Area residents are invited to participate in a series of community meetings to help plan Arts Partners, a new vision for integrating arts and culture into every classroom in the Portland metropolitan area. Each of the following gatherings is designed to identify the educational priorities of the community, essential to the development of a mutually agreed upon agenda for arts education in the region.
- October 18, 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. Rosa Parks School, Library, 8960 N Woolsey, Portland, RSVP here [1].
- October 23, 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. Beaverton City Library, Meeting Room B, 12375 SW 5th Street, Beaverton, RSVP here [2].
- October 24, 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. Center for Advanced Learning, Forum (Room 220), 1484 NW Civic Drive, Gresham, RSVP here [3].
- October 29, 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. Community Music Center, Auditorium, 3350 SE Francis Street, Portland, RSVP here [4].
- October 30, 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. Hollywood Library, 4040 NE Tillamook Street, Portland, RSVP here [5].
- November 5, 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. Multnomah Arts Center, Auditorium, 7688 SW Capitol Highway, Portland, RSVP here [6].
- November 7, 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. Walters Cultural Arts Center, Theater, 527 E Main Street, Hillsboro, RSVP here [7].
- November 8, 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. Alder Creek Middle School, Library, 13801 SE Webster Road, Milwaukie, RSVP here [8].
Arts Partners is a collaborative initiative involving the Regional Arts and Culture Council, NW Business for Culture and the Arts, Young Audiences of Oregon and SW Washington, the City of Portland, Multnomah and Clackamas Counties and five local school districts including Beaverton, Gresham-Barlow, Hillsboro, North Clackamas and Portland.
In August, nearly 200 educators, artists, business leaders and community members attended a public unveiling of the Portland Metro Arts Partners initiative at the Gerding Theatre. Gigi Antoni and Gina Thorsen from Dallas, Texas, shared their successful arts education model entitled Big Thought, which has been in place for 10 years. Big Thought has chosen Portland as the only city they will mentor in 2007-08 to develop a similar local program.