Street Address: Contact: Website: Mission:

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1 Application Page Regional Touring - March 8, 2016 Deadline Street Address: 1404 Spring Street NW Atlanta GA Contact: Website: Jill Malool jillmalool@puppet.org Operating budget for last completed fiscal year: $ Mission: The mission of the Center for Puppetry Arts is to inspire imagination, education, and community through the global art of puppetry. To that end, it aims to develop and explore the art form; provide memorable artistic experiences; unlock the imagination of children and adults; inspire every generation; and support the artists and staff behind the puppets. Project Discipline: Theatre Artist/company/writer name: New York NY Artist Website: Artist fee: $15000 Amount of request: $5000 Start date end date: 9/28/ /9/2016 Days of Artist Service: 11 # public performances/readings: 20 Projected # participants: # educational activities: 40 Projected # participants: Project Summary: The Center for Puppetry Arts will present for 20 public performances of La Cucarachita Martina (Martina the Little Roach) with post-performance puppetry demonstrations that will give audience members a glimpse into the magic behind the scenes of the show and Create-A-Puppet Workshops that will give participants a chance to interact with the medium, both building a puppet and then performing with it on the classroom stage Schedule: Between September 28 and October 9, will deliver 20 bilingual performances of La Cucarachita Martina with puppetry demonstrations following. All performances will be open to members of the public, though the majority of weekday tickets will be purchased by school groups. Showtimes will be Wednesday-Friday, 10 am and 11:30 am; Saturdays, 12 pm and 2 pm; and Sundays, 1 pm and 3 pm. Ticket prices will range from $0.00-$ Ticket subsidies allow the Center to provide deeply discounted or free tickets to underserved audiences. Following every performance, will offer educational puppetry demonstrations, teaching audience members about the style and manipulation of the different show puppets. Create-A-Puppet Workshops (CAPW) will also be offered in conjunction with each performance.

2 Regional Touring - March 8, 2016 Deadlin Application Page 2 Project s Artistic Merit (Maximum 5,000 characters including spaces, approximately 1 page) Describe the project; include a detailed description of the performance/reading and explain why this artist/company/writer was chosen. Explain why this project is important to your community. The educational and outreach component is the requirement that participants be engaged in learning activities that have lasting impact. Describe the educational and outreach component and any additional community activities; describe the anticipated impact for participants. (Sociedad Educativa de las Artes/Society of the Educational Arts, Inc.), one of the few Latino puppetry companies in the US, will be in residence at the Center for Puppetry Arts Sept. 28-Oct. 9, Founded in Puerto Rico in 1985, SEA has created and produced a combination of educational theatre productions and art programs specifically designed to examine, challenge, and create possible solutions for current educational, social and community issues. The organization now has offices in San Juan, New York, and Florida and maintains a state-of-the-art performance space at the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center on Manhattan's Lower East Side. has been vetted for artistic excellence by the Center's Art Group, made up of the Center's Executive Director, Artistic Director, Producer, and Associate Producer. The Art Group evaluates touring groups with the same rigorous standards that it uses to assess work being completed by the Center's own company. SEA's work has been so impressive to the Center and its audiences that the group has been invited to Atlanta four times previously. 's excellence has also been recognized by the wider puppetry and theatrical communities. In 2010 was awarded the highest honor in puppetry, a citation of excellence from UNIMA-USA, the US branch of Union Internationale de la Marionnette. SEA's founder, Dr. Manual A. Morán, currently serves as the president of the UNIMA-USA board of directors. The theatre group has also been recognized by the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors, Artistas de Teatro Independiente, and The Association of Latin Entertainment Critics of New York. La Cucarachita Martina is a Latin rock'n'roll puppetry musical based on a popular Puerto Rican and Cuban children's tale of a little roach who learns many lessons on her journey to find true love. The production features Bunraku-style puppetry, a Japanese puppetry form in which multiple puppeteers manipulate a single puppet. The production is bilingual, using a combination of Spanish and English in order to engage audiences of different cultural backgrounds. Following every performance of La Cucarachita Martina, will offer educational puppetry demonstrations which will teach audience members about the style and manipulation of the different puppets used in the show. They will also highlight unique or educational aspects of the production. These demonstrations will help audience members better understand and appreciate the artistry involved in these productions. The demonstrations will be free of charge for all patrons attending performances of these productions and thus will have broad impact. Create-A-Puppet Workshops (CAPW) will also be offered in conjunction with each performance. Some will be instructor-led while others will provide participants the opportunity to create a puppet in their own time with detailed instructions. Each CAPW correlates to the performance and instructor-led workshops are complementary to school curricula. The work of is not only an example of beautiful artistry, but it reflects the global nature of the art form of puppetry, something the Center highlights through all of its programming. SEA performers come from countries all over Latin America and shares a diverse collection of traditional folklore, such as La Cucarachita Martina, and historical events, as in My Superhero Roberto Clemente. While audiences of all backgrounds will enjoy 's production, a particular focus of this project will be reaching metro Atlanta's Latino communities. The Center is always working to ensure it is serving all segments of the metro Atlanta population and according to the Georgia Governor's Office of Student Achievement, the Hispanic population in state schools rose 6% between 2003 and The Center committed a number of years ago to presenting at least one bilingual show each season in an effort to keep language from being a barrier to audience members, and this rise in population makes this increasingly important. This project's artistic merit is strengthened by the fact that it addresses the South Arts priority of engagement of a targeted underserved audience (K-12 students). La Cucarachita Martina will be especially appropriate for early elementary school field trip groups. The Center is committed to ensuring that its programming is accessible to all, enabling children from all backgrounds to reap the benefits of the Center's programming. Each year, the Center provides well over 60,000 deeply discounted or free admissions through its Field Trip Program. The Center works with VSA arts of Georgia, youth organizations, and Title I schools to reach underserved audiences. Approximately half of the public school children who participate in Center programs are from Title I schools, which are designated as such due to the large number of low-income students they serve.

