Seattle Historical Arts for Kids

It's stretch goal time! Huge thanks to everyone who helped us meet the initial goal of $2500 on Day 1. A stretch goal helps us be able to think bigger and work better: More school visits, more sliding-fee classes of our own, more support to alumni artists.

Our community works together so that your gift goes farther. We have a third anonymous matching-challenge donor, so donations are still being doubled (up to $5000 of gifts)! Two of these anonymous donors are in WA and one in Massachusetts. Gifts made here on the WA Gives page OR through our usual year-round giving methods during the GiveBIG period will be doubled. 

GiveBIG is one of just two times per year that we fundraise to cover our entire season. We're always grateful for your support!

Mission

Introducing young people to 12th-18th century music, dance, and theater since 2005, SHAK presents a wide variety of workshops and student performances throughout each year. Children and teens discover themselves as ambassadors for hands-on artistic skill, gaining community and an insider's enriched understanding of past eras. Participants inspire a multigenerational audience with the arts of the Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and American Revolutionary eras. In the twenty-first century, the performing arts offer young people the chance to connect in essential, grounding ways with themselves, each other, and the present moment. We're here for what beauty does for kids' mental health and for the health of our communities. 

Description

In today's connected yet abstracted world, young people need the absorption of hands-on, in-depth experiences more than ever. Our devotion to the arts of Europe in the time of kings and queens is driven by simple delight in the beauty of the pre-industrial crafts and skills they offer. We're also inspired by the creative potential in revisiting these eras with the perspective and moral understanding of our modern multicultural world. We believe that going deep in any art form can help to develop our empathy and awareness, and that touching history helps kids and teens imagine and create a more meaningful future.

Seattle Historical Arts for Kids continues to navigate a changing landscape with your help. Like other arts groups in America, we continue to re-assess our role in cultural transmission as we take stock of the historical underpinnings of the racial and economic injustices that persist in the twenty-first century. At SHAK we are still beginning to grasp that our signature way of working with history has enormous potential in this area. 

SHAK serves a multi-level community, working with experienced musicians and actors through high school grades, getting to know younger children in exploratory workshops and performing projects, and welcoming audiences of all ages at our performances — from babies to retirees. We cultivate deep collaborations between skilled professionals and young people of any background. 

Thanks to you, all of our tuition-based programs operate on an income-based, no-application sliding fee model, with no one turned away for lack of funds. 

SHAK is fiscally sponsored by Shunpike, the 501c3 non-profit organization that empowers artists through equitable access to vital expertise, opportunities and business services.