Upper: Bajofondo, Vijay Iyer, Circus Oz, California Guitar Trio Lower: Axis Dance Company, Yemen Blues, Back to Back Theatre, CONTRA -TIEMPO

K-12 ARTS EDUCATIONSINCE 1969

SUMMER 2012 NEWSLETTER

We’re gearing up for an exciting season here

at Design for Sharing! Our Demonstration Performance series will feature artists from around the world and some of our local favorites.

The season begins October 11, with AXIS Dance Company. AXIS creates “physically integrated dance”— a contemporary dance form that evolves from the collaboration between dancers with and without disabilities. AXIS comes to DFS as part of UCLA’s Disability Awareness Week, a campus-wide initiative. There’s more dance in store when L.A.’s own CONTRA-TIEMPO returns to Royce Hall November 8 with their unique and inspiring fusion of salsa, Afro-Cuban, and hip-hop styles. In February, the wildly popular Circus Oz returns to Los Angeles for the first time since the 1984 Olympic Opening Ceremonies. This animal-free, rock’n’roll circus

is a spectacle of unrelenting energy, humor, surreal imagery, grace and strength – and set to a live and original musical score!

Theater returns this year with Australia’s Back to Back Theatre. Founded in 1987, Back to Back creates new forms of contemporary theatre imagined from the minds and experiences of a unique ensemble of actors with disabilities, giving voice to social and political issues that speak to all people.

We can’t wait to introduce students to our impressive line-up of international musicians. The collective of composers, singers and musicians known as Bajofondo will bring their vibrant blend of acoustic tango and electronic music from Argentina and Uruguay to Royce Hall on October 12, followed October 15 by acclaimed jazz pianist and composer Vijay Iyer. The Israeli-American ensemble Yemen Blues combines traditional Yemenite melodies with classic blues, jazz and funk sounds. From Bedouin rhythms to New Orleans brass, their DFS appearance on November 16

is sure to be extraordinary. We’ll draw from artists closer to home when California Guitar Trio performs on May 6. Formed more than 20 years ago, the trio is known for their technical virtuosity and their wide range of influences and styles. Finally, we’ll tap into the incredible talent on the UCLA campus with a performance by UCLA Philharmonia—the University’s 75-peice flagship student orchestra.

For more details about these and other Design for Sharing programs—including our My Special World/Performance Workshop activities—be sure to visit our website at cap.ucla.edu/dfs and check out the full calendar of inspiring performances on tap for 2012/13. Remember, as a supporter of Design for Sharing, you’re always welcome to see your contribution in action. We hope you’ll join us for any one of these great events.

AN EXCITING NEW SEASON

I find it bittersweet that, after four years as DFS President, this is my last letter. We’ve seen so many changes over the last four years. Some have been very painful – the loss of our visionary co-founder, Mimi Perloff, and other long-time Board members and supporters; and severe budget cuts to education generally and arts programs in particular. These cuts have resulted in the loss of a transportation grant from LAUSD to help provide buses, and the elimination of field trip budgets for most schools.

Other changes have been energizing, as we have discovered new and creative ways to expand our programs. We found grants to fund in-school residencies, which provide in-depth arts education and which we hope will serve as a model for other non-profits to educate public school students in the arts. One of my fondest memories is of the students from the UCLA Community School performing with members of CONTRA-TIEMPO dance company at our 40th Anniversary celebration. The Board formed the Mimi Perloff Memorial Bus Fund, which has been successful through our “Buy a Bus” campaign in providing funds to pay for buses to bring students to UCLA to attend our programs.

We’ve had so many memorable events and performances – board member Suzanna Guzman introducing our youngest audiences to the joy of opera; John Zeretzke and Dr. Craig Woodson teaching students how to make instruments out of everyday materials; and the passion of Dan Zanes, Los Cenzontles, Lula Washington, the Symphonic Jazz Orchestra – and many, many others. These artists have introduced young people to the rich experience of the performing arts.

I appreciate the critical support provided by our Board, which has enabled DFS to survive and thrive during these very challenging times. I remain optimistic about our future. With the energy and passion of our new President – my dear friend Stephanie Snyder, together with the creativity and vision of CAP UCLA director Kristy Edmunds, our programs will continue to provide opportunities for L.A.’s students to learn about the arts.

Joan Lesser

A FOND FAREWELL

AN ENTHUSIASTIC HELLO

UCLA LIVE IS NOW CAP UCLA!

I am very pleased and excited to be the new Board President of Design for Sharing. As part of the Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA, DFS will continue to provide arts education activities that provoke curiosity, inspire wonder, and facilitate connections. The mission of Design for Sharing: to provide access to the performing arts at UCLA through free performances and hands-on programs is fully embraced into the mission of CAP UCLA. Together we will continue a longstanding tradition of delivering great art to the students of Los Angeles.

