Crearte Latino Cultural Center Corporation

Performing arts program we presented bilingual plays, storytelling, stand up and improvisation shows to serve manatee and sarasota counties. With these productions we had over 1,200 audience members of all ages and backgrounds. We collaborated with schools, colleges and other artistic organizations. We participated in community events adding the artistic and multicultural ingredient serving offer 7,000 people. We now plan to present six works over the course of our twelve-month seasons. Two of the pieces will be devised theater projects that involve community members sharing ideas and the creation of a bilingual theatrical production from scratch. We will also present two documentary theater projects. In order to create the main content for these productions, our artistic team will interview local latinx people and share their stories in a scripted staged reading, which will be presented in spanish, with english supertitles, followed by a post-show audience conversation. The final two plays of the season will be traditional comedies by latinx/hispanic playwrights, appropriate for audiences of all ages, which will be performed in spanish, with english supertitles as possible.

Educational workshops program we offered 7 different workshops with 2-5 cohorts each. Workshops included music making for children, performing arts for children, spanish classes, english classes, a book club and painting classes. We had 270+ students throughout the year. In order to reach as many students as possible, all of our educational offerings are low cost, and 55% of participants receive half or full scholarships. We plan to continue to offer the following: in-person bilingual theater and music classes for children and teenagers: both theater and music classes are offered three times a year, in weekly workshops of eight to ten sessions. We serve approximately 15 children or teens in each workshop. Each workshop culminates in a final sharing for parents and a community audience. All classes and final performances are scheduled at flexible times, in order to accommodate participants families schedules so that more parents and families can attend in support of their childrens work. Final performances are always sold out, as our community wants to see these young stars shine. Virtual language education classes for adults: we offer english language classes for spanish speakers with both basic and intermediate english levels in order for participants to practice, increase their confidence, and feel more comfortable in the community-at-large while speaking english. Our spanish classes for english speakers are interactive and responsive; our facilitators tailor the classes to meet the needs of the students. We often hear from the adult students in our spanish classes that they want to learn spanish to be able to communicate with the local latinx and hispanic people they meet in their daily lives. We offer each six-session program four or five times over the course of a year, with each program serving approximately 10-12 participants. In addition to learning and practicing a new language, students are introduced to interesting associated facts about the studied culture in order to create a rich Cultural exchange. Amigos book club and reading circle: participants read books written by spanish-american authors and discuss in spanish. This circle has also served as an advanced spanish language course.

Fortifying Crearte we invited five local nonprofits that offer free resources and programming to share their information with our audience and community members in spanish. All presentations were free to attend, and we served about 100 with these launching sessions. We will continue to offer nuestra comunidad/our community, and will have 9 nonprofits presenting. We will also start inviting other non-profits to have a table and connect with attendees during these presentations.