Twelve Arts Education Program Drive

My name is Daniel Gray-Kontar, and I am the Executive Artistic Director of Twelve Literary and Performative Arts Incubator. Since we opened our doors in May, our organization has provided support services and performance space for adult and student writers and performers alike. But as we enter the 2016-17 school year, we embark upon brave new terrain in the form of our three educational initiatives:

1. The One Mic Open Afterschool Poetry Slam Fellowship
2. "Room 201", our series of in-school workshops and long-term residencies
3. "Reverb",  our summer school program that brings previously incarcerated adults together with youth who have pasts in the juvenile justice system


We are seeking the support of our friends to help us provide quality educational programming for these three initiatives. Your contribution will help us pay for food, travel, technology, classroom supplies, and more for our youth at our home location (325 E. 156th Street, Cleveland, OH, 44110) and as we work with teachers and school leaders at our 8 school and library partners across Northeast Ohio. 

We are looking to raise $10,000 between September 3rd and October 3rd, 2016.

This funding will help us:

1. Send 6 youth and 2 adults to represent Cleveland at the annual Brave New Voices Competition in San Francisco next summer.
2. Safely transport our youth across Northeast Ohio to Twelve Literary and Performative Arts two times per week for our 19-week afterschool program.
3. Help feed our youth during our afterschool programming initiatives throughout the year.
4. Pay for media and classroom supplies for our in-school workshops and long-term residencies. 
5. Pay for one support staff person.



For more information about Twelve Literary and Performative Arts, please feel free to visit our website at http://www.twelvearts.org

You can also read more about our work at Twelve Literary and Performative Arts by clicking on the links to the newspaper and magazine articles below:
http://clevelandmagazine.com/entertainment/it-s-lit-a-new-performance-venue-opens-up-the-mic-to-young-wordsmiths

http://www.freshwatercleveland.com/devnews/Twelve041916.aspx

http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2016/07/one_mic_open_how_eric_odum_gav.html

Donating to our educational programming not only supports Twelve, it supports the development of Cleveland's leaders of the present and future. A donation to Twelve IS an act of social justice.

In solidarity,

Daniel Gray-Kontar
Executive Artistic Director
Twelve Literary and Performative Arts Incubator