“If we want art in our community, we need to invest in the arts in our community,” said Mallette.
SARATOGA, Calif. (PRWEB) November 29, 2021
The College of Adaptive Arts has banded together with 18 other arts groups with the goal to raise $100,000 dollars by Giving Tuesday, November 30, 2021.
The total amount raised by the group will be split equally amongst all the organizations participating, and all money will go directly to the artists.
The collective group was the brainchild of Lisa Mallette, Executive Artistic Director for City Lights Theater Company.
Mallette began the group in the Fall of 2020 after being shuttered for 7 months and hearing the same struggles from other arts groups in the community.
"I thought to myself that we need to stand together in this moment,” said Mallette. “We are stronger together and the message to our community is that we all matter and we care about each other. We do not compete with one another, as many might think, but we lift each other up and support each other.”
Fast forward a year later and nearly all of the same organizations are still feeling the economic strain of opening up with expanded safety protocols and, in some cases, smaller staffs. There is a larger outlay of expenses and people are not filling the seats like they were before March of 2020.
Even with things slowly returning to normal, arts organizations are still vulnerable because of the expenses needed to produce their work without the earned income to support it.
“If we want art in our community, we need to invest in the arts in our community,” said Mallette.
College of Adaptive Arts, which provides a lifelong, equitable collegiate experience to adults with special needs, has numerous music, theater and dance offerings in its curriculum.
“Our whole educational foundation is built on an inclusive model that celebrates individuals while also recognizing the power of togetherness,” said DeAnna Pursai, Executive Director of the College of Adaptive Arts. “We have so many arts based courses and know how essential they have been to our students. We believe that by uniting the arts and supporting each other that we will be stronger together.”
The College of Adaptive Arts will proudly join with the following organizations on November 30 in an effort to amplify the arts in the community.
Audacity Performing Arts Project, Inc.
City Lights Theater Company
College of Adaptive Arts
EnActe Arts
Los Altos Stage Company
New Ballet
Opera Cultura
Palo Alto Players
Playful People Productions
The Pear Theatre
Red Ladder Theatre Company
Starting Arts
San Jose Multicultural Arts Guild
sjDANCEco
San Jose Jazz
Silicon Valley Shakespeare
South Bay Musical Theatre
Teatro Visión
People can donate to the cause via https://givebutter.com/AmplifyTheArts
ABOUT THE COLLEGE OF ADAPTIVE ARTS:
College of Adaptive Arts is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization dedicated to providing a lifelong, equitable collegiate experience to adults with special needs who historically have not had access to college education. The vision of CAA is to empower adults with special needs to creatively transform perception of disability. This is an institution of higher education where adults have opportunities to learn from a diverse and rich curriculum that will enable them to live a full and empowered life as successful, contributing members of the community. For more information, or to volunteer and/or donate visit https://www.collegeofadaptivearts.org/