Diablo Ballet Awarded $25K California Arts Council “JUMP StArts” Grant

06/16/2018

(June 15, 2018) Walnut Creek, CA - The California Arts Council has announced it will award $24,608 to Diablo Ballet as part of its JUMP StArts program to serve 45 incarcerated girls of ages 15 to 18. The JUMP StArts program supports high-quality arts education and artists-in-residence programs for youth in the juvenile justice system.

Lauren Jonas photo by Tiffany Bertolami-Fong.
Lauren Jonas photo by Tiffany Bertolami-Fong.

The grant will enable Diablo Ballet to implement the PEEK Extension curriculum at Mt. McKinley Court School for weekly sessions, from July 2018 to May 2019, and to hire a VAPA Curriculum Specialist, who will further refine the curriculum.

Diablo Ballet's Artistic Director Lauren Jonas stated, "We have seen such wonderful results with this program, which has proven to make a difference in the recidivism rate among this demographic."

Through its through its PEEK Outreach Program, Diablo Ballet has reached over 68,000 underserved school children in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties since 1995 and served incarcerated teenage girls since 2015.

Diablo Ballet is one of 46 grantees chosen for this program. The award was featured as part of a larger announcement from the California Arts Council. Nashormeh Lindo, Chair of the California Arts Council, said, "The California Arts Council believes in the potential of the arts to enrich the lives of all our state's residents, especially our young people. That belief does not change with our system-engaged youth; it grows stronger. The world we create for our young people today determines our world tomorrow. We are proud to support the work of Diablo Ballet."

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