involved in a range of hands-on
activities. In one project, they
researched the history of a tene-
ment by conducting interviews
and photographing and
researching the building's
structure. They have created a
Arts in Education Program in Architecture
and Design/Community Studies
Henry Street Settlement
Susan Fleminger
dictionary of architectural and design terms, and built scale
models of designed bridges and of a local synagogue. The design
activities incorporate lessons from other academic disciplines,
such as math, reading, and social studies. Students also learn to
use computer technology to develop designs, conduct virtual
tours, and create presentations.
But the projects don't end there. Once they've gained an
understanding of design, students are challenged to suggest
design improvements for their own schools. Students interview
users of the spaces, develop recommendations, and make formal
presentations. A jury of people from the school community
selects the best ideas for construction. The young designers
have created murals, designed a new school office and concession
stands for their play yard, and developed new gardens, courtyards,
and school entrances.
As part of its commitment to young people living in the
Lower East Side community, Henry Street's Architecture and
Design/Community Studies program also invests in the profes-
sional development of teachers, teaching architects, and after-
school group leaders. Both a curriculum specialist and school
technology specialists plan and implement a year-long program of
workshops and identify outside learning opportunities for staff.
II
Pance-The Next Generation
Sarasota Ballet of Florida, Inc.
Courtesy of Sarasota Ballet of Florida, Inc.
Above: Sixteen-year-old
Bridgett Zehr, a DNG graduate,
appears as the Snow Queen
in The Nutcracker Suite with the
Sarasota Ballet. Far Right:
Students in performance.
Dance-The Next Generation
Sarasota Ballet of Florida, Inc.
5555 North Tamiami Trail
Sarasota, FL 34243
Tel: 94 1-359-0099
Fax:941-358-1504
E-mail: sarasotaballet@asolo.org
E-mail: sbfacademy@sarasotaballet.org
URL: www.sarasotaballet.org
Focus: Dance
Annual Number Participating: 1 10
Ages: 8-15
Annual Budget: $ 1 50,250
12
Stick with the program for seven years and you will receive a
full four-year scholarship to one of two local colleges,
Manatee Community College or the University of South Florida,
Sarasota. That's the extraordinary promise that the Sarasota
Ballet has made to children in its after-school program, known as
Dance-The Next Generation (DNG). So far, about 45 students
have graduated from the 11 -year-old program and used dance
as a doorway to higher education.
Sarasota is one of the wealthiest areas in the country. It also
has, however, many families of limited means. And it is in these
families that DNG is most interested. Teachers at neighborhood
schools help DNG publicize auditions for the program, held for
third-graders with an interest in dance. The children accepted
into the program spend from two to ten hours a week, depending
on their skill level, at the Sarasota Ballet, taking classes in a vari-
ety of dance forms as well as in nutrition, social etiquette, and
public speaking.
Classes are small, and communication with parents is
emphasized. A tutor offers homework help, and a social worker
is available for counseling. As students gain dance skills, they
are eligible for small roles in professional productions and to
attend the professional training school of the Sarasota Ballet and
its International Summer School. They also receive tickets to
Sarasota Ballet productions and a host of local theater, opera,
and symphony performances.
The program is free to participants, with the Sarasota Ballet
picking up the costs for instruction, dance clothing, studio space,
costumes, and other production costs as well as transportation.
Whether the children continue to dance or go on to college,
everyone agrees that Dance-The Next Generation yields a return
well worth the investment. "When you see the students graduate
after seven years of dance, dis-
courtesy of Sarasota Ballet of Florida, Inc.
I
"These instructors are accom-
plished, serious artists, engaged
in elevating the intellectual,
physical, and emotional lives of
children. And they do it for
years, creating a benefit not only
for the child but also for their
peers and family."
-Kate Alexander, Associate Director,
Florida Studio Theatre
cipline, mentoring, and loving
support, they have been trans-
formed," notes Nancy
Roucher, arts education chair
of the Sarasota County Arts
Council. "Most will not
become professional dancers
and that is not the goal of the
program, but they will certainly
be knowledgeable arts sup-
porters and, most important,
contributors to society."
13
PC Youth Orchestra Program
T
I he DC Youth Orchestra
Program (DCYOP) is
unusual among youth orchestras
in that it requires no auditions.
But by creating a carefully
structured learning environ-
ment— and by setting high
achievement standards — this
all-inclusive, merit-based
instrumental music program has
achieved astonishing results.
£ ■^■^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^* In recent years, nearly 100 per-
cent of the Youth Orchestra students (the most senior perform-
ing group) have gone on to college. More than 60 prominent
orchestras across the country have hired DCYOP graduates,
including five at the National Symphony Orchestra.
During the past 42 years, DCYOP has trained more than
50,000 children. Most of them live in the District of Columbia,
and many come from modest-income families. The program
keeps costs affordable so that all children in the District of
Columbia metropolitan area can benefit from the opportunity of a
music education.
DC Youth Orchestra
Program
P.O. Box 56198
Brightwood Station
Washington, DC 2001 1
Tel: 202-723-1612
Fax:202-726-1900
E-mail: carolrende@starpower.net
URL: http://dcyop.cpb.org
Focus: Music
Annual Number Participating: 700
Ages:4/2-l8
Annual Budget: $643,547
"Others may be more prestigious,
and some are certainly more
affluent, but no musical institution
in the District of Columbia is
more important than the DC
Youth Orchestra."
-Joseph McLellan, Former Music
Critic, The Washington Post
Michael DiBari.Jr.
14
During the school year, most students meet for a four-hour
session every Saturday for lessons with professional musicians
and ensemble practice. As students master the sequential cur-
riculum based on classical music methods — and demonstrate
their mastery to a jury of outside musicians — they advance to
the next, more demanding level. Tiny tots start with selections
such as Row, Row, Row Your Boat, but tackle progressively more
difficult arrangements of Mozart, Mahler, and Beethoven over the
years through the program's 12 levels of mastery.
Plenty of performance opportunities also are built into the
program, with students assigned to one of five orchestras, ranging
from the Preparatory Orchestra to the most demanding Youth
Orchestra, depending on their skill level. The acclaimed Youth
Orchestra has performed at the White House and Lincoln Center
and traveled to China, South Africa, and other countries. "Many
children in the program would never have traveled outside the
boundaries of the District, let alone the United States, if not
for these performance opportunities," points out Anthony
Gittens, executive director of the DC Commission on the Arts
and Humanities.
And the lessons learned in the process of gaining musical
proficiency help account for the large percentage of DCYOP
participants who attend college and study music or other dis-
ciplines. "Our program helps children develop the traits that lead to
long-run academic success: hard work, discipline, pride in achieve-
ment, and a sense of contributing to the wider community,"
says Lyn McLain, music director and founder of the program.
**'*
%*-!
w ;?*
/,
Above: Music Director Lyn
McLain invites the audience to
join the orchestra in performing
selections from Handel's Messiah.
Above Left: Javier Garza
warms up on the French horn.
15
Los Cenzontles
Mexican Arts Center
Armando Quintero
Within the walls of its humble storefront in San Pablo,
California, is a unique and proud group of master artists
and their young students exploring the traditional arts of
Mexico. This exploration, in turn, has formed the basis for a
growing community institution, Los Cenzontles Mexican Arts
Center (LCMAC), dedicated to preserving Mexican folk traditions
and reconnecting young people with their cultural roots.
