SCU•Presents Director Butch Coyne has received a prestigious grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. The $10,000 in funding will support Santa Clara University’s Arts for Social Justice program entitled “The Creative Project/El Creativo.” The NEA grant will require SCU•Presents to match the funds dollar-for-dollar.
“It’s a great honor to have the hard work of SCU•Presents and the importance of the University’s focus on social justice recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts,” says Coyne.
SCU•Presents Arts for Social Justice is an engagement program with a focus on the arts that will be a catalyst for change in the community. “Our goal is to fulfill our mission by engaging the community to find solutions to problems in our neighborhoods through visual and performing arts.”
SCU•Presents will develop interactive, multi-disciplinary, participatory pieces to be performed in schools and community organizations that address issues of racism, homelessness, immigration, the environment, and bullying. Every project will also generate educational tools such as journals, study guides, or recordings that will be accessible online as a resource for the community.
“The Arts for Social Justice program encompasses a wide range of visual and performing art that aim to raise critical consciousness, build community, and motivate individuals to promote social change.” says Coyne. ”We’re hoping to not only get these communities talking about social justice issues, but also assist them in determining how they can be a part of the solution.
SCU•Presents is partnering with Santa Clara University academic performing and visual arts departments, the Ignatian Center for Jesuit Education's Thriving Neighbors Initiative, and professional artists. Artists will meet with school and community partners to determine a social issue pertinent to that specific community and then develop arts projects in music, dance, theatre, and visual arts to address that issue.
The program will launch in April 2015 at Washington Elementary School in San Jose.
See more at: http://www.scu.edu/fyi/blog.cfm?c=21031