Every Child Deserves a Stage

By Connie Martinez, SVCREATES’ Chief Executive Officer

As of late, and for good reason, we have spent a lot of time talking about our arts ecosystem and all of the challenges we face. Today, I am taking a break from that and sharing a personal story involving my granddaughter, Savi. She has been taking dance lessons for the past several months (mask and all) and had her first recital at a park during one of our heat waves. They rescheduled it to a late evening and an early morning performance to avoid the heat of the afternoon. They finished at 9:00pm on a Friday night and went back the next morning for their 10:00am show — not an easy feat for young children.

Savi loved being on stage and her group did great. There was joy on the faces of the performers and their adoring fans, however, when Saturday morning came around, Savi did not want to go back. She was tired and hot. But after thinking about it, she looked up at me and said “I can’t let my class down” and then proceeded to put on her costume and give it her all. At only five years old, she knew that being an artist requires discipline, hard work, and commitment. And just think of all of the skills and lessons our children learn when they engage in the arts.

One week later, we had dinner at a local restaurant with a vocalist strumming his guitar and singing while we ate on their patio. Savi set her shy tendencies aside, went up to the musician, told him that she had been on stage last week, and proceeded to dance.

SVCREATES is on a mission to ensure that all children have access to arts education and creative experiences. Below we share a list of arts organizations that recently received operating grants from SVCREATES — many of which provide these important experiences to our local youth.

Warm regards,
Connie Martinez
CEO, SVCREATES