The arts foster community, collaborative skills, and creativity, and they offer a voice to those involved." This project began shortly after I graduated from high school in 2019. I had spent the year prior serving as a teacher's assistant for the Introduction to Theatre class at my school and the President of my school's International Thespian Society Troupe. During these twelve months, I organized fundraisers for the Send-A-Troupe Grant through the Educational Theatre Association, partnered with Down Syndrome of Louisville to provide theatre education to its students, and mentored a class of 14 mostly quiet individuals with a variety of backgrounds and physical abilities. These students, by May, became a group of outstanding young men and women who had used theatre as a way to communicate with one another and better understand the world around them. These students were my greatest inspiration in developing this initiative.
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The seniors at Peggy’s Place Care Center in New Albany, IN laughed as we finished singing “My Girl” by the Temptations. Putting away my ukulele, I noticed one woman with developing dementia slowly raise her hand. “I can play Christmas songs,” she said softly, making her way to the single piano in the middle of the room. In the early October heat, her nimble fingers rested on the ivory keys, and she began to play familiar Christmas tunes without a fault. As she finished playing, she smiled, and after a moment, she whispered “I feel young again.”
Today, the mission of The Triple A Project: Accessibility to the Arts for All is to advocate for arts education and provide artistic opportunities to all individuals, regardless of age, ability, or socioeconomic status. Currently, nonprofit status is pending for this organization. As a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, The Triple A Project will be able to coordinate large-scale fundraisers and events catering toward special education programs, hospitalized youth, and those living in low-income areas. |
THE TRIPLE A PODCAST: FEATURING EVERYDAY ARTISTS
A branch of The Triple A Project | Hosted by Eliza Hallal & Brynn Allison
