Dear Friends of East Bay Center,
As our fall class session is coming to a close, here at the Center we have been reflecting on what an amazing and transformative year it has been. This year, the Center turned 50! We have used this milestone as a time to recommit to our mission, strengthen our bonds with our community, celebrate how far the Center has come in the past 50 years, and expand our vision for the next 50.
Our students are finishing their fall session of classes. They shared their hard work and talents in our annual
Sharing the Spirit
weekend, in multiple year-end recitals, and in school-based assemblies. We are so proud of everything they have accomplished this fall. We are excited to announce that sign-ups for spring 2019 classes open on December 17th. You can see the full spring class schedule by
clicking here
.
We hope you will stop by the Center on December 12th from 4-8pm for the annual Downtown Holiday Festival, presented in partnership with Richmond Main Street. Our annual production of the Center's very popular "A Richmond Nutcracker" will have two showings at 5:00 and 6:30 and children can visit Santa from 4-7:30pm.
Best wishes for a wonderful holiday season and Happy New Year from all of us here at East Bay Center!
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UPCOMING EVENTS + HIGHLIGHTS
January 23: Spring Classes Begin
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As 2018 comes to a close, we invite you to reflect with us on everything we have accomplished this year.
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At East Bay Center's main facility in downtown Richmond's historic Winters Building, we hold 80+ weekly classes in sequential music, dance, theater, and digital media skills, with 150 individual instrument lessons and 27 annual recitals for 600 students ages 3-18. Over 91% are youth of color. In addition, we provide professional wraparound support services, individual mentoring, and college readiness resources to all of our 140 Young Artist Diploma Program students and their families.
Our School Partnership programs provide hands-on music, dance and theater instruction to over 3,700 Title I students at 17 strategically linked local public schools, housing project sites and community centers with academic year and special summer session outreach programs. Over 88% are youth of color. 91% are from socio-economically disadvantaged families. These direct instructional services are enriched by professional development workshops for classroom teachers in arts integration techniques that, along with school-wide assemblies, culture-specific curricula, and parent support groups help to engage a full range of learners and leverage school improvement.
Our nine youth resident companies enroll 90 advanced Center students to reach local audiences of 25,000 through presentations at 70+ community gatherings annually. Productions of new music, dance and theater works – many in deep partnership with civic and neighborhood groups – help tell Richmond’s story and build long-term social capital for students, families and the Richmond community.
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This fall semester, we are presenting school assemblies at public schools in Richmond, that partner with us through our
School Partnerships Program
. These assemblies are a chance for us to bring in professional artists to inspire and teach students and also to give our students the opportunity to perform for their peers. This fall, performers from one of the Center's resident companies, Son de la Tierra, performed at King Elementary for a Hispanic Heritage Month assembly, our music students at Caliber Prep did a showcase for their peers, we are participating in the winter showcase at Nystrom Elementary, and more!
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Meet Our Newest Board Member: Joel Ramirez
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Joel Ramirez is an Associate Director of Investor Relations for The Clorox Company. Since joining Clorox in 2011, he has held various finance management roles supporting a range of business units through forecast, accounting, new product commercialization, and corporate mergers and acquisition. His career in finance spans the technology, healthcare and consumer packaged goods industries. He received his dual B.A. in Economics and International Relations from Stanford University and his M.B.A from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. He is a strong believer in the transformative power of the arts in young people’s lives. His own journey with music and the arts started at an early age through elementary school music programs and continued on through college where he was one of the founding members of the Mariachi Cardenal de Stanford. He is a former student of the Center, having played with Son de la Tierra, and is active in the Bay Area’s Son Jarocho community. He and his wife are raising two children, and when he is not coaching soccer or playing Son Jarocho, he enjoys roasting coffee and traveling.
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Students at King Elementary School take a dance class in 1998.
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Thank You to Everyone who Supported us this Giving Tuesday!
We would like to extend our deepest gratitude to all of our supporters who made a donation this Giving Tuesday, November 27th. We are excited to announce that our campaign raised over $3,000! This Giving Tuesday we reflected on our past 50 years with some historic pictures of the Center from our archives. To see some of these photos or make a gift, you can still visit our
Giving Tuesday page here
or find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Once again THANK YOU to all of our supporters for believing in the power of the performing arts to transform lives and communities.
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Support East Bay Center while you do your holiday shopping!
How does it work? Instead of doing your online holiday shopping at Amazon.com, go to
smile.amazon.com/ch/94-1692171
and select East Bay Center for the Performing Arts as your organization. Amazon will donate .5% of your purchase to the Center. Don't worry, most Amazon products qualify for Amazon Smile!
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If you love our work, then tell the world! You have an opportunity to help us make an even bigger difference in our community. Great Nonprofits, a review site like TripAdvisor, is honoring highly reviewed nonprofits with their 2018 Top-Rated Awards. Help us raise visibility for our work by
posting a review
of your experience with us! All reviews will be visible to potential donors and volunteers. It’s easy and only takes a few minutes!
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FREE PIANO!
We currently have an upright piano at the Center, which is in need of a home.
If you are interested or know someone who might be, please
email Mac Layne
.
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