3 Regional Touring - March 8, 2016 Deadlin Application Page 3 Audience Development/Community Involvement (Maximum 2,500 characters including spaces, approximately ½ page) Audience development includes assessing audience and community needs, cultivating audiences, creating a plan for engagement, and developing effective partnerships. Describe the audiences and community segments that you are targeting and engaging with this project. Explain why they were selected for involvement in this project, how they are involved in planning, and what community partners are involved. Describe any plans to broaden or diversify your audiences and any additional efforts to reach those that lack access to arts programs, services, or resources. Provide your marketing plan for target audiences. The target audience for this project is those ages 4 and up. Performances have been scheduled to provide field trip opportunities for schools on weekdays and family outings on weekends. The Center's affordable pricing makes it one of the most accessible performing arts venues for families and deep discounts, through the Center's Field Trip Program, make it a feasible choice for schools and groups serving those with limited arts access. Based on past experience with culturally specific productions, the Center expects this performance to draw broad audiences. has a reputation for celebrating Latino heritage while remaining inclusive and accessible to people of all backgrounds. People of all ages will attend the performances and demonstrations included in this project. The Center expects audiences to originate primarily from metro Atlanta; however, there are large Hispanic populations within driving distance who will also be interested in this programming. In addition, patrons from all over the region, country and the world regularly visit the Center. While the Center will market La Cucarachita to current audiences, the Center will also use this as an opportunity to develop new audiences within multi-cultural communities. Because the story will be familiar to many in the Latino community, the Center believes it has the potential to entice people to visit the Center for the first time. Additionally, the bilingual construct of the production will make it attractive to a wide range of audiences from non-english speaking parents of Latino children to English speaking families who are interested in learning about other cultures and languages. The Center will use a mixture of traditional and non-traditional media strategies to promote 's visit including direct mail, television, magazines, digital ads, and weekend events. These events will be created to welcome families to La Cucarachita Martina, while also highlighting the global mission of the Center and its programming. In addition to the current audience base, the Center will target specific groups within Latino communities through social networks and cross promotional efforts. The Center will work to create partnerships with members of the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and other groups that serve multi-cultural communities. Among the placements for traditional media will be The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Parent Magazine, Comcast Media, Mundo Hispanico, and Univision.

