People/Organizations You Should Know

Every month or so, I am going to highlight an organization and/or person doing terrific work in arts education. It may be in K-12, or adult education, youth development, or even branch out beyond arts education per se, to another area of education.

If you don't already know Mosaic Youth Theater of Detroit, I am happy to introduce both Mosaic and Rick Sperling, its Founder and CEO.



I had the great pleasure of seeing a production a year or so ago, and have also heard Rick present at a couple of conferences.

Mosaic's Mission and Vision are:

"Mission Statement

Mosaic's Mission is to empower young people to maximize their potential through professional performing arts training and creation of first rate theatrical and musical art.

Vision Statement
By definition, a mosaic is an array of different pieces joined together to create a work of art. Accordingly, Mosaic Youth Theatre is founded on the richness of difference. Our young artists come from over 50 city and suburban schools, and a variety of social, economic, racial, cultural and religious backgrounds. Through our professional performing arts program, these young artists blend their ideas and talents and achieve excellence in their theatrical and musical performances. Yet, their success is perhaps best measured by how they excel in life. We proudly report that over 95% of Mosaic artists graduate from high school and go on to college."

Mosaic is an example of the great variety of approaches to "arts education." Mosaic's approach is youth development through the arts model. (The whole youth development arena is interesting and rich, and I will come back to it in future blogs.)

There's a recent report that goes a long way towards telling their story and explaining their model. Take a look, you'll be glad you did.