SMARTS Collaborative

CONTACT:

PO Box 356
Attleborough, MA 02703
508-222-8484
info@smartscollab.org

Sherye Weisz, executive and artistic director

DESCRIPTION:

SMARTS is committed to the principle that all children have a right to education in the arts — that whatever their social or economic status, they should have quality training and the means to expand their creativity. SMARTS began in 1986 as a summer institute with 40 students in dance, music, and the visual arts. In 2003, it served students and teachers in 30 schools in southeastern Massachusetts, offering programs, events, and performances that reached over 10,000 people. It sponsored a symphonic band, a stage band, a cabaret theatre, a touring arts exhibit, professional workshops and many other programs, and partnered with schools and local colleges to help create arts-infused curricula. Half of its students are from single-parent households; 30% receive some form of public assistance; over half receive scholarships or reduced tuition; everyone who applies for financial aid gets it. Many parents have visited a museum for the first time thanks to SMARTS, because their children’s pictures are on exhibit. In this way and many others, SMARTS educates entire communities. This is excellence, and in an era of rising costs, they need more philanthropic support. Can you help?

(2004: CULTURE: Education: Informal: General)