Citi Performing Arts Center Granted $15,000 through Boston Public Schools Arts Expansion Fund by EdVestors

BOSTON (June 24, 2010) – Citi Performing Arts Center has received a $15,000 grant from the Boston Public Schools (BPS) Arts Expansion Fund by EdVestors to fund year-long musical theatre residencies at the Snowden International High School in the Back Bay and Odyssey High School in South Boston. Citi Performing Arts Center is one of 31 recipients of $700,000 in grants from the BPS Arts Expansion Fund by Edvestors supporting arts education programs for more than 5,000 BPS students.

According to the 2008-2009 BPS Arts Inventory, included in The Boston Foundation’s report on Arts Education in Boston Public Schools, 22% of students at Snowden International High School and 0% at Odyssey High School receive arts instruction. The Citi Performing Arts Center program will serve 120 students in grades 9-12.  Weekly instruction in theatre arts, through the concepts of song, dance, movement, and acting, culminate in the creation of original performance pieces.  Residencies will be taught by Teaching Artists, and include an in-school performance by local guest artists and ticket access to professional productions. 

“Having worked in 24 Boston Public Schools since 2003, Citi Performing Arts Center is proud to provide arts education to the schools that need it most,” said Josiah A. Spaulding, President and CEO of Citi Performing Arts Center. “We are grateful to the BPS Arts Expansion Fund by EdVestors for its vision to expose all of Boston’s students to the arts and for its support of arts programming.” 

Citi Performing Arts Center has a strong record of collaboration with Boston Public Schools. In 2009, through the city-wide initiative, SpectrumBoston, Citi Performing Arts Center offered artist residencies and “Meet the Musicians” workshops at six Boston Public Schools including Snowden International High School. In Spring 2010, Citi Performing Arts Center partnered with nine “turnaround” schools, including Odyssey High School.  Funded by Target Corporation, the Target Arts Program provided artist residencies, in-school performances, and ticket access to world-class theatre reaching over 2,800 students. The EdVestors Residencies build on the Target Arts Program with an expanded format that adapts the short-term exposure model to a full-year, once-weekly residency.  

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About the Boston Public Schools Arts Expansion Initiative

Launched in February 2009, the BPS Arts Expansion Initiative is a three year effort to expand arts education within BPS.  Focused on providing equity and access to quality arts learning experiences to every BPS student, the Initiative seeks to expand arts instruction, build the capacity of the system to support school-based arts programs, and to enhance partnerships between schools, arts and cultural groups, and higher educational institutions.



The BPS arts expansion effort is a key piece of Superintendent Carol R. Johnson's Acceleration Agenda, a five-year strategic direction (2009-2014) that outlines goals and priorities for transforming the Boston Public Schools. The Initiative is supported by several collaborating donors, including the Barr Foundation, the Boston Foundation, EdVestors, Hunt Alternatives Fund, the Klarman Family Foundation, the Linde Family Foundation, and other foundations and individual donors. The Initiative is based on a report, The Arts Advantage: Expanding Arts Education in the Boston Public Schools, released in February of 2009. For more details on the BPS Arts Expansion Initiative, please visit www.edvestors.org.

About EdVestors

EdVestors is an entrepreneurial nonprofit organization dedicated to driving change in urban schools through smart, strategic private investment.  EdVestors seeks to close the opportunity gap for children by identifying and shaping the most effective school improvement initiatives and partnering with donors to invest in those efforts while supporting the project leaders with hands-on expertise.  Launched in 2002 by a group of philanthropists, educators and business leaders, EdVestors has raised and directed more than $9 million to strategic school improvement efforts in Boston.  For more information about EdVestors, visit www.edvestors.org or call 617.585.5740.

About Citi Performing Arts Center

Citi Performing Arts Center [formerly The Wang Center for the Performing Arts], which includes both the Wang Theatre and Shubert Theatre, is one of the nation’s foremost not-for-profit performing arts institutions.  As New England’s largest cultural venue, it honors all aspects of the performing arts offering theatre, opera, classical and popular music, one-night engagements, international sporting events, and Broadway musicals. Its education/public programming initiative presents City Spotlights and SpectrumBoston. As a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization located in Boston’s historical Theater District, Citi Performing Arts Center offers a diverse mix of educational workshops and community activities through its education department; collaborates with artists and local performing arts organizations, and acts as a champion for the arts in the Greater Boston community by aggressively helping to make the arts an integral part of the community’s collective, daily experience.  For further information, please go to www.citicenter.org.