The centerpiece of Los Cenzontles is its Community Heritage
Project, which promotes cultural traditions as a living means of
self- and community expression. The arts academy component
provides young people with 44 free or low-cost classes per week
in authentic Mexican music and dance, taught by local masters
who use a traditional experiential teaching style.
The center also reaches out into the community, presenting
a series of annual multigenerational cultural events, such as
celebrations of Dia de las Madres (Mother's Day) and the Dia de
los Muertos (The Day of the Dead). "These events bring together
our students, their families, friends and neighbors, strengthening
ties between the generations and dispelling the alienation that is
often felt in communities," explains Eugene Rodriguez, LCMAC 's
executive director.
16
Los Cenzontles
Mexican Arts Center
1 3 1 08 San Pablo Avenue
San Pablo, CA 94805
Tel: 5 1 0-233-80 1 5
Fax:510-233-3230
E-mail:
contact@loscenzontles.com
URL: www.loscenzontles.com
Focus: Folk and Traditional Arts
Annual Number Participating:
1,000
Ages: 4-23
Annual Budget: $400,000
"What is most impressive to me
is the high level of confidence
and artistic maturity displayed by
Los Cenzontles."
-Ducero Arellano, Manager,
Multicultural Arts Development
Program, California Arts Council
Above Left: Danza de los
Copetones, a traditional dance of
Jalisco, Mexico. Below Left: Los
Cenzontles (The Mockingbirds)
perform.
The center also shares
Mexican folk traditions with
audiences — many of them
school children — across the
U.S. and Mexico through its
r^ '^Ri V ^ acclaimed dance and music
NjMnl W^. Mt ensemble, Los Cenzontles
""" ^ (The Mockingbirds). This
troupe of singers, instrumen-
talists, and dancers, ages 12-23,
is a source of community pride
and provides a powerful and
attractive peer-group for teens.
Youth also gain valuable
leadership skills at the art
center. Through a mentoring program, young people are involved
at all levels of the organization and groomed to help run the center.
The participants are trained to become teachers, technicians,
arts administrators, and peer mentors. Many go on to work in
part-time paying jobs at LCMAC.
These varied efforts all are aimed at one overarching goal:
"To foster an environment where young people have a renewed
stake both in their own development as individuals and in the
well-being of the community," Rodriguez concludes.
17
Museum Team
Afterschool Program
Brooklyn Children's Museum, Inc.
Founded in 1899, Brooklyn Children's Museum (BCM) is the
world's first museum for children. It is a national leader in
creating innovative programs and exhibitions for young learners,
including those living in the neighborhood in which it is located
and one of the most underserved areas of New York City — the Crown
Heights and Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhoods of central Brooklyn.
One of these innovative programs is the Museum Team
Afterschool Program, a 15-year-old, free, year-round program that
invites neighborhood children to "drop in" to the museum after
school, during weekends, and in summer — with no parent or
guardian in tow. Once registered, young people can attend as
often as they like.
Museum Team offers fun but carefully structured, age-appro-
priate activities in which museum resources are used to further
participants' personal, intellectual, and creative development.
Seven- to 13-year-olds are part of the Kids Crew. This program
involves a changing mix of daily activities, as well as ongoing
theme-based "clubs" that pursue long-term projects. For example,
participants may make quilts while studying their importance
in early American history; use hip-hop music as a point of
departure for exploring other related cultural expressions such as
graffiti and its impact on urban murals or calligraphy in advertising
logos. Each project connects the children's everyday lives with
the broader world of history, culture, and science.
Older children are offered progressively more challenging
activities that also foster responsibility and instill good work
Above: Kids Crew members com
memorate Black History Month
with a traditional praise dance.
Above Far Right: Two Museum
Team participants beautify their
neighborhood.
18
habits. They mentor younger children, assist with Kids Crew
programs, and learn how to interpret and present exhibits to
the public. For instance, a recent project involved extensive
research in Crown Heights on religion, including visits to places
of worship and interviews with community leaders. The informa-
tion they gathered formed the basis of an eight-week curriculum
for Kids Crew children. It also was used to create displays and
performances for BCM visitors, including a documentary on
Chanukah and a presentation on a traditional Islamic garment
with an explanation of its origins and uses. Eventually these
older participants, known as Explainers, can receive paying jobs
as museum interns and, at the same time, explore career paths,
learn how to write resumes, and
apply to college — all under the
guidance of museum mentors.
Museum Team
Afterschool Program
Brooklyn Children's Museum, Inc.
1 45 Brooklyn Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 1 1213
Tel: 718-735-4400, Ext. 132
Fax:718-604-7442
E-mail: dhays@brooklynkids.org
URL: www.brooklynkids.org
Focus: Crafts, Dance, Folk &
Traditional Arts, Humanities,
Science, Visual Arts
Annual Number Participating: 750
Ages: 7-17
Annual Budget: $370,000
"Developed primarily in response
to the area's marked lack of
supervised after-school opportu-
nities, Museum Team stands as
one of the Brooklyn Children's
Museum's greatest programming
accomplishments."
-Martha B. Graham,
Vice President, Corporate Social
Responsibility, JP Morgan Chase
19
New Orleans Recreation
Department/New Orleans Ballet
Association Center for Dance
New Orleans Recreation
Department/New Orleans
Ballet Association Center
for Dance
305 Baronne Street, Suite 700
NewOrleans,LA70M2
Tel: 504-522-0996, Ext. 25
Fax: 504-595-8454
E-mail: nord/noba@nobadance.com
URL: www.nobadance.com
Focus: Dance
Annual Number Participating: 400
Ages: 6-18
Annual Budget: $282,900
" We do not have the financial
means to ever repay you for the
difference you have made in our
lives. However, I thank you for
giving my children and grandchil-
dren confidence in themselves by
showing them love, self-worth,
and discipline in times of adversity."
•Joan Vaughn, Parent
It was an ambitious idea: providing free dance classes to
hundreds of underserved children in New Orleans to demonstrate
how determination, focus, goal setting, and problem solving can
carry them far beyond the dance studio. This was something that
neither the New Orleans Recreation Department (NORD) nor the
New Orleans Ballet Association (NOBA), a dance presenting/service
organization, could afford on their own. But by pooling resources
in a unique collaboration, these partners have turned a vision
into a reality.
Founded in 1992, the NORD/NOBA Center for Dance offers
children free ballet, modern, tap, and creative movement classes
at recreational, community, and public housing sites several
times a week during the school year and in a camp format in the
summer. The older, more experienced children can audition for
a more intensive "Step Up" program that includes advanced
classes, guest artist residencies, community performances, and
career mentoring. Up to 40 young people take part in this program.
Elements of the humanities and academics also are offered.
Some students keep dance journals. Others explore dance
history to place dance within a social and cultural context. One
summer movement workshop, conducted in partnership with
the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, was based on a study of
20
Jeff Strout
Jeff Strout
The Great Migration of African
Americans in the 1920s from
the South to the industrial
North, brought to life through
Jacob Lawrence's paintings
and book by the same name.
The partners provide this
anay of opportunities by dividing
responsibilities. NORD con-
tributes class sites and salaries
for program administrators and
dance faculty. NOBA provides
fundraising, master classes,
workshops, and residencies by
artists that come to the city
to appear in their mainstage
productions.
