Enrichment for your school or community
SHAK's teaching artists have shared historical arts with over 5,000 students in more than 15 public and private schools in Seattle and the region. We are passionate about how the arts can help students connect more personally with history and to bring out students' strengths and interests. Our teaching faculty and our music and drama students have also presented and performed at libraries, all-ages community events, and retirement living settings. Our main theatrical performances have been presented as far away as Boston and Berkeley.
Programs
For all of our programs, we select actual material from each period that also passes the test of engaging young people and nonspecialists today. Our specialties are the arts of the European Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque eras of Europe and the Colonial and Revolutionary eras of America. We can often tailor our material to the ages of your participants and the size and context of the group. Classroom visits, assembly performances, and residencies of various lengths are possible.
Samples of our most popular programs include:
- Music of Colonial Days
- Dance of Colonial Days
- Medieval and/or Renaissance Music
- The Recorder
- Staged Historical Theater
- Custom topics and referrals: Don't hesitate to ask! Music from Shakespeare's England? The Oregon Trail? Chances are we've done it before and we'd be happy to offer something for your community. Want to find groups that specialize in historical arts from places other than Europe? We'd be happy to connect you with our colleagues if we can.
COSTS and FUNDING
Most of the teaching artists who work with SHAK also present similar programs through a variety of third-party organizations. Your funding options may vary according to which presenter you choose:
If your school or facility will be paying for the visit with funds from a program such as a PTA, enrichment grant, or activities budget, or is sponsored by a private donor, you may engage SHAK directly. Full program costs for single visits and short residencies start at $150 per teaching artist per day of presentation. SHAK can sponsor 25% of the program cost for our nearest neighbor schools! If you are hiring programming for any K-12 grades at a school within 5 miles of our north Seattle location, you pay just 75%. This discount can be used for one program per school per academic year. Please inquire for details and eligibility.
Schools with highest-need populations (as measured through data such as percentage of students with free lunch) may qualify for fully-funded visits, free to the school, through Early Music Seattle and/or the Ladies' Musical Club. Seattle schools may also be able to access arts programming through the city's Creative Advantage roster of teaching artists.
