TakePART Arts Festival on Saturday June 1, 2013
with FREE family–friendly activities
at R.H. Dana Middle School, Hawthorne

The P.S. ARTS initiative, with support from five local school districts
and the Herb Alpert Foundation, promotes arts in the classroom

For Immediate Release: May 29, 2013

Venice, CA – The TakePART Arts Festival: Cultivating Community will be held on Saturday, June 1st from 10:00am – 2:00pm at R.H. Dana Middle School in Hawthorne (5504 West 135th Street, Hawthorne, CA 90250). The free, family–friendly event will include hands–on art activities, artist workshops, a student art exhibition, and dance, music and theater performances. An estimated 2,500 attendees throughout the day are expected including students, families and community leaders from across the Centinela Valley region.

“I continue to be amazed by the incredible spirit, creativity, and generosity of these communities. It is an incredible thing to see five school districts come together in celebration of their students’ talents and aspirations. At P.S. ARTS, we are honored to participate in the TakePART Regional Arts Festival: Cultivating Community,” says P.S. ARTS Executive Director of Education & Programs Dr. Kristen Paglia.

The festival is an integral component of the TakePART (Public–school Arts Regional Team) initiative, formed as a collective vision promoting the arts as essential to community life in the Centinela Valley region. TakePART provides music, theater, and visual arts programs for students in the five participating school districts; this model ensures that these students have equal access to quality arts opportunities and enter middle and high school prepared for advanced study in the arts.

With seed funding from the Herb Alpert Foundation, P.S. ARTS, a non–profit organization that provides arts education to public schools, coordinates the initiative comprised of regional service providers, community organizations, funders and the Centinela Valley Union High School, Hawthorne, Lawndale Elementary, Lennox and Wiseburn school districts.

“The Herb Alpert Foundation is very proud to support P.S. ARTS, and is delighted that its role in coordinating the TakePART initiative is resulting in active, collaborative resource sharing and successful, high–level program implementation. The TakePART Arts Festival is a unique opportunity to bring many of the children, families and the communities P.S. ARTS reached through this initiative together to engage in a rich, rewarding and memorable day of diverse arts experiences,” said Herb Alpert Foundation President Rona Sebastian.

About P.S. ARTS
Since 1991, P.S. ARTS has provided arts programs to underserved public schools throughout Southern and Central California. P.S. ARTS currently serves more than 15,000 elementary and middle school students through in–school programming and an additional 1,000 children through after–school and enrichment programs. For more information, visit www.psarts.org

About TakePART
The TakePART initiative was launched in 2010 as a collaborative effort to bring comprehensive arts education programs to communities throughout the Centinela Valley region. Facilitated by P.S. ARTS with major support from the Herb Alpert Foundation, TakePART is a collaboration of community, arts, and philanthropic partners, along with the Centinela Valley Union High School District, Hawthorne School District, Lawndale Elementary School District, Lennox School District and Wiseburn School District. For more information about the Herb Alpert Foundation, visit www.herbalpertfoundation.org

P.S. ARTS media requests, contact: Dr. Kristen Paglia | 310.586.2385 | Kristen.Paglia@psarts.org

Herb Alpert Foundation media requests, contact: Caroline Graham, C4 Global Communications | 310.899.2727 | caroline@c4global.com