The program's impact is reflected in the many letters
from parents and guardians. A father wrote from prison to thank
program officials for guiding his son to a better future by helping
him "develop his hidden talents." He added: "Not only is a proper
environment important, but more so, proper guidance. And what
you are doing is, indeed, proper guidance."
Above: Dream Child Moving, an inter-
generational concert, Summer 2002.
Far Above: Jessica White, Valerie
Huston, and Francesca Kitchell per-
form at the Spring Concert.
21
SAY Si, San Antonio Youth YES!
For more than eight years young people at SAY Si have been
saying "yes" to many things, including staying in school,
doing well in life, and developing their full potential, all made
possible through pursuing their artistic talents.
SAY Si is a year-round, tuition-free program that serves stu-
dents from San Antonio's urban middle and high schools. To be
accepted, students must demonstrate artistic talent through a
portfolio review, make a long-term commitment, and maintain at
least a "C" average in school.
Students who join the
program find a "home away
from home" where they can
study the fine arts in a studio
setting under the guidance
of both staff and visiting
artists. Students also have
access to professional media
equipment and software in a
media arts studio where they
learn to design and edit
publications, create digital
videos, and design Web pages.
Students also gain real-world
entrepreneurial skills by
designing logos, business cards, brochures, posters, and
other products for nonprofit organizations and local businesses.
The program is structured to help students develop their own
perspectives. "Kids are used to being told: 'This is what you're
going to do and here's how you are going to do it,'" observes
Executive Director Jon Hinojosa. "But when they come here, we
ask, 'What do you want to do and how can we help you do it?'
This fosters a personal confidence that is a vital part of the artis-
tic process and allows students to make positive choices that
will affect the rest of their lives."
High school students have immediate ways to invest in
their community with their newfound skills. Through SAY Si's
multidisciplinary arts program for middle school youth, they
work one-on-one with younger children, helping them develop
problem solving, teamwork, and communications skills. Students
also facilitate art workshops for children at a local housing pro-
ject and a battered women's shelter.
As long as they continue to meet the requirements, students
are eligible to stay in SAY Si for years. When they do leave
the program, many SAY "si" to yet another opportunity — fully 90
percent of participants go on to college.
Above: Media Arts students
Desaray Elizondo and Mark
Martinez shoot a test shot in
front of SAY Si. Far Right: Regina
Roman in the Visual Arts studio.
22
\
SAY Si, San Antonio
Youth YES!
14 14 "\Olirh Allmr, QnJIn ID?
> — ■ — * ^ *■
Lisa Farnham
STudents At Risk-STAR
Trollwood Performing Arts School
1420 North 8th Street
Fargo, ND 58102
Tel: 701-241-4799
Fax:701-241-4985
E-mail: chepulv@fargo.k 1 2.nd.us
URL: www.trollwood.org
Focus: Performing Arts
Annual Number Participating: 45
Ages: 11-19
Annual Budget: $62,430
"Trollwood is a model for smaller
communities throughout the
United States in achieving great
things with small resources."
-Janine C.Webb, Executive Director,
North Dakota Council on the Arts
STudents At Risk-STAR
Trollwood Performing Arts School
Trollwood Performing Arts School (TPAS) in Fargo, North
Dakota, transforms young peoples' lives by immersing them
in the world of the arts. It provides top quality arts education,
exceptional community productions, and a celebration of cultural
diversity. Fargo is the fourth largest recipient community of
refugees per capita in the nation.
The school brings professionals from across the country to
provide summer classes to young people in every aspect of the
performing arts including
sequential classes in dance,
playwriting, video production,
acting, voice, and technical
theater. This intensive study
culminates in a full-scale
musical that draws an audi-
ence of 20,000 as well as a
children's show staged by
budding performers. In addi-
tion, throughout their high
school years, young performers
and technicians work with pro-
fessionals during the Summer Above: A Funny Thing Happened
.1, , i .-. . on the Way to the Forum in perfor-
to develop and produce theater „ * .
mance. Left: A voice instructor
works in a non-traditional Style, guides a duet in a summer per-
alternating between a student- forming arts class.
written, commissioned piece, an improvisational play, or a classic.
To give an extra boost to children with extraordinary challenges
in their lives, in 1998, TPAS created STAR-STudents At Risk.
Identified by schools, courts, social services, and immigrant
service providers, students coming to Trollwood through
STAR get the help they need to reap the rewards of a Trollwood
experience — tuition assistance, transportation, and meals.
At the heart of the STAR program, however, is the individual
adult mentor who eases the transition into TPAS by connecting
STAR participants with other students and instructors. This
advisor also acts as a resource, mediator, and communications
facilitator throughout their involvement. Through STAR, children
develop their creative skills and build competencies in commu-
nicating, organizing, and setting goals.
TPAS is a springboard for many students to advanced training
and/or professional careers in the arts. But the stars at TPAS
shine in many different ways. As one mother wrote about her
son's work on the production team for the mainstage musical,
"As I sit and watch his tech crew clean up after each night's
performance, I am often moved to tears to see him so proud of
the contribution he is making with his fellow team members.
He's found his life again."
25
Young Artists at Work
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
"F
or most teens, paying jobs provide not only much-needed
income, but also a positive use of their time and reinforce-
ment of their value. In this case, the job is to create art within
a high-caliber artistic environment," says Dr. Jonathan Yorba,
director, education and community programs at Yerba Buena
Center for the Arts. "Practicing art requires self-discipline, problem
solving and imagination — tools for achieving artistic literacy,
creation of art, and job and life skills."
These are the assumptions behind the Young Artists at Work
(YAAW) program that is managed by Cynthia Taylor, associate
curator, school and youth programs, and carried out in collabora-
tion with the San Francisco Unified School District's Regional
Occupation Program/Career and Technical Education Office.
Now in its ninth year, 15 artistically inclined, inner-city stu-
dents participate in part-time, year-round paid residencies at the
center — an acclaimed Bay Area multi-disciplinary arts venue
located at the heart of San Francisco's new cultural and commercial
district. Here they study and create for eight hours a week during
the school year and 20 hours a week in the summer under the
guidance of professional artists, carefully selected for their artistic
achievements and direct experience working with teens.
Cynthia Taylor
Above: Young artists rehearse
for their culminating perfor-
mance of Live! In Our Real World.
Above Right: Young artist
Amparo Martinez films the dress
rehearsal of EatsNBeats.
26
In 2002-03, participants are
working with a cartoon artist, a
filmmaker, and a West African
dance expert. Through this experi-
ence, these young people hone
their communication and technical production skills as well as
abilities to analyze artistic and cultural contexts. Each session
culminates in a public presentation at the center that provides
outside validation of the participants' work. In addition, YAAW
students are linked through exchanges and peer performances
with other cultural institutions in the community, such as the
African American Cultural Center, Zeum, The Jewish Museum of
San Francisco, and The Cartoon Art Museum.
The program also is designed to develop such practical life
skills as punctuality, respect, and self-discipline. Each participant
receives an Employee Handbook and signs a memorandum of
understanding agreeing to focus on solutions rather than problems,
support others in the group, and have fun. Small-group work
further encourages development of positive interpersonal skills.
Some YAAW graduates have obtained jobs in theaters or in
arts centers, while others have gone on to enroll in university arts
programs. But even those who
do not continue in the arts
have acquired promising new
perspectives and life skills.
