East Bay Center for the Performing Arts to Receive the Community Resilience Award at the 12th Annual East Bay Philanthropy Awards

East Bay Center for the Performing Arts

East Bay Center for the Performing Arts was founded in 1968 amidst the grief that followed the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. and still serves its original purpose of healing through artistic expression and belonging.

Located in Richmond, the Center offers students opportunities to grow and excel as learners, creators, and contributors to their communities. It provides broad community-based and public-school performing arts access programs, rigorous individual and ensemble training, and an intensive interdisciplinary diploma program. Last year through its public-school programs, the Center helped improve the well-being and overall success of 28,000 West Contra Costa Unified School District students.

On their journey with the Center’s tuition-free programs, young people find refuge, creative self-expression, agency and confidence through justice, equity and belonging. The Center offers an array of student support services including one-on-one coaching, mentoring, college preparation, family mediation, and other support.

Since its inception the Center has been home to a diverse curriculum including an early emphasis on African-American music and classical European repertoire. In the decades that followed, regional Mexican music and dance, Latin Jazz, classical African music, poetry, youth-driven theater, site-specific neighborhood works, and the country’s only Laotian music and dance curriculum took root as a reflection of the diverse community it calls home.

In 2011, the Center completed renovation of the historic Winters Building, in Richmond’s Iron Triangle neighborhood. The state-of-the-art building is the best-equipped and most accessible performing arts space available to the Richmond community.

During the pandemic, the Center found renewed purpose through engaging resident leaders and forming coalitions with other community-based organizations to respond to the immediate loss of jobs, food/housing security, child care, and healthcare.

The East Bay Center for the Performing Arts is a resilient beacon in arts training and youth development. It demonstrates how a performing arts center can at once center community needs, foster a deep sense of belonging, and enrich our community for generations to come.

We are so excited to honor the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts with the Community Resilience Award at the 2022 Philanthropy Awards on November 17. If you are interested in attending please register here.

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