I would like to thank my dear friend Joan Lesser who preceded me as Board President for the last four years. Working together with the board and our generous members and donors, we have supported a variety of successful arts education programs, both on campus and in the schools. It has been very rewarding to work with Executive and Artistic Director Kristy Edmunds on the transition from UCLA Live to CAP UCLA. In addition to her skill and knowledge, Kristy brings enormous energy, enthusiasm and good humor to everything she does.

I often find the benefits from one’s efforts and contributions to be vague and intangible, but with DFS, from the moment the excited students leave the buses, to their joyous reaction at Demonstration Performances or My Special World

workshops at Royce Hall, the gratification is great and immediate.

Please join us at one or more of our upcoming performances and workshops. You will undoubtedly see the impact we make, and I hope you will support us by joining or renewing your membership, and contributing to our Buy-A-Bus fund.

Stephanie SnyderPresident

After months of receiving feedback from our donors, members, and colleagues, UCLA Live has evolved to become Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA.

While the visual identity and name of UCLA Live has changed, the 42-year mission of Design for Sharing remains fully integrated into the mission and purpose of CAP UCLA. As a past supporter of Design for Sharing, you have activated the performing arts for thousands of K-12 students. If you are a DFS member, we hope you will renew your membership as we look towards a new and exciting season. In the past, UCLA Live had two separate membership programs, but as we move forward, all DFS members will now be CAP UCLA members. As always, your contribution will directly support the activities of Design for Sharing, and the Center will honor your donation with a CAP UCLA Membership.

Member levels are on the remit form in this newsletter and you can see benefit details at www.cap.ucla.edu/support. A CAP UCLA membership connects you to artists, arts leaders and community members who are engaged in promoting the importance of a creative and enriched learning environment for the students of Los Angeles. Pease take a moment to renew your support for Design for Sharing, and on behalf of the 16,000 students and teachers we serve each year – thanks for all you do!

THOUGHTS FROM OUR MEMBERS

WHAT IS LEARNEDIN-CLASS INSPIRATIONDo you remember the first time you were awed by a live performance? I do. It was at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, where I grew up, at a performance of the Moiseyev Dance Company from Russia. I was six years old and I believed the dancers could fly. I decided, right there, that no matter what it took, I wanted to learn to fly too.

Ultimately, I became a professional dancer, now retired, and sometimes, during those years, when the music flowed through my body and the movements came as effortlessly as breathing, I did fly. What I learned as a young child, high up in my balcony seat in the darkened theater, was what was possible.

This is what Design for Sharing teaches the thousands of kids we reach out to. During my years as a DFS member, I’ve seen the pleasure kids have when they learn that something extraordinary is possible: that they can be transported by great music, theater or dance; that they can make and play a musical instrument, sing a few notes of opera, or dance some steps of flamenco; that in a University, students can major in an art form; and that creative thinking matters. They see the standard of excellence and realize that there is a world outside their neighborhood that will inspire and embrace them.

When I attend a DFS event with the students, I feel like a kid myself and remember what it was like to be a first timer again. It is so much fun to feel the energy in the theater, to see an audience of squirming kids stilled and enraptured by a brilliant performing artist and to be astounded. As a youngster, I learned what’s possible not just to do, but what I could feel and be inspired by; it is a great pleasure to me, as a member of DFS, to now be a part of making all that possible for so many kids in Los Angeles.

Barbara Dobkin, Board Member

UCLA Community School, housed on the site of the legendary Ambassador Hotel in L.A.’s Koreatown, is a very impressive sight to see. Behind its tall, brightly colored street-side fence, a new and creative way of educating public school students is in full swing. When I first saw it, I was energized not only by the teachers but also by the young students themselves. But despite its impressive building and forward-thinking educators, the school has been slammed by massive LAUSD budget cuts which include zero funds for arts education programs. Zero.

Three years ago, Design for Sharing stepped up to fill this educational void, and under the expertise of Education Director, Meryl Friedman, developed a unique, weekly, in-school arts program for 200 students in grades 4, 5 and 6. It is the only sustained arts education these students have received and I’m proud to say DFS embraced, nurtured, and grew it into a meaningful part of their curriculum.

How is this program’s success measured? I don’t have a stack of research by professional educators, I don’t have written feedback from parents of budding artists, and I don’t have huge press coverage from the media to set before you as examples. Rather I have my own eyes and ears, and have seen firsthand how much the students have learned and grown over the course of the three years DFS teaching artists have worked with them.

I have seen students who did not speak a single word of English in the first year of our program perform poetry three years later, that they wrote themselves before a standing room only