Past Investment: 1998-2003
The issue…
Diminished exposure to arts education in public schools and community-based organizations has left many inner-city youth with little exposure to or involvement with the arts, making it less likely that they will become lifelong arts participants. A strategic opportunity existed for The Wallace Foundation to bolster the work of leading professional arts schools interested in developing strong arts education programs for community youth while also helping the next generation of artists develop skills in engaging audiences.
The response…
The Community Arts Partnerships (CAP) program was designed to increase young people's participation in the arts. The Wallace Foundation supported six innovative partnerships between leading performing and fine arts colleges and community-based organizations to provide high-quality arts education for young people in inner cities. Previous grant recipient, CalArts' Community Arts Partnership program, pioneered this work and drew Wallace's attention to other exemplars across the country. The goals of the program have been to: increase young access to high quality programs; increase the number, quality and diversity of arts programs that community organizations provide for youth; and enable arts school faculty and students training to become artists to create programs that serve community youth.
The strategies…
Participating colleges began with one-year planning grants in 1998. Columbia College of Chicago received an additional grant over two years to develop a series of conferences and publications and an Institute for Community Arts Partnerships as a resource for all participants. In 1999, four-year grants of up to $600,000 each were awarded to seven colleges, including Columbia, located across the country.
The accomplishments…
The Foundation invested a total of $5 million in the CAP program, providing high quality arts training to hundreds of young people. These programs that link professional arts training to community-based organizations and inner city youth have become institutionalized in every CAP site, while the CAP Institute promotes knowledge-sharing and best practice among all the participating schools and the broader field. CAP schools represent an important model for art training institutions nationally. They also have helped the next generation of artists - college students who served as instructors and mentors to young people - develop skills in teaching and in engaging audiences.