The $350,000 from the Albert M. Greenfield Foundation will help train teaching artists for Philadelphia Theatre Company.

The Albert M. Greenfield Foundation has awarded $350,000 to the Philadelphia Theatre Company to establish a teaching artists fellowship program, named “The Greenfield Teaching Artists Fellows.” The program will pair artists with master teaching artists in order to get the artists qualified to participate in PTC’s Drama Contact program. The Drama Contact program was created with the PTC and the Philadelphia School District to provide arts instruction within public schools.

PHILADELPHIA THEATRE COMPANY RECEIVES MAJOR GRANT FROM THE ALBERT M. GREENFIELD FOUNDATION
Three-year Gift Supports Innovative Education Initiative

Philadelphia Theatre Company has been awarded a $350,000 gift by The Albert M. Greenfield Foundation. This three-year gift will be used to establish a Teaching Artists Fellowship Program, to be called The Greenfield Teaching Artists Fellows.  The pilot program will immerse participants in PTC’s multi-faceted, award-winning youth education program, Drama Contact, by pairing teaching artist trainees from across the nation with a PTC master teaching artists serving as a mentor.

“This innovative project will dramatically add to the scope and depth of Drama Contact so we will have a deeper impact on students in the region.  It will also position PTC as a home for the training of Teaching Artists by enabling PTC to create a replicable model that will be shared with theaters in both our region and nationally,” said PTC’s Producing Artistic Director Sara Garonzik.

“Unfortunately, there is a shortage of qualified teaching artists, professional theater artists who have also been trained as educators to engage youth, encourage active arts participation and promote a thoughtful, critical review of our world.  Without a larger pool of qualified professionals to draw upon, PTC simply cannot meet the increasing demand of schools interested in participating in Drama Contact,” continued PTC’s Education Director Maureen Sweeney.  “With this generous grant we will be able to increase the professional development, training and recruitment of teaching artists to support an expansion of our education and outreach programs.”

PTC’s Barrymore Award-winning Drama Contact was created in 2004 in partnership with the School District of Philadelphia, which helped PTC identify a need to enhance the curriculum of theater arts instruction within public schools.  When integrated into the classroom, theater provides a unique and powerful experience for students, encouraging them to examine their perspectives in new ways and helping them to achieve their goals in reading, writing, comprehension, and communication skills.  PTC’s socially relevant productions also offer a platform for bringing content-related historical or social issues more alive in the classroom.

Since the program’s launch, Drama Contact has grown to include an extensive menu of in-school and at-the-theater workshops, residencies, student matinees, weekend and summer programs, and a unique multi-school student performance program called Philly Reality.  Through these components, teenagers who would otherwise have little or no access to the arts are introduced to theater as an art form that can impact their lives in meaningful ways, from enhancing their in-school education to helping them grow as individuals.

For more info about the Philadelphia Theatre Company, please visit www.philadelphiatheatrecompany.org