[ This Just In! ]
For Immediate Release
Date: January 29, 2001
SVT Teams Up with UT on Outreach Program
AUSTIN, TX--In a lunch meeting on Tuesday, January 23, Salvage Vanguard Theater and the University of Texas at Austin Theatre Department have formalized a partnership to reach high school students in Austin with experimental theater work.
The program, entitled ArtReach, was created in 1996 by Salvage Vanguard Theater. Its initial goals were to introduce high school juniors and seniors to a style of work they would never otherwise encounter.
"Last year, as we were evaluating our activities, we realized that it was time to seriously re-examine ArtReach," says Salvage Vanguard Theater co-Artistic Director Jason Neulander. "We haven't looked at the program in a critical sense since we first started it five years ago."
The result of the re-examination, which was led by Neulander, Dan Dietz (the company's other co-Artistic Director), and Allison Manville (the company's Youth Outreach Coordinator and grad student at UT), led to the creation of a new mission statement: "ArtReach is founded on the principle that there is a natural empathetic connection between tradition-defying artwork and the rebellious nature of youth. ArtReach seeks to nurture the creative potential of adolescents by fostering a dynamic exchange between visionary artists and high school students, with a particular focus on under-served populations. We hope to help young people appreciate, support, and ultimately create theater that questions the world around them, knowing that these questions can lead to positive social change."
"This new mission," says Neulander, "has helped us redefine the approach we take."
That new approach was suggested by Manville's thesis advisor at the University of Texas, Sharon Grady: survey the participating high school students, see what makes them connect with the material, and develop a program that stems from their needs, rather than imposing a curriculum on them. As the idea solidified the professors at UT realized that they could have information of national value on their hands. "No one has ever done a study like this before," Grady says simply. "This program could serve as a national model."
As the concept for the survey crystallized, it became clear to Grady, Manville, Dietz, and Neulander that the relationship between Salvage Vanguard Theater and the UT Theater Department needed to be formalized. "This way, we could take advantage of everyone's area of expertise:" says Neulander, "UT's expertise working on outreach programs and theater education and Salvage Vanguard's expertise at creating exciting experimental theater."
After the luncheon last Tuesday, all parties were optimistic. Joan Lazarus, the head of UT's Drama and Theatre for Youth Program, put it this way: "There is great promise in the collaboration between Salvage Vanguard's ArtReach program and UT's Theatre and Dance programs in playwriting, outreach, drama and theatre for youth and criticism. Collaborating with a professional company is the perfect marriage of theory and practice for our students. I am very excited by the prospects of exploring avant-garde theatre with often underserved adolescents. This project opens up work for young people that is both meaningful and empowering. Finding something in the artwork that resonates on an individual level can enable young people to find their own artistic voices. I am very eager for the future!"
Salvage Vanguard Theater anticipates reaching seven public high schools and one charter school through its next production, Wallpaper Psalm, which opens March 23.
Salvage Vanguard Theater is a nonprofit arts organization located in Austin, Texas, committed to fostering a dynamic exchange between visionary artists and audiences new to their work. To that end, Salvage Vanguard Theater seeks to combine explosive energy with expert technique, creating forms that defy theatrical traditions and define a new American avant-garde.
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