HomeMy WebLinkAbout2/15/2022 Item 6a, Various signatures (4)
Delgado, Adriana
From:Brian P. Healy <bphealy@calpoly.edu>
Sent:Monday, February
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:Budget – SLO REP grant
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2/12/2022
Honorable Mayor Stewart and Councilmembers Christianson, Marx, Pease and
Shoresman:
I write to urge City Council to approve SLO REP’s challenge grant request!
The significant cultural and financial impacts of SLO REP’s project to Downtown will have
undoubtedly been outlined in the numerous emails you’ve received. I hope to add to the
list of measurable benefits those tied directly to the students and faculty of the Cal Poly
Theatre and Dance Department, which maintains a thriving exchange of talent and
resource with SLO REP.
Cal Poly Theatre and Dance students are eager for professional experience, and
frequently find it in expanded academic opportunities as interns working with SLO REP
production and administrative teams. SLO REP leadership has worked carefully with the
Cal Poly Theatre and Dance Department to establish assignments and assessment
rubrics so students can take full advantage of these fast-paced immersive experiences
which represent for many the culmination of studies and the courageous first steps into
their careers. In the spirit of the Cal Poly University motto, students truly “learn by doing”
when collaborating with SLO REP.
It is important to note that student projects often become enduring paid production
positions and provide invaluable early career success. It is imperative that we create more
of these opportunities for our capable students, and completion of this project will ensure
that we can.
Upperclassmen and recent graduates also collaborate with SLO REP’s Academy of
Creative Theatre (ACT). Students work as Assistant Education Directors, Head Teaching
Artists, as well as classroom mentors, and to borrow some crucial reference points
regarding direct impact to community, completion of this project would enable a tripling of
participants in SLO REP’s educational programming within two years. The Academy of
Creative Theatre serves 300 children and teenagers 35 weeks a year with after-school
activities, summer camps, workshops, and other enriching curriculum not readily available
in local schools.
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These are just some of the ways in which SLO REP’s partnership with Cal Poly Theatre
and Dance is a vital part of the value-added academic and community model. I know, like
me, you recognize the need to not just maintain, but to expand SLO REPS’s necessary
role in our community. This modest investment will have a huge impact and I urge you to
approve SLO REP’s challenge grant request!
Thank you for your most sincere consideration in this matter.
Sincerely,
We the undersigned:
Brian Healy, Chair, Theatre and Dance
Diana Stanton, Professor, Dance Program Director
Thomas J Bernard, Associate Professor
Karin Hendricks-Bolen, Assistant Professor
Ramón Esquivel, Assistant Professor
Philip Valle, Theatre Instructor
Hala Baki, PhD, Theatre Instructor
Don Stewart, Theatre Instructor
Jude Nanci Clark-Warnisher, Dance Instructor
Laina Babb, Costume Shop Manager
Ashley Davis, Administrative Support Coordinator
Brian Healy, MFA
(he/him/his)
Associate Professor - Stage Design & Technical Production
Chair, Theatre and Dance Department
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
(805) 756-5560
In-Person Office Hours (45-104): MW 10a-12p
brianhealydesign
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