Young Artists at Work
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
701 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
Tel: 4 1 5-978-27 10
Fax:415-978-9635
E-mail: ctaylor@yerbabuenaarts.org
URL: www.yerbabuenaarts.org
Focus: Literary, Media & Performing
Arts.Visual Arts
Annual Number Participating: 15
Ages: 14-19
Annual Budget: $91,513
"We have followed the successes
of Young Artists at Work and have
seen dozens of participants go on to
universities, get jobs in the arts, or
take steps towards other productive
life goals and interests. This is why
I know that we have made a sound
investment in the program and in
the future of these young people."
-William Laven, Co-Director,
Potrero Nuevo Fund
27
Youth Document Durham
Center for Documentary Studies
Youth Document Durham
Center for Documentary Studies
1317 West Pettigrew Street
Durham, NC 27705
Tel: 9 1 9-660-3676
Fax:919-681-7600
E-mail: balau@duke.edu
URL: http://cds.aas.duke.edu
Focus: Documentary Arts
Annual Number Participating: 1 60
Ages: 11-16
Annual Budget: $ 1 00,000
"Youth Document Durham uses
the tools of photography, interviews,
oral history, and the visual arts to
press people to forge their own
interpretation of local community
through a coherent and compelling
narrative, whether that is oral, aural,
visual, or text-based."
-Harlan Joel Gradin,
Director of Programs, North
Carolina Humanities Council
Below: Adrian Boyes and Sakina
Taylor work on their group's final
project, an artist book of their
photographs and writing. Right: Ivy
McCreary practices interviewing.
Alex Maness, The Independent Weekly
The documentary process is
a powerful way to capture
the story of an issue, an era, or a
community. What happens when
documentary tools — oral history,
research, interviewing, recording,
writing, photography, and three-
dimensional design — are put in
the hands of youth? What kinds
of stories do they tell? What do
the young documentarians learn from the process itself?
Believing that young people can make valuable contributions
to community dialogue, the organizers of Youth Document
Durham set out to engage participants in documentary projects
that amplify youth voices. The seven-year-old program is run by
the Center for Documentary Studies, an affiliate of Duke University,
and is dedicated to advancing documentary work that combines
experiences and creativity with education and community life.
Youth Document Durham includes summer and after-school
programs. The summer program is open to students across
Durham County. Meeting daily for three weeks, participants
work with folklorists, photographers, writers, and other artists.
Teams of young people then fan out into the community to
explore and document responses to various themes, developed
by youth advisors. One group recently talked to community
28
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leaders about issues of race and produced a quilt filled with
images of their responses. Another group used contemporary
and historical photos to explore the history of Durham, specifically
the way technology has changed Durham and peoples' lives
there. Another group explored the issue of teens and violence,
and created a series of annotated postcards.
The after-school program, Durham Works, is conducted in
collaboration with the City of Durham Parks and Recreation
Department, community organizations, and Durham County 21st
Century Learning Centers. The program's goal is to use the
humanities and arts to help participants "understand what it takes
to get certain jobs and what it takes to be successful in those
jobs," says Program Director Barbara Lau. In each session, teams
of students interview and photograph doctors, lawyers, sports
figures, cosmetologists, and others, and create hand-made
magazines from their research, portions of which are excerpted
into a public exhibition.
"Youth Document Durham challenges teens to experience
their communities as places of learning. This program gives
young people essential tools for life," summarizes E'Vonne
Coleman-Rorie, assistant director for Duke University's Office of
Continuing Education.
29
Above: Young children of
Mazatlan, Mexico, pose for the
photographer. Far Above:
An EL FARO sculptor at work.
his year the President's
Committee on the
Arts and the Humanities
welcomes the inclusion of
two youth arts learning
programs based in Mexico
as recipients of Coming Up
Taller Awards. These awards
are consistent with the
President's Committee's interest in promoting mutual inter-
national understanding through the arts and the humanities.
These goals are shared by CULTURAL CONTACT,
US-Mexico Fund for Cultur e/CONTACTO CULTURAL,
Fideicomisio para la Cultura Mexico-EUA, a nonprofit
cultural organization in Mexico City. We are grateful to them
for identifying these leading arts programs for underserved
children and for supporting the Coming Up Taller Awards.
culturalcontact
US Miimo Fjnd <
Fabrica de Artes
y Of icios de Oriente
I
n Iztapalapa, an industrial
, district on the outskirts of
Mexico City, a stunning building
stands as a beacon of light
and hope. A dramatic piece
of architecture by Alberto
Kalach, it suggests a large
boat, illuminated by a beacon,
and is set against a sandy
beach from a long-dead lake.
The building's design is a
metaphor for its function — a
vessel of culture and a place of revelation and refuge.
Known as EL FARO, "the beacon," Fabrica de Artes y Oficios
de Oriente/Factoiy of Arts and Crafts of the East is a bold
attempt to mend the tattered fabric of this densely populated but
overlooked neighborhood. Here nationally and internationally
recognized artists, often donating their time, and their apprentices,
ages 17-25, create cultural products from start to finish. If the
result is a magazine, they make the paper, design the layout,
write the poetry or articles, take the photographs, silkscreen the
cover, and print the magazine. Participants are invited to sell
32
Below: A celebration of Dia de
la Tierra/Earth Day. Far Below:
A classical guitar performance.
Fabrica de Artes y
Oficios de Oriente
Calzada Ignacio Zaragoza S/N
Col. Fuentes de Zaragoza
Iztapalapa, Mexico D.F. 09 1 50
Tel: [01 1-52-55] 57-38-74-42
Fax: [01 1-52-55] 57-38-74-40
E-mail: farodeoriente@hotmail.com
URL:
www.fuga.com.mx/farodeoriente
Focus: Dance, Music, Theater,
Visual Arts
Annual Number Participating: 875
Ages: 6-25
Annual Budget: $ 1 50,000
"The decision of a government
and a community to carry forth a
project of this kind has created a
cultural oasis in a desert, a space
dedicated to the meeting of
different cultural expressions, a
space to dream, a space for us to
imagine hope for the future."
-Benjamin Gonzalez,
Director, Fabrica de Artes y
Oficios de Oriente
Magali Galvez
their works for profit at events throughout Mexico. "Young
people discover that they can express themselves. They know
that what they learn can help them speak to others. They know
that they can live from what they do with their hands, what
they write with their pen, what they say with their bodies
by dancing or with their voice by acting," Director Benjamin
Gonzales explains.
In addition, through a trimester program, young children
take 26 free workshops in everything from sculpture to paper-
mache, dance, toy-making, theater, or music. These workshops,
like the training program, culminate in showcase events throughout
the community and Mexico City.
For children and families in the neighborhood, EL FARO is a
sanctuary, where everyone counts. And here, the demands of
everyday life can be set aside by a visit to the library with its
books donated by important Mexican writers; to Library Club,
where volunteers read fairy tales and other literature to children
and their families; or to the gardens, an exhibition, theatrical
performance, concert or cinema.
33
Above: Seven- to 10-year old
students receive instruction in
design at one of the many local
workshops throughout Mazatlan
Below: Students work in a sculp
ture workshop in the El Quelite
neighborhood of Mazatlan.
Hector Hebia
Hector Hebia
34
Talleres Culturales
en Zonas Marginadas
Centro Municipal de Artes
Located in the port city of Mazatlan on the west coast of
Mexico, the Centro Municipal de Artes/Municipal Center
for the Arts (CMA) is known throughout Mexico for the breadth
and depth of its cultural offerings to adults and young people.
