Fox Riverside Theater Foundation

at , Riverside , 92501 United States

1. Community Organization

The mission of the Fox Riverside Theater Foundation is to promote community access to the Fox Performing Arts Center through education, outreach, and fundraising.

Description

The Fox Riverside Theater Foundation (Fox Foundation) is the philanthropic vehicle of the Fox Performing Arts Center, a renovated theater that originally opened in 1929. The Fox represents a long history of culture and community to Riverside. Many long-time residents speak of initially courting their spouses at the Fox. Others can tell you what they learned about the world of cinema while growing up at the Fox. Although it was in disrepair and out of use for more than a decade, the Fox held a prominent role in peoples’ memories and expectations. As a City-owned entity, the Fox Performing Arts Center belongs to everyone, but not everyone is able to afford access to Broadway shows and concerts. The Fox Foundation increases access through its mission and serves regional residents and visitors through the following programs and services: Students at Broadway (SAB), the Foundation’s signature outreach program, provides tickets to high school students (because of mature content, but there are kid-friendly exceptions) for Broadway shows. Within a decade, the Foundation strives to raise sufficient funds to add an extra performance to each Broadway show run, strictly for outreach purposes. In addition to show attendance, SAB participants are asked to read background on the shows through the Foundation’s blog, study theater etiquette, and then complete participant surveys at the completion of each show. When cast schedules permit, students have the opportunity to meet cast members and ask questions. Those meetings are meaningful, as many Broadway actors are only a few years older than the students. The students listen carefully, because it may be the same advice that parents and educators are offering, but the words are coming from those who are living the dream! The Foundation partners with creative, diligent educators, who offer their students the best opportunities, but funding is still limited for out-of-the-classroom experiences. Distribution of tickets is strategic, ensuring that each high school in both of the city school districts and the students of Sherman Indian High School (a Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding school) have access, and participation is increasing from surrounding communities, including San Bernardino, Grand Terrace, Colton, and Moreno Valley. The Foundation also provides tickets to non-profit organizations with youth clients, including those who work with homeless youth, human trafficking victims, and other at-risk kids. It is generally accepted that children and youth who have arts-rich experiences perform better across-the-board academically, and they also become more active and engaged citizens. For young people who get their entertainment from a cell phone or television, or for those who don’t even have the means to access those opportunities (the overall percentage of low-to-moderate income students in the schools we serve is about 60%), a live performing arts experience has incredible impact. Seniors at Broadway is a similar ticket outreach program that is coordinated with local senior centers to enrich the lives of seniors, who may not have sufficient disposable income to purchase show tickets. The arts are integral to balanced lives and are especially needed among those, young and older, who have limited resources. Other education programs include: LiveTech (coming in Fall, 2016) is a certificate program to be piloted with a charter school for the arts that currently is not able to offer a program for the technical aspects of theater (to be duplicated for other student later). Live Nation staff members will serve as instructors, using the Fox as a learning lab for students who want to learn the technical side of live theater. Most of the Foundation’s programming is free to participants, but the Board intends to make this a revenue producer (with some scholarships available for students who cannot pay). Tours are hosted by the Foundation for guests ranging from 3rd- graders working on their reports about local historic buildings, to class reunion groups, to local leadership groups, to out-of-town visitors and convention groups, to high school students (this tour sometimes includes a silent film, to create the feel of the theater’s origins). Family Fun Days are held monthly (October – May), in conjunction with the downtown arts community’s First Sundays, through which arts organizations provide free arts activities for families and children. The Encore and Preview Societies are donor/member groups that (along with grantmakers and other donors) sustain the mission of the Fox Foundation; members receive such benefits as pre-show VIP receptions in the beautiful Tower Room at the Fox, as well as acknowledgment in print and with their names in lights on the Donor Wall in the Lobby. Partnerships in the Arts Community allow the Fox Foundation to interact with other community arts organizations to promote the arts in the City of Riverside, and the Foundation supports its non-profit partners by contributing about 100 tickets per year to other non-profit organizations to use as fundraising tools through silent auctions and raffles. This past year has brought some new and fun educational opportunities, such as an artists’ workshop presented by soul/funk band Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings for more than 200 kids, just prior to a performance; Gabe Roth, the band’s bass player, introduced the kids to the band by identifying some of the popular artists with whom the band has collaborated. He then passed his two Grammy Awards around the room for every child to touch. Students learned about rhythm, conducting, and participated in a Q & A about the realities of the music business. In 2012, the Foundation’s outreach programs served about 300 students; only four years later, the Foundation: • Distributed 357 outreach tickets for seniors and economically-disadvantaged adults (Goal for 2016/2017: 400) • Distributed 1,272 outreach tickets for students from regional schools and youth clients from non-profit organizations (Goal for 2016/2017: 1,500) • Provided other outreach opportunities (e.g., music workshop, performance opportunities through the Red Carpet gala event, tours) for 560 students (Goal for 2016/2017: 650) • Partnered with the Riverside Educational Enrichment Foundation to provide a performance showcase for 220 students from the Riverside Unified School District (Goal for 2016/2017: to continue this programming and to add a similar showcase for the Alvord Unified School District Foundation, also in Riverside) The growth of our outreach programs and the wonderful survey responses of our student participants affirm the direction of the Foundation. As the programs enhance the quality of life in our community, they are also ensuring that quality of life for the future. A relative few of our outreach students will pursue theater careers, but all of them are developing an appreciation for the arts that will translate to arts advocacy and support throughout their lifetimes. The Fox Riverside Theater Foundation supports the Fox Performing Arts Center and enriches the community by inspiring participation in the life of the Fox through community-focused performances, community outreach, and fundraising.

General Info

The Fox Riverside Theater Foundation will serve the City of Riverside residents in these ways: - Aid, sponsor, promote, advance, educate and assist in improving local cultural and recreational services; - Establish a permanent endowment fund through the receipt, investment, and utilization of funds and property acquired through the solicitation of contributions, donations, grants, bequests gifts and the like; - Purchase equipment and other assets to improve the functionality of the Fox Performing Arts Center; and - Provide funds for the maintenance and operation, remodel, renovation, reconstruction, of the Fox Performing Arts Center.

Company Rating

7330 FB users likes Fox Riverside Theater Foundation, set it to 1 position in Likes Rating for Riverside, California in Community Organization category

Summary

Fox Riverside Theater Foundation is Riverside based place and this enity listed in Community Organization category. 92501. Contact phone number of Fox Riverside Theater Foundation: (951) 826-5769