Flynn Center for the Performing Arts
Flynn Center for the Performing Arts
Flynn Center for the Performing Arts
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Meeting Community Needs<br />
The <strong>Flynn</strong> partners with many area institutions and social service organizations to maximize <strong>the</strong> positive<br />
impact of visiting artists, to create synergies between related missions, and to bring <strong>the</strong> arts to bear on<br />
community issues. The <strong>Flynn</strong> <strong>Center</strong> reaches out to meet important community needs in a variety of ways:<br />
The PACT (Providing Accessible Community Tickets) Program partners with more than 50<br />
Vermont social service agencies annually to make per<strong>for</strong>mances and activities accessible and af<strong>for</strong>dable<br />
to nearly 2,000 people who might o<strong>the</strong>rwise be unable to enjoy <strong>the</strong> arts. The agencies involved in <strong>the</strong><br />
program serve over 20,000 constituents from a wide range of backgrounds. At-risk youth are served by<br />
agencies such as Boys and Girls Club, Spectrum Youth and Family Services, <strong>the</strong> Underground Teen<br />
<strong>Center</strong>, and o<strong>the</strong>rs; homeless and food-insecure social service agencies include Committee on<br />
Temporary Shelter (COTS), Burlington Emergency Shelter, and <strong>the</strong> Burlington Housing Authority; VSA<br />
<strong>Arts</strong>, The Howard <strong>Center</strong>, and <strong>the</strong> Vermont Council <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> Blind all serve area residents with disabilities;<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r agencies provide support <strong>for</strong> a wide range of clients including senior citizens, minority students,<br />
cancer survivors, single parents, and a host of o<strong>the</strong>r social services. Each year <strong>the</strong> PACT Program tries<br />
to reach out to new community agencies to increase <strong>the</strong> reach and availability of <strong>the</strong>se vouchers.<br />
Approximately 15 percent of Student Matinee Series tickets are provided at no cost,<br />
based on student need.<br />
Scholarships are made available to students in <strong>the</strong> <strong>Flynn</strong><strong>Arts</strong> per<strong>for</strong>ming arts education program,<br />
making participation possible <strong>for</strong> a wide range of students.<br />
Partnerships with <strong>the</strong> University of Vermont and Saint Michael’s College provide students,<br />
faculty, and staff with af<strong>for</strong>dable access to <strong>Flynn</strong> per<strong>for</strong>mances and educational programs that are<br />
integrated into <strong>the</strong> curriculum across <strong>the</strong> academic spectrum. These partnerships also serve to make<br />
<strong>Flynn</strong> per<strong>for</strong>mances and o<strong>the</strong>r events an integral part of students’ social life and college experience.<br />
The <strong>Flynn</strong> <strong>Center</strong> is pleased to be an arts education partner with <strong>the</strong>se vital community<br />
organizations: <strong>the</strong> King Street Youth <strong>Center</strong>, Vermont Symphony Orchestra, Shelburne Farms,<br />
Burlington City <strong>Arts</strong>, Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, ECHO at <strong>the</strong> Leahy <strong>Center</strong> <strong>for</strong> Lake Champlain,<br />
Rokeby Museum, UVM, Vermont Public Radio, and Very Special <strong>Arts</strong> of Vermont.<br />
Supporting Artists<br />
The <strong>Flynn</strong> <strong>Center</strong> encourages <strong>the</strong> creative development of new work by providing artists with in-kind and/<br />
or direct financial assistance. <strong>Flynn</strong> support <strong>for</strong> artists and <strong>the</strong> creative process takes many different <strong>for</strong>ms.<br />
Artist Development Projects provide nationally recognized per<strong>for</strong>ming artists <strong>the</strong> use of <strong>Flynn</strong><br />
<strong>Center</strong> facilities, housing, technical and administrative support, and time to explore new works.<br />
The <strong>Flynn</strong> co-commissions new works by nationally and internationally acclaimed artists and<br />
supports <strong>the</strong> development of new work by Vermont artists, including Jane Com<strong>for</strong>t and Company’s<br />
Faith Healing, and a co-commission with <strong>the</strong> Vermont Symphony Orchestra <strong>for</strong> a new work by Jennifer<br />
Higdon, winner of <strong>the</strong> 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Music.<br />
The bi-annual New <strong>Arts</strong> Space Assistance (NASA) Grant provides Vermont artists or groups<br />
with <strong>the</strong> opportunity to develop, rehearse, and per<strong>for</strong>m new work at <strong>the</strong> <strong>Flynn</strong>. Previous awardees<br />
include Ellen Smith Ahern, Jen Berger, Kathryn Blume, Selene Colburn, Margot Lasher, Joy Madden,<br />
Hanna Satterlee, Rachel Siegel, and Heat & Hot Water Productions.<br />
This year, poet/per<strong>for</strong>mer/writer Muhammad Muwakil, from Trinidad, will be in Burlington <strong>for</strong> four<br />
weeks, with a <strong>Flynn</strong>-sponsored middle school residency, college classroom visits, <strong>Flynn</strong><strong>Arts</strong> classes,<br />
and a teacher training workshop planned, in addition to per<strong>for</strong>mances.<br />
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