For Immediate Release
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Minneapolis, Minnesota – Upstream Arts will celebrate its fifth year of enhancing the lives of adults and youth with disabilities through the power of arts education with STOP. LOOK. SEE., a benefit event featuring a photography exhibition and a performance showcasing some of the Twin Cities’ most exciting artists. The event will take place April 18, 2011, from 6:30 to 8:30p.m. at Intermedia Arts in Minneapolis. Dirk Anschütz’s photography exhibition, Upstream, features portraits of young adults who participate in Upstream Arts’ programming. Program Director Matt Guidry and Board member Peter Vitale head up the performance, which tells the story of Upstream Arts and features some of the professional artists who teach with the organization. Drinks and light food are included with the $25 suggested donation.
“Our goal for this event is not only to showcase the fabulous artists that we work with from our performing and visual arts community, but also to bring together our larger community that supports and participates alongside Upstream Arts,” notes Executive Director Julie Guidry. “One of our goals as an organization is to create opportunities to develop social and communication skills, so I can think of no better venue than a celebratory event to practice those skills but also to have the chance to really recognize and put a value on why those skills are so important.”
Heading up the performance is Program Director Matt Guidry, an actor, director, producer, choreographer and educator who was the co-Artistic Director of the Burning House Group Theatre Company, and has appeared with Ten Thousand Things (currently in Man of La Mancha), the Guthrie, History Theatre, and Pillsbury House Theatre, among others. Board member Peter Vitale will provide the soundscape for the performance, as he has done for more than 20 Ten Thousand Things shows. Sara Richardson (recently Sally Bowles in Frank Theater’s Cabaret), Matt Sciple (recently director of Hamlet at Theatre in the Round Players), and Charles Fraser (recently seen in Park Square’s Diary of Anne Frank and upcoming in the History Theatre’s Buddy – the Buddy Holly Story) are among the Upstream Arts Teaching Artists who will appear in the performance.
Dirk Anschütz is a German born, New York based photographer whose work has appeared in magazines and ads throughout the world. His clients include BMW, Adidas, Merck, Time, Stern and Fortune amongst others. He has won numerous awards and recently had his first solo show in New York City.
Local businesses have partnered with Upstream Arts to provide food and drink for the event: appetizers will be provided by Bryant-Lake Bowl, desserts by Cake Eater Bakery, beer by Surly, with the Board of Directors providing wine for the evening. Your suggested donation of $25 includes food, beverage, the photography exhibit, performance and fellowship with Upstream Arts participants, supporters, artists and new friends.
Upstream Arts was founded in 2006 to enhance the lives of adults and youth with disabilities by fostering creative communication and social independence through the power of arts education. Teams of professional artists lead interactive, multidisciplinary activities in music, dance, visual arts, poetry and theatre that explore emotion and examine the successful elements of social interaction and effective communication. Our model has proven successful in giving youth and adults with disabilities much needed exposure to the arts, while nurturing their ability to positively express themselves, participate in a group and socially interact with peers, supervisors and family members.
UPSTREAM ARTS PRESENTS
STOP. LOOK. SEE.
A benefit celebration including Dirk Anschütz’s photography exhibition, Upstream, and a performance showcasing some of the Twin Cities’ most exciting artists.
Drinks and light food provided.
Event Date: April 18, 2011 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Location: Intermedia Arts
2822 Lyndale Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55408
Tickets: $25 suggested donation
Available at [email protected], 612.331.4584 or at the door
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