InsideOut

Prior to joining the Performing Arts Workshop, Jessica worked for four years in her native Boston where she managed the staff, funding and coordination for a number of academic research projects related to civic engagement, community development and grassroots organizing. She also developed her own negotiation and community building skills as an organizer for the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers (AFSCME, AFL-CIO). In 2005, Jessica finished her master's degree in Education and moved to the Bay Area. The Workshop offers her the opportunity to combine her love of the performing arts with her interests in education and community building.

The Asian Art Museum offers a wide range of free programs for grades 2-12. Grades 2 and 3 tour the galleries and learn about Asian mythology in the Storytelling Tour. Nature in Art: Brushpainting is a hands-on class teaching traditional brushstroke techniques to 4th and 5th grade students.  Ancient China, for 6th graders, explores the content of Chinese tombs and the information that the artifacts reveal about the sociology and politics of the time. Seventh grade students explore the life of the Japanese samurai, including the warrior spirit, Buddhist sculptures, and the Japanese tea ceremony.  All middle grades can also study forms of body language used in Asian art, and the information that it conveys.  High school students can take a brushpainting class or take a tour of special exhibits

MISSION: Performing Arts Workshop is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping young people develop critical thinking, creative expression, and basic learning skills through the arts.

HISTORY: Performing Arts Workshop (the Workshop) began in 1959, providing classes in dance and theater at community centers in low-income neighborhoods of North Beach and the Western Addition of San Francisco. In 1974, the Workshop launched its core program, Artists-in-Schools (AIS), and became one of the first nonprofit arts organizations in San Francisco to place trained artists as specialists in public schools.

Today, the Workshop offers art residencies to over 5,000 children in public schools, county community/day schools, community centers, and transitional housing facilities throughout the Bay Area (San Francisco, Marin and San Mateo counties).

Over 60% of all AIS residencies serve “special needs” students, including the economically/educationally disadvantaged, limited English, and the physically and/or learning disabled.

Our other programs include: Professional Development Program which provides workshops and on-site training to school teachers, principals and artists, on integrating the arts into classroom curricula; and, Artists-in-Communities, in which the Workshop has formed partnerships with city agencies and neighborhood organizations to provide arts education to economically and educationally disadvantaged youth throughout the city.

People Like Me, the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival's arts education program, presents a 1-hour performance at theaters in San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose in March each year. PLM features five diverse ethnic dance and music styles in an interactive theatrical format format for grades K-8. Each year's program embeds a theme and curriculum topics connected to the California Visual and Performing Arts Framework  (dance, music, theatre, visual arts) and to the California State Standards (literary arts, science, history, geography, social studies, math), and highlight the diversity of cultural expression and language. PLM is connected to the highly acclaimed San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival. Professional development workshops and residencies in dance and movement are available. Each June, under the direction of Executive Director, Julie Mushet, the SF Ethnic Dance Festival showcases a dynamic and diverse cast of 35 professional world music and dance companies from Northern California. Events include dance performances, family matinees, children's programming, master classes, and community events.