The center, founded in 1989 and located in a building housing
a professional theater, boasts schools of music, classical ballet,
and contemporary ballet for young people. Students enrolled in
the music school receive public school credit for their studies.
In addition, the center is home to a youth jazz band, a youth
orchestra, a children's choir, and a folk ballet ensemble, all of
which perform at local, regional, and international events. On
every day except Sunday, children also come to the center to
participate in a plethora of workshops, to attend films, or use
the sound studio. At the core of these cultural activities are
highly regarded local artists and teachers from other countries,
including the United States.
In 1993, in partnership with the Municipal Cultural Diffusion
Office, a county government agency, CMA inaugurated Talleres
Culturales en Zonas Marginadas/Cultuial Workshops in Underserved
Areas, a program to take the arts to children in surrounding vil-
lages where arts instruction is minimal or nonexistent. Periodically,
artists from the center are taken by bus to 16 villages to run
workshops in literature, theater, and the visual arts. The teachers
donate their time. The classes are free, and all supplies are
provided to the children.
The workshops are held in the village square — in the open
air, in tents, or under a covered space. Here, for example, children
are read stories. They then draw illustrations for the story and
write their own. They build puppets with painted faces and
perform short plays they create.
While working with the
children, the instructors
identify children with partic-
ular artistic potential. Through
a scholarship program, these
children can attend more
intensive classes at the center
in Mazatlan. This year, eight
young people are beneficiaries
of this opportunity.
Ricardo Urquijo, director
of the center, is pleased that
the center's programs are
inspiring others to develop
cultural opportunities for
children. "Four villages in the
county of Mazatlan now
offer ongoing arts workshops
modeled on our work "
Talleres Culturales en
Zonas Marginadas
Centro Municipal de Artes
Teatro Angela Peralta
Calle Carnaval s/n
Mazatlan, Sinaloa,
Mexico D.F. 82000
Tel: [01 1-52-66] 99-82-44-47
Fax: [01 1-52-66] 99-82-44-46
E-mail: giovaniarrieta@hotmail.com
URL: www.teatroangelaperalta.com
Focus: Literature.Theater, Visual Arts
Annual Number Participating: 250
Ages: 6- 1 2
Annual Budget: $7,000
"We are taking culture beyond the
halls of our center so that children
in rural areas also can experience
the joy of creating and learning."
-Ricardo Urquijo, Director,
Municiple Arts Center
i
35
Coming Up Taller
Awards Semifinalists
2002
Art Start, Inc.
New York, NY
ArtReach
Indianapolis Art Center
Indianapolis, IN
ArtsReach Louisville
Kentucky Center for the Arts
Endowment Fund, Inc.
Louisville, KY
Berklee City Music
Berklee College of Music
Boston, MA
Boston Photo Collaborative
Boston, MA
Butte Center for
the Performing Arts
Butte, MT
Carriage House Stage and School
Everett Dance Theatre
Providence, RI
City Center Art
Space One Eleven
Birmingham, AL
The CityKids Repertory Company
The CityKids Foundation
New York, NY
Michael Reidy
Community Arts
Baltimore Clayworks, Inc.
Baltimore, MD
Express Yourself, Inc.
Peabody, MA
Community Arts Partnership
California Institute of the Arts
Valencia, CA
CreateNow
The Asian American Writers'
Workshop, Inc.
New York, NY
Global Artways
Salt Lake City Corporation
Salt Lake City, UT
The Harbor Conservatory for the
Performing Arts
Boys and Girls Harbor, Inc.
New York, NY
Dare to Dance
Ballet East Dance Company
Austin, TX
The Delphi Project Foundation
Philadelphia, PA
Dramagirls
Redmoon Theater
Chicago, IL
DREAMS of Wilmington, Inc.
Wilmington, NC
Hard Cover
Community Television Network
Chicago, IL
IndepenDANCE, Inc. d/b/a
Moving in the Spirit
Atlanta, GA
Inside Out Community Arts
Los Angeles, CA
Locust Street Neighborhood Art
Classes, Inc.
Buffalo, NY
Los Angeles Center for Education
Research
Hollywood, CA
36
Below: Nyun Son and Botta Ung as
policemen in the musical, Elsewhere
and Back.
Marwen Foundation
Chicago, IL
Merit School of Music
Chicago, IL
New Urban Arts
Providence, RI
The Saturday Outreach Program
Cooper Union for the
Advancement of Science and Art
New York, NY
Sitka Native Education Program
Sitka Tribe of Alaska
Sitka. AK
Oakland Youth Chorus, Inc.
Oakland, CA
Strive Media Institute
Milwaukee, WI
Positive Directions Through Dance
Dance Institute of Washington
Washington. DC
Pre-Professional Dance Program
Center of Contemporary Arts
(COCA)
St. Louis, MO
Project YIELD
Museum of Children's Art
(MOCHA)
Oakland. CA
Student Theatre Enrichment
Program
The Cleveland Public Theatre
Cleveland, OH
SWAT, Celebration Teams and
Summer Institute
National Dance Institute
New York, NY
Take Center Stage
Huntington Theatre Company. Inc.
Boston, MA
Recasting the Circle: Encountering
the Dimensions of Community
Center Stage Associates, Inc.
Baltimore, MD
Teen Media Program
The Community Art Center, Inc.
Cambridge. MA
37
Cynthia Taylor
Coming Up Taller
Awards National Jury
2002
Jill Berryman
Executive Director
Sierra Arts Foundation
Reno, NV
Allison L. Dillon
Managing Director
Nashville Children's Theatre
Nashville, TN
Lolita Mayadas
Englewood, NJ
Anne Phillips
President
Kindred Spirits Foundation
New York, NY
Tim Rollins
Director
The Art and Knowledge Workshop
New York, NY
Maria Salvadore
Consultant
Children's Literature Specialist
Washington, DC
Deborah Taylor
Coordinator
School and Student Services
Enoch Pratt Free Library
Baltimore, MD
Timothy Rex Wadham
Children's Services Coordinator
Maricopa County Library District
Phoenix, AZ
Tracey M. Weis
Associate Professor
Department of History
Millersville University
Millersville, PA
Above: Young Artists at Work,
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts,
rehearse an original theatrical
performance.
38
Coming Up Taller
Awards Five -Year Retrospective
Coming Up Taller Awardees
1998-2002
A Company of Girls
East End Children's Workshop
Portland, ME
Dance-The Next Generation
Sarasota Ballet of Florida, Inc.
Sarasota, FL
Angkor Dance Troupe
Lowell, MA
DC WritersCorps
Washington, DC
Appalachian Media Institute
Appalshop
Whiteshuig, KY
Artists for Humanity
Boston, MA
DC Youth Orchestra Program
Washington, DC
Documentary Workshop
Educational Video Center, Inc.