4 Regional Touring - March 8, 2016 Deadlin Application Page 4 Accessibility Statement: Do you certify that (1) you have read the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Assurance of Compliance and understand that by signing and submitting the application form, you certify that the applicant is in compliance with all the statutes and regulations as outlined by the NEA, including the ADA; and (2) the facilities where project activities will take place are accessible to people with disabilities? Yes Accessibility (Maximum 2,500 characters including spaces, approximately ½ page) Grantees are required to ensure accessibility to funded programs to people with disabilities. Beyond these minimum ADA requirements, describe actions you will take for programmatic and communications accessibility (e.g., planning/advisory committees include people with disabilities, large print programs/labels, American Sign Language interpretation, audio description, specific marketing strategies, etc.). Provide specific strategies on how you will reach those that lack access to the arts due to disability for this project specifically (not your organization s work in general). The Center is committed to ensuring that all of its arts and educational activities are physically accessible to all members of the community. Ramps, wide corridors and doorways, and an elevator enable individuals with mobility challenges to move freely throughout the Center. Advance scripts, special seating, and special lighting for interpreters are provided on request for individuals with visual and hearing disabilities. With advance notice, sign language interpreters can request special lighting to better serve patrons who are deaf or hard of hearing, while those with visual impairments can make arrangements to go backstage prior to the show for a tactile experience with the puppets, props, and sets. The Center has a long record of serving children with visual or hearing impairments, learning disabilities, emotional disorders, and other physical or mental disabilities. Programming can be customized in order to allow children with special needs to have a rich and rewarding experience. For example, a group of children from The Center for the Visually Impaired were able to enjoy a workshop that was adapted to allow a more tactile way to experience the Create-A-Puppet Workshop's learning activity. Adults and children with special needs are regularly included and integrated into Create-A-Puppet Workshop sessions. Organizations that serve people with disabilities are eligible for free or subsidized tickets through the Center's Field Trip Program. Based on its dedication to accessibility, the Center received a Lifetime Achievement Award from VSA arts of Georgia in 2005 for its ticket donations to economically and specially challenged populations. The Center has added programming for those with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to its season in the last year. Performances, workshops, and exhibitions are slightly modified in order to be more sensory-friendly, or welcoming to ASD audience members. During the season, the Center offered six performance, workshop, and museum sensory-friendly days as well as two days of early museum admission with specialized programming. And as mentioned previously, the Center is committed to removing language as a barrier for audience members, bringing in bilingual shows like La Cucarachita Martina for the season, Brother Coyote and Sister Fox for the season, and Guyi-Guyi: The Other Ugly Duckling.

5 Regional Touring - March 8, 2016 Deadlin Application Page 5 Organizational Capacity/Evaluation (Maximum 2,500 characters including spaces, approximately ½ page) Describe your organization s ability to carry out the proposed project. Provide a summary of your organization s presenting history. Describe the evaluation methods you have in place to learn how you are, or are not, achieving your goals. The presentation of national and international guest artists is an essential part of the Center's mission. With 38 years of presenting experience, the Center is fully capable of carrying out this project as described. No other puppet theater in the country rivals the Center in diversity and scope of programming. Annually, the Center offers more performances by more artists than any other U.S. puppetry company. The Center has presented performances by puppetry artists from around the world and has acted as an incubator for emerging talent. The Center's contributions to the field of puppet theater are also seen in the scope of its museum exhibitions and in the number and variety of educational workshops it offers. Center staff members are established leaders in the field of puppetry, having served or currently serving as leaders in professional associations including UNIMA-USA, UNIMA International, and Puppeteers of America. Guest artists have a wide range of technical needs. Some are largely self-sufficient, while others need the full support of the Center's staff and technical team. This requires a sensitive, knowledgeable staff who know what questions to ask and how to respond to technical challenges. The Center's staff has decades of experience in working with a variety of visiting artists and having worked with in the past, the Center staff will be at an advantage. The Center collects general feedback via patron comment cards, surveys, and social media; and uses data from its ticketing system to track and measure sales, attendance, member acquisition, and other trends. The Center and its marketing partners conducted several surveys of various Center constituent groups in 2012, and in recent years, the Center has partnered with students at Emory University to conduct formal evaluations of specific performances and programming. In surveys, audiences consistently give Center programs high marks in terms of quality, usefulness of content, and enjoyment. The fact that schools return to the Center for field trips year after year is another indicator that the Center's arts-infused educational programming is considered valuable and worthwhile to educators who must frequently justify their field trips in terms of achievement of curriculum goals.

6 Regional Touring - March 8, 2016 Deadlin Application Page 6 Priorities South Arts has identified three priorities that are connected to our strategic plan and goals. You may only select one priority, even if your project reaches more than one priority. Your score will be solely based on this selected priority; you will either receive 5 or 10 points for this criterion. How well you address this priority will be taken into consideration during the review of the Project s Artistic Merit. Identify which priority your project will address: Engagement of targeted underserved audiences: K-12 students, seniors (individuals who are aging), and/or individuals with disabilities (5 points) Engagement of an artist or company that resides in South Arts region (10 points) A residency of three or more days (5 points) Attachments: Support Materials ARTIST/COMPANY/WRITER SUPPORT MATERIAL: URL: AUDIO/VIDEO/WRITTEN SAMPLE: URL: TEATROSEAWorkSample.pdf Work sample includes a video of the proposed performance. Please click on the link and enter the password: worksample. SUPPLEMENTAL DOCUMENT (optional): MartinaTeacherResourceGuideT.pdf