July 17, 2003

Contact: Karen Lane Christilles, Lied Center of Kansas, (785) 864-2794.

Lied Center at KU receives grants to fund arts workshops for educators

LAWRENCE -- The Lied Center of Kansas at the University of Kansas has received several grants that will enhance the efforts of Kansas artists and educators to train teachers on how to integrate the arts into the curriculum of first- through 12th-grade students.

The Kansas Arts Commission has approved a $7,500 grant that will help fund educator workshops and residencies during the 2003-04 academic year. The three-hour workshops, designed for 35 teachers and media specialists, will take place about two weeks before a school performance at the Lied Center and in other Kansas communities. Each focuses on a specific aspect of dance, drama or music and the ways teachers can incorporate them into the history, science, math or social studies curriculum.

The Mid-America Arts Alliance also recently awarded the Lied Center three grants totaling $9,025 that will assist with educator workshops held in conjunction with performances by Kevin Locke, a Native American hoop dancer; Joanne Shenandoah, a Native American composer, vocalist and performer; and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, an ensemble recognized for its athletic and eclectic repertoire. The Douglas County Community Foundation is underwriting a $2,000 grant that will provide Arts Integration Teacher Training Clinics for first- and second-grade teachers in the Lawrence school district.

During the 2003-04 season, the Lied Center of Kansas will celebrate the 100th anniversary of one of the nation's oldest concert series and the 10th anniversary of one of the Midwest's largest performing arts stages. More than 10,000 children in the Lawrence school system attend Lied performances every year. Local and statewide outreach programs open innovative residency and educational activities to 3,000 Kansans, and a statewide residency program shares renowned artists with a rural Kansas community each year. Although these school-only performances and teacher workshops are not open to the general public, they represent an important part of the Lied Center's mission to bring rich and diverse performing arts experiences to the young people of Kansas.

For more information about Lied Center education programs, please contact Barbara Bosché, director of education, at (785) 864-2795.