Lakewood Youth Outreach
The mission of Lakewood Center for the Arts is to inspire and nurture a love of theatre and the arts. A big component of Lakewood’s mission it to ensure the arts remain accessible to all. To that end, the Youth Outreach Program was created in 2018 for the Center’s annual Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts. Since that time, the program has grown beyond the Festival to include larger number of participants, different communities, and a variety of year-round art programs that Lakewood Center/Lakewood Theatre Company offers to the region.
The goal of the Youth Outreach Program is to create opportunities for youth in the greater Portland area to participate, both as artists and audience, in all that Lakewood has to offer. Lakewood strives to bring opportunities to the underserved youth in the region, whom, because of geographic, socio-economic, cultural or language barriers have limited access to arts education.
Lakewood Center hopes the program will facilitate conversations with youth, their families, and their supporting organizations, resulting in open collaborations and a better understanding of how to continue to create meaningful experiences. Lakewood Center recognizes the importance of creating an inviting, diverse and inclusive environment for participants, as artists, students, and audience.
During the 2022-2023 school year we have over 150 students from preschool to high school participating in the program. In addition, a grant from the Oregon Association of Education Service Districts and a grant from Michael’s made it possible to send 30,000 “A Week of Color” booklets and art kits to students across the state.
Lakewood Center for the Arts is a non-profit arts organization. The funding for the Youth Outreach Program comes from generous donations, grants, and fundraising efforts. All instruction, materials, family activities and participation in the art festival are free of charge for the participants.
For more information please contact:
Angelica Stambuk
Youth Outreach Program Coordinator
Lakewood Center for the Arts
angie@lakewood-center.org
Current Youth Outreach Program activities include:
- In-person art workshops taught in participating schools. These include bilingual (English/Spanish) workshops.
- On-line art workshops. Also including bilingual (English/Spanish) workshops.
- Support of art programs already existing in local schools by providing financial assistance, materials and visiting artists.
- A Week of Color: A bilingual (English/Spanish) art instruction booklet and video series, distributed together with art kits to ELL elementary schools throughout the state.
- Youth Art Exhibit at the Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts, including all art created by students participating in the Youth Outreach Program.
- Awards reception for all artists and families participating in the Youth Art Exhibit.
- Invitations free of charge to theatre programs at Lakewood for families participating in the Youth Outreach Program.
A Week of Color is a bilingual (English/Spanish) art instruction booklet and video series created to help students express emotions through art. Each of the five parts takes students though unique and engaging lessons they can do with materials at home, or with the art kit provided to them.
When Lakewood debuted A Week of Color in 2020, we were able to pass out hundreds of free kits to help students stay creative through the pandemic. In 2022, grant from the Oregon Association of Education Service Districts and
sponsorship from Michael’s made it possible
to send 22,000 A Week of Color
booklets and art kits to students
across the state!