New York, NY
Artists-in-Training
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis
St. Louis, MO
East Bay Center for the Performing
Arts
Richmond, CA
Arts and Cultural Preservation
Program; Youth/Elder Initiative
Tohono O'odham Community
Action
Sells, AZ
Arts Apprenticeship Training
Program
Manchester Craftsmen's Guild
Pittsburgh, PA
Arts in Education Program in
Architecture and
Design/Community Studies
Henry Street Settlement
New York, NY
Boys' Choir of Tallahassee
Florida State University School of
Social Work
Tallahassee, FL
Chicago Children's Choir
Chicago, IL
Corcoran Art Mentorship Program
(CAMP)
Corcoran College of Art and
Design
Washington, DC
*
II
Education Through the Arts
The Village of Arts and Humanities
Philadelphia, PA
El Puente Arts and Cultural Center
El Puente
Brooklyn, NY
The Experimental Gallery
The Children's Museum, Seattle
Seattle, WA
Fabrica de Artes y Oficios de
Oriente
Iztapalapa, Mexico
Below: Kamala Coddrington-
White takes beginning violin
lessons with Annette Adams as
part of the DC Youth Orchestra
Program.
Michael Di Bari.Jr.
The 52nd Street Project
New York, NY
Gallery 37
Chicago Department of Cultural
Affairs
Chicago, IL
Gallup Performing Arts Academy
Gallup Area Arts Council
Gallup, NM
Great Basin Young Chautauquans
Nevada Humanities Committee
Reno, NV
Hilltop Artists in Residence
Tacoma, WA
Inner-City Arts After School
Program
Inner-City Arts
Los Angeles, CA
James E. Biggs Early Childhood
Education Center
Covington, KY
Kaleidoscope Preschool Arts
Enrichment Program
Settlement Music School
Philadelphia, PA
Los Cenzontles Mexican
Arts Center
San Pablo, CA
Mississippi Cultural Crossroads
Port Gibson, MS
Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit
Detroit, MI
Museum Team Afterschool
Program
Brooklyn Children's Museum, Inc.
Brooklyn, NY
New Orleans Recreation
Department/New Orleans Ballet
Association Center for Dance
New Orleans, LA
Philadelphia Department of
Recreation Mural Arts Program
Philadelphia, PA
Prime Time Family Reading Time
Louisiana Endowment for the
Humanities
New Orleans, LA
Project Self Discovery
Cleo Parker Robinson Dance
Denver, CO
RAW Chiefs
RAW Art Works, Inc.
Lynn, MA
SAY Si, San Antonio Youth YES!
San Antonio, TX
Street-Level Youth Media
Chicago, IL
STudents At Risk-STAR,
Trollwood Performing Arts School
Fargo, ND
Talleres Culturales en Zonas
Marginadas
Centro Municipal de Artes
Smaloa, Mexico
Teen Parent Reading Project
Vermont Council on the Humanities
MornsviUe, VT
Urban smARTS
Department of Arts and Cultural
Affairs
San Antonio, TX
THE YARD (Youth at Risk Dancing)
Cleveland School of the Arts
Cleveland. OH
Young Artists at Work
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
San Francisco, CA
Young Aspirations/Young
Artists, Inc.
New Orleans, LA
The New Voices Ensemble
The People's Light and Theatre
Company
Malvern, PA
PAH! Deaf Youth Theatre
Wheelock Family Theatre
Boston, MA
Peer Education Program
Illusion Theatre and School, Inc.
Minneapolis, MN
Young Strings
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Dallas, TX
Youth Communication
New York, NY
Youth Document Durham
Center for Documentary Studies
Durham. NC
Youth in Focus
Seattle. WA
41
Coming Up Taller
Awards Semifinalists
1998-2002
This retrospective list includes all those organizations that
were semifinalists over the last five years of Coming Up
Taller with the exception of those that went on to receive an
award in the same or a subsequent year.
AileyCamp
Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey
Kansas City, MO
Albany Park Theater Project
Chicago, IL
ALPHA Teen Theatre
Alliance for the Progress of
Hispanic Americans, Inc.
Manchester, NH
American Variety Theatre Company
Minneapolis, MN
Arapaho Culture/Language
Immersion Pre-School Project
Arapaho, WY
Art a la Carte and Art Express
Federated Dorchester
Neighborhood Houses, Inc.
Dorchester, MA
Art After School
Mulvane Art Museum
Topeka, KS
Art-At-Work
Fulton County Arts Council
Atlanta, GA
Art Start, Inc.
New York, NY
Art Team
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Minneapolis, MN
The Artists Collective, Inc.
Hartford, CT
ArtReach
Indianapolis Art Center
Indianapolis, IN
Arts Academy Teen Arts
South Boston Neighborhood House
Boston, MA
Arts in Common
Fitton Center for Creative Arts
Hamilton, OH
Arts-In-Education
Point Breeze Performing Arts
Center
Philadelphia, PA
ArtsConnection
Lane Arts Council
Eugene, OR
ArtsReach Louisville
Kentucky Center for the Arts
Endowment Fund, Inc.
Louisville, KY
Art WORKS! for Youth
Tucson-Pima Arts Council
Tucson, AZ
Bard Course in the Humanities
The Door
New York, NY
Berklee City Music
Berklee College of Music
Boston, MA
Boston Photo Collaborative
Boston, MA
Butte Center for the Performing Arts
Butte, MT
Carriage House Stage and School
Everett Dance Theatre
Providence, RI
CAT Youth Theatre
Creative Arts Team/New York
University
New York. NY
Children of the Future
Greater Columbus Arts Council
Columbus, OH
Christina Cultural Arts Center, Inc.
Wilmington, DE
City Center Art
Space One Eleven
Birmingham, AL
CityKids Repertory Co.
CityKids Foundation
New York, NY
Community Arts
Baltimore Clayworks, Inc.
Baltimore, MD
Community Arts Partnership
California Institute of the Arts
Valencia, CA
Community Connection
Indianapolis Museum of Art
Indianapolis, IN
Community Folk Life Program;
Positive Youth Troupe
Mind-Builders Creative Arts Center
Bronx, NY
42
Community Music Center
San Diego, CA
Community Youth Mural Program
City of Santa Fe Arts Commission
Santa Fe, NM
Computer Clubhouse
Computer Museum
Boston, MA
The
Court Youth Center
Mesilla Valley Youth Foundation
Las Cruces, NM
Coyote Junior High
Seattle, WA
CreateNow
Asian American Writers'
Workshop, Inc.
New York, NY
Creative Solutions Program
Young Audiences of Greater Dallas
Dallas, TX
Expressive Arts
Tanager Place
Cedar Rapids, LA
Family History Artbook Project
Atlanta Contemporary Art Center
Atlanta, GA
Future Stars/SMART Moves
Players Programs
The Boys and Girls Club of Easton
Easton, PA
Global Artways
Salt Lake City Corporation
Salt Lake City, UT
Greater Newark Youth Orchestra
New Jersey Symphony Orchestra
Newark, NJ
Growing Stages: Theatre by and
for Youth
Shenan Arts, Inc.
Staunton, VA
Dare to Dance Program
Ballet East Dance Company
Austin, TX
The Delphi Project Foundation
Philadelphia. PA
Dramagirls
Redmoon Theater
Chicago, IL
DREAMS of Wilmington, Inc.
Wilmington. NC
East of the River Boys and Girls
Steel Band
Washington. DC
Enriched Instrumental Instruction
for Hmong Children
Lawrence Arts Academy
Appleton. WI
Express Yourself, Inc.
Peabody. MA
NORD/NOBA students and
community members perform
a scene from Dream Child
Moving, an intergenerational
performance piece.
The Harbor Conservatory
for the Performing Arts
Boys and Girls Harbor, Inc.
