Paramount Theater Of Charlottesville Inc

Arts education: the arts education program presents school-day educational performances for students in grades pre-k through 12 from central virginia to experience live performing arts in the historic paramount theater. We are committed to offering programming that is artistically rich and reflects diverse cultures and races, and we hold steadfast to our mission of ensuring access for all area youth. Students from all schools, income levels, and backgrounds come together at the paramount, uniquely bridging a broad spectrum of participants to share in a common experience. Our programming can include q&a with performers, in-school workshops, masterclasses, multi-day artist residencies, and collaborative opportunities with local artists. All programming aligns with virginia standards of learning as well as social emotional learning standards and includes study guides. The 2023 -24 arts education season presented 12 live educational performances to 9,687 students and educators from area public, private, and home school groups. All participating students and teachers received subsidized ticket pricing, with 2,119 students receiving free admission based on their eligibility for the federal free and reduced public school meals program. The feedback from educators and students about these arts education experiences is overwhelmingly positive and appreciative, from the educational value and diverse content to the level of quality and artistry with each production. Post performance surveys were completed by 100 teachers and over 200 handwritten thank you letters and artwork from students were joyfully received. Financial assistance ensures all students can experience field trips to the paramount, which are a big highlight for teachers and students - and for many on show days, become "the best days ever" "one of my students said at the end of the show 'i love the paramount theater' this is a student who has never been to the theater and does not have the means to be able to come on her own. The donors provided this opportunity for her. Another student said, 'this is the best day of my life' this experience provided our students with background knowledge and memories they will take with them for a lifetime" 4th grade teacher, johnson elementary school "thank you for an incredible experience of musical enlightenment and cultural exchange with drum tao. Our entire 5th grade student body attended this event, and it was everything an arts field experience should be and more. The generous financial assistance that was provided enabled us to fulfill our mission of exposing students to live performance of such high caliber and relevance to their lives. This experience was profound and will be remembered by our students beyond their time at walker school. We thank you." aaron eichorst, fine & performing arts coordinator, charlottesville city schools "trips to the paramount are a highlight for students and teachers each year. Everything is always so perfect thank you for providing financial aid to title one schools. Our kids learned a lot and it was perfect with our unit on geography. The sign language and mixture of english and spanish was so great the crowd interaction and multiple learning modalities kept their engagement the entire time and they were actually disappointed when it was over." 2nd grade teacher, greer elementary school

Community access: the mary p. Reese community access fund (mprcaf) was established to ensure all members of our community have access to the arts. The paramount theater partners with dozens of area agencies and nonprofit groups such as big brothers big sisters, boys & girls club of central virginia, community attention foster families, habitat for humanity, innisfree, international neighbors, irc, paraderest, readykids, the women's initiative, as well as school groups and many other community organizations to offer complimentary tickets to all paramount presented events. This fiscal year, 624 community members from 54 nonprofits received complimentary tickets to 87 events. In addition, 32 local nonprofit organizations hosted a wide range of performances, speakers, and fundraising events at the paramount theater, subsidized by the mprcaf, and further supported by thousands of event attendees. Among these groups were the virginia film festival, festival of the book, light house studio, literacy volunteers, charlottesville ballet, charlottesville band, charlottsville chamber music festival, charlottesville opera, uva's office for diversity, equity, and inclusion, and many more. The mprcaf also helps make it possible to host free community events each year, including movie screenings, historical theater tours, and live sporting events on the big screen; and to ensure an accessible environment with open captioning, interpreters, and sensory- friendly programming. During this period, we welcomed 1,195 members of our community and beyond for 37 free events. The paramount theater's dedication to expanding and deepening engagement with all pockets of the community is unwavering through the mprcaf. We received heartwarming feedback from participating community partners to share its impact: "we thank the paramount for donating these community outreach tickets to our veteran community. We had such a magnificent time at the event the generosity of the paramount and its genuine care for all pockets of our community is greatly appreciated" community access ticket recipient, paraderest "we love having the paramount as a community partner and are always excited about your offerings to our matches thank you for this partnership and opportunity to work together to strengthen community." executive director, big brothers big sisters of the central blue ridge "thank you for your continued generosity and everything you do for the community and for georgia's friends what you all are doing has such a huge impact on our residents. It is such a fantastic resource for us to offer our residents - knowing they have a "safe" space to utilize where they can feel a bit of normalcy and not have to worry about triggers is such a relief. We truly appreciate your kindness and generosity and our continued partnership with the paramount." community access liaison, georgia's friends "a very big thank you for believing in this concert and making it happen it was a tremendous event for classical music in charlottesville and sitting in the main hall for the second half i saw so many elated audience members. So many came up to thank me, so i want to thank you so much and for all that you do to support and uplift our community through the arts and access to it" raphael bell, co-founder & co-artistic director, charlottesville chamber music festival