Artists in Residence Program

              

The major thrusts of the Gold Canyon Arts Council are two fold, presenting internationally acclaimed professional artists in public performances and introducing our younger generation to the wonders of performance art. To that end, artists appearing in the Canyon Sounds concert series have performed 103 residency activities in local schools in northern Pinal and Gila Counties and interacted with 15,060 students from elementary to college level. The composition of these activities varies from a small group of drama students to multiple classes coming together in assembly. We have provided one on one master classes for advanced level piano students and violin workshops in conjunction with Suzuki of America that focus on young violinists from age four to teens. With each year, this outreach effort of the Arts Council increases in importance.

In early 2007 we designated The Pro Arts Trio as a resident ensemble of the Gold Canyon Arts Council to present residency programs in the local schools that promote creativity through music. The group, through live performances on various instruments, demonstrate the composer's use of imagery, elements of form, the historical development of music, and cultural and regional influences on music.

Canyon Sounds season artists also contracted to provide twelve residency activities in the 2008 - 2009 school year. As a special involvement this year, we applied for a Dance on Tour residency grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. If granted, the Footworks Percussive Dance Company will present six activities that span all age groups. The combined outreach is a season total of twenty-three residencies in the community and in schools stretching from Apache Junction and Gold Canyon, south to Coolidge, and east past Globe to the Ray School District in Hayden and the San Carlos Apache reservation.

New in 2007 - 2008, the special bus-in residencies held at our normal venue in Gold Canyon were an instant success with students, teachers and administrators. The Coolidge and Globe school districts volunteered their performing arts centers as satellite locations for additional bus-in opportunities in the 2008 - 2009 season.