New York. NY
Hard Cover
Community Television Network
Chicago. IL
IndepenDANCE, Inc. d/b/a
Moving in the Spirit
Atlanta. GA
Inner City Neighborhood Art House
Erie. PA
43
Inside Out Community Arts
Los Angeles, CA
Investigating Where We Live
National Building Museum
Washington, DC
The Junior Docent Program
The Hudson River Museum
Yonkeis, NY
Kennedy Center/Dance Theatre of
Harlem Residency
Washington, DC
Lake Street Theater Club
In the Heart of the Beast Puppet
and Mask Theatre
Minneapolis. MN
Living Stage Theatre Company
Arena Stage
Washington, DC
Locust Street Neighborhod Art
Classes, Inc.
Buffalo, NY
Los Angeles Center for
Education Research
Hollywood, CA
Marwen Foundation
Chicago, IL
Mayor's Youth Employment
in the Arts
Kenosha, WI
Media Arts Youth Programs;
Professional Television Training
Program
Downtown Community Television
Center, Inc.
New York, NY
Merit School of Music
Chicago, JL
MOTHEREAD, Inc. and state
MOTHEREAD/FATHEREAD
affiliates
Raleigh, NC
Multicultural Education and
Counseling through the Arts
Houston, TX
Neighbors' Starpoint
The Children's Museum of
Indianapolis
Indianapolis, IN
New Urban Arts
Providence, RI
Newark Community School
of the Arts
Newark, NJ
Oakland Youth Chorus, Inc.
Oakland. CA
The One Voice Arts Project
Monterey County Office for
Employment Training
Salinas, CA
Phillis Wheatley Repertory
Theatre for Youth
Greenville, SC
Positive Directions Through Dance
Dance Institute of Washington
Washington, DC
Pre-Professional Dance Program
Center of Contemporary Arts
(COCA)
St. Lows, MO
Progressive Afterschool Art
Community Education Program
Norton Gallery and School of Art, Inc.
West Palm Beach, FL
Project ABLE
Mill Street Loft
Poughkeepsie, NY
Project LIFT
The Dance Ring, Inc. / New York
Theatre Ballet
New York, NY
Project YIELD
Museum of Children's Art
(MOCHA)
Oakland, CA
Purple Bamboo Children's
Traditional Chinese Instrument
Orchestra
Purple Silk Music Education
Foundation
San Francisco, CA
Radio Arte— WRTE 90.5 FM
Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum
Chicago, IL
Recasting the Circle: Encountering
the Dimensions of Community
Center Stage Associates, Inc.
Baltimore, MD
Red Ladder Theatre Company
San Jose, CA
Regent After School Program
Whitney Museum of American Art
New York, NY
Resident Youth Ensemble
TAD A!
New York, NY
44
Above: From left to right, Pricilla
Martin, Esmeralda Molina, Rosalba
Rosas, and Xiomara Mendoza,
young singers and dancers from
Los Cenzontles, celebrate during
El Dia de San Pablo Kermes/San
Pablo Day Fair.
Saint Joseph Ballet
Santa Ana, CA
San Antonio Cultural Arts, Inc.
San Antonio, TX
Sankofa African Dance and Drum
Company
Inner City Cultural League, Inc.
Dover, DE
Santa Fe Teen Arts Center
Warehouse 21
Santa Fe, NM
The Saturday Outreach Program
Cooper Union for the
Advancement of Science and Art
New York, NY
Sitka Native Education Program
Sitka Tribe of Alaska
Sitka, AK
SmartArt
Center for Development
and Learning
Covington. LA
Southeast Site
Levine School of Music
Washington, DC
The Spot
Denver, CO
Strive Media Institute
Milwaukee, WI
Student Theatre Enrichment
Program
The Cleveland Public Theatre
Cleveland, OH
SWAT, Celebration Teams and
Summer Institute
National Dance Institute
New York, NY
Synthesis Arts Workshop
United Action for Youth
Iowa City, IA
Take Center Stage
Huntington Theatre Company, Inc.
Boston, MA
Taller Puertorriqueho
Philadelphia, PA
Teen Media Program
The Community Art Center, Inc.
Cambridge, MA
To Make the World A Better Place
New York NY
Urban Arts Training Program
Arts Council of New Orleans
New Orleans, LA
Urban Improv
Freelance Players, Inc.
Jamaica Plain, MA
West Virginia Dreamers/Bridge
of Dreams
Step by Step, Inc.
Harts, WV
Will Power to Youth
Shakespeare Festival/LA
Los Angeles, CA
Youth Mentorship Program
Henry Ford Museum
& Greenfield Village
Dearborn, MI
YouthWorks
The Lied Children's Museum
Las Vegas, NV
45
Coming Up Taller Awards Jurists
1998-2002
The following experts were members of a Coming Up Taller
National Jury between 1998 and 2002. Their titles reflect the
positions they held at the time they served.
Debbie Allen
Producer
DreamWorks
Los Angeles, CA
Peggy Barber
Associate Executive Director for
Communications
American Library Association
Chicago, IL
Roger L. Bedard
Evelyn Smith Family Professor of
Theatre
Arizona State University
Tempe, AZ
Tomas J. Benitez
Director
Self Help Graphics and Art, Inc.
Los Angeles, CA
Jill Berryman
Executive Director
Sierra Arts Foundation
Reno, NV
Arthur I. Blaustein
Professor
Department of City and Regional
Planning
University of California at
Berkeley
Berkeley, CA
Brett D. Bonda
Education Director
Richmond Ballet
Richmond, VA
William Cook
Chair
Department of English
Dartmouth College
Hanover, NH
J. Mark Davis
President
Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation
Atlanta, GA
Allison Dillon
Managing Director
Nashville Children's Theater
Nashville, TN
Jose Dominguez
Program Associate
Young Playwrights' Theater
Washington, DC
Mashunte' Glass
Youth Jurist
Atlanta, GA
Ronnie Hartfield
Executive Director for Museum
Education
The Art Institute of Chicago
Chicago, IL
Shirley Brice Heath
Professor of English and
Linguistics
Stanford University
Grady Hillman
Poet
Austin, TX
Bill Bulick
Founder
Creative Planning Consultants
Portland, OR
Norma E. Cantu
Professor of English
Texas A&M International
University
Laredo, TX
Libby Lai-Bun Chiu
Executive Director
Urban Gateways
Chicago, IL
William Cleveland
Director
Center for the Study of Art and
Community
Minneapolis, MN
Samuel Chuen-Tsung Hoi
Dean
Corcoran College of Art and
Design
Washington, DC
Johnny Irizarry
Program Specialist for Latino
Studies
Office of Curriculum Support
School District of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA
Alexine Clement Jackson
National President
YWCA of the USA
Potomac, MD
Homer Jackson
Artist
Philadelphia, PA
46
Collette Lampkin
Youth Jurist
Washington, DC
Jeremy Chi-Ming Liu
Director of Community Programs
Asian Community Development
Corporation
Boston, MA
Lolita Mayadas
Englewood, NJ
Sandra Mayo
Dean of Arts and Sciences
St. Philip's College
San Antonio, TX
Barbara Meyerson
Executive Director
Arizona Museum for Youth
Mesa, AZ
Edda Meza
Youth Jurist
Chicago, IL
Maria Salvadore
Consultant
Children's Literature and Literacy
Washington, DC
Felix R. Sanchez
President
National Hispanic Foundation for
the Arts
Washington, DC
Harriet Sanford
President and CEO
Arts and Science Council
Charlotte, NC
Carter Julian Savage
Senior Director
Education Programs
Boys and Girls Clubs of America
Atlanta, GA
Diantha Schull
Executive Director
Libraries for the Future
New York, NY
W. Jean Moore
Director of Languages and
Communications
Northwest Mississippi Community
College
Coldwater, MS
Da Thao Nguyen
Youth Jurist
Boston, MA
Naomi Shihab Nye
Writer and Editor
San Antonio, TX
Ann Phillips
Director
Kindred Spirits Foundation
New York, NY
Jane Prancan
Executive Director
U.S. West Foundation
Denver, CO
Dr. Alberto Rafols
Executive Director
The Cultural Council of Santa Cruz
County
Aptos, CA
William Reeder
President
National Foundation for
Advancement in the Arts
Miami, FL
Tim Rollins
Founder
K.O.S. (Kids of Survival)
New York. NY
Shirley K. Sneve
Director
Visual Arts Center
Sioux Falls, SD
Isabel Carter Stewart
Executive Director
Chicago Foundation for Women
Chicago, IL
Deborah Taylor
Coordinator
After-School and Student Services
Enoch Pratt Free Library
Baltimore, MD
Timothy Rex Wadham
Children's Services Coordinator
Maricopa County Library District
Phoenix, AZ
Tracey M. Weis
Associate Professor
Department of History
Millersville University
Millersville, PA
Karen White
Artist
Karen White Studio
Denver, CO
Daniel J. Windham
President and CEO
Kansas City Young
Audiences, Inc.
Kansas City, MO
Phillip Ying
Violist
Ying Quartet
Rochester. NY
47
Coming Up Taller
Awards Contributors
1998-2002
The accomplishments of Coming Up Taller have been made
possible through the generous support of:
American Express Company
American Photo
Anncox Foundation, Inc.
Susan Barnes-Gelt
Lerone Bennett, Jr.
Madeleine Harris Berman
Beth Singer Design
Betsy and Alan Cohn Foundation
Curt Bradbury
John Brademas
BVK
The Chase Manhattan Foundation
The Communications Consortium
W. Robert Connor
Cranium, Inc.
CULTUPA.L CONTACT, US-Mexico
Fund for Culture/CCWTACTO
CULTURAL, Fideicomiso para
la Cultura Mexico-EUA
with assistance from
Mr. Eugenio Lopez Alonso
Margaret Corbett Daley
Don Coleman Advertising, Inc.
Donside
Earth Sciences & Technologies
International, Inc.
First Book
Everett L. Fly
Four Graphics
FranklinCovey
Cynthia Friedman
GMAC Financial Services
Noel Gould, Esq.
Green Family Foundation
Agnes Gund and Daniel Shapiro
Hachette Filipacchi Magazines
The Harman Family Foundation,
Jane and Sidney Harman
Harold Williams Foundation
Harriet Mayor Fulbnght Fund
Henry J. Kaufmann & Associates, Inc.
Irene Y. Hirano
David Henry Hwang
Image Graphics
Image Works
Institute for Civil Society
Institute of Museum and
Library Services
Istros Media Corporation
Alice S. Kandell
KSF Production Group, Inc.
The Leonora Foundation
Loews Cineplex Entertainment
Martin E. Marty
MasterCard International
Pellom & Nawab McDaniels
JoAnn McGrath
MetLife Foundation
Rita Moreno
Raymond D. Nasher
National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the
Humanities
New York Stock Exchange, Inc.
Thomas M. & Victoria A. O'Gara
Orlando.com
Podesta Associates, Inc.
Popular Photography
Preview Travel
Quebecor, USA
Quincy Jones Productions, Inc.
Richard Rabinowitz
Recording Industry of America
Reese Press
Robert and Joyce Menschel
Family Foundation
The Rodgers and Hammerstein
Organization
The Rodgers Family Foundation, Inc.
S.H. & Helen R. Scheuer
Family Foundation
Samsonite Company Stores
Samsonite Corporation
Sara Lee Corporation
Knsten Schmeelcke of Holland and
Knight LLP
Semel Charitable Foundation
Ann Sheffer
Walter H. Shorenstein
Sony Online Entertainment
Surdna Foundation
Sylvia Major Trust
Travelodge Franchise Systems, Inc.
Howard A. TuDman
U.S. Department of Education
Universal Studios, Inc.
Dwain Wall
Westgate Resorts
Whitmore Print and Imaging
Widmeyer Communications, Inc.
Shirley P. Wilhite
Laura A. Winter
48
President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities
I 1 00 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Suite 526
Washington, DC 20506
Phone: 202-682-5409
Fax: 202-682-5668
E-mail: pcah@neh.gov
URL: www.pcah.gov
Recognizing that the Nation's cultural life contributes to the vibrancy of society
and the strength of democracy, the President's Committee on the Arts and
the Humanities helps to incorporate the arts and humanities into White House
objectives. The Committee bridges federal agencies and the private sector to
recognize cultural excellence, access and participation; engage in research and
recognition programs that underscore the civic, social, educational, and historical
value of the arts and humanities; initiate special projects that celebrate the spirit
of our Nation and its relationship to other nations; and stimulate private funding
for these activities.
First Lady Laura Bush, Honorary Chair
Ms.Adair Margo, Chairman
Mr. Henry Moran, Executive Director
National Endowment for the Arts
1 1 00 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Phone: 202-682-5400
Washington, DC 20506 Fax: 202-682-56 1 I
E-Mail webmgr@arts.endow.gov
URL: www.arts.gov
The National Endowment for the Arts enriches our Nation and its diverse
cultural heritage by supporting works of artistic excellence, advancing learning in
the arts, and strengthening the arts in communities throughout the country. The
Endowment was established in 1965 by Congress as an independent agency of
the federal government. Since then, it has awarded more than I 17,000 grants to
arts organizations and artists in all fifty states and the six U.S. jurisdictions. This
public investment in the nation's cultural life has resulted in both new and classic
works of art reaching every corner of America.
Ms. Eileen B. Mason, Senior Deputy Chairman
National Endowment for the Humanities
I 1 00 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20506
Phone: 202-606-8400
Fax: 202-606-8240
E-mail: info@neh.gov
URL: www.neh.gov
Because democracy demands wisdom, the National Endowment for the
Humanities serves and strengthens our Republic by promoting excellence in the
humanities and conveying the lessons of history to all Americans. The
Endowment accomplishes this mission by providing grants for high-quality
humanities projects in four funding areas: preserving and providing access to
cultural resources, education, research, and public programs.
Dr. Bruce M. Cole, Chairman
Institute of Museum and Library Services
I 1 00 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Phone: 202-606-8536
Washington, DC 20506 Fax: 202-606-859 1
E-mail: imlsinfo@imls.gov
URL: www.imls.gov
The Institute of Museum and Library Services is a federal grant -making agency
that promotes leadership, innovation and a lifetime of learning by supporting the
nation's museums and libraries. Created by the Museum and Library Services Act
of 1996, IMLS supports all types of museums, from art and history to science and
zoos, and all types of libraries and archives, from public and academic to
research and school. IMLS expands the educational benefit of these institutions
by encouraging partnerships.
Dr. Robert S. Martin, Director
COMING UP TALLER AWARDS
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11