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From the Executive Director

Early arts experiences matter.

Childhood is all about learning and the arts help us become better learners. Arts help children – and adults – to grow as individuals and as a community. Research on the arts, learning, and the brain demonstrate that the arts merit a place in public education equal to other disciplines.The benefits of arts experiences on learning are clear, and yet, many classrooms are without music, dance, visual art, and theater. We at Young Audiences are committed to changing this, and to bringing arts to all children in our region.

2012 will be remembered as year of renewal in Young Audiences of Oregon and SW Washington’s history. As an organization we re-dedicated ourselves to making our arts programming accessible, culturally relevant, and of the highest quality. While we continue to celebrate our past achievements, I am thrilled to innovate for the future – of our organization and our community.

I joined Young Audiences of Oregon and SW Washington as the Executive Director in July 2011 because I believe that together, we can make a real and lasting difference in the lives and education of young people. Young Audiences of Oregon and SW Washington was founded in 1958 by individuals who believed that exposure to music through live performances was an important part of child’s education. Today, Young Audiences has expanded that vision across all art forms and is now the region’s largest provider of arts-in-education programming. We are committed to bringing professional arts instruction to schools and communities; to offering professional development to educators, teaching artists and cultural providers; and to the development of curriculum that integrates the arts into the core subjects.

As we enter 2013, we are working to bring the arts into more classrooms and to provide needed services to the students, families, artists, and educators in our region. We aim to inspire others through leadership, advocacy, and partnerships. Together we can provide all children opportunities to grow, learn, think, collaborate, create, and expand their learning through the arts.

I hope you will join me – as a board member, volunteer, Teaching Artist, donor, or friend – as we strive to bring arts to all children. Together, I know we can.

Denis Signature

Denis Hickey
Executive Director

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