Happy Artober, everyone! In honor of Artober, I’ve partnered with my local community foundation to explore how the arts can be used to support all kinds of philanthropic causes through a short podcast mini-series. In Part 2, I highlight four organizations in my home base of Tennessee which are making the arts relevant to everyone everywhere to support a wide range of causes. Whether we’re talking about STEAM education, inclusive activities for people with disabilities, promoting fearlessness and ingenuity, or even improving your professional conduct at work, the arts are present and needed.
Meet 4 Tennessee based nonprofit organizations making the arts relevant to everyone:
☑️ Dale McCreedy & Katie Woodward from the Discovery Center
The Discovery Center is a children’s museum in Murfreesboro, Tennessee creating hands-on learning opportunities for children and their families. In this podcast episode, Dale and Katie explain why the A for Arts was added to STEM education. Every month, the Discovery Center hosts SPARK programs (STEAM Play Achieves Real Knowledge) for kids, and they sponsor Tennessee’s annual STEAM Festival in Artober.
☑️ Lauren Beasley from MOVE Inclusive Dance
MOVE offers dance programs to bring all people with all ability levels together to learn vital life skills through different forms of dance. MOVE is hosting its grand opening during Artober on October 26, where people of any age and ability level can enjoy free classes.
☑️ Kyla Easterday from Kidsville
Kidsville is a free program of the Conservancy for the Parthenon and Centennial Park providing weekly learning activities for kids centered around nature, Greek mythology, local history and culture, and, of course, the arts. Check out their Events page (or listen to the full podcast episode) to learn about their fun Artober activities.
☑️ Heather Connelly Lefkowitz from Actors Bridge
In addition to training community members and professional actors how to tell stories through acting, Actors Bridge also offers corporate and team trainings to teach professionals how to navigate difficult workspace issues, such as giving and receiving feedback, having vulnerable conversations, and speaking confidently. Your organization can request a workshop at any time, but Artober is a special time for Actor Bridge because their signature First Time Stories events are coming back on October 18.
This concludes my first ever Artober podcast mini series!
I also cover a wide range of topics related to nonprofit management on my podcast, including board development, program creation, and grant writing. Use the button below to subscribe and find previous episodes which may benefit your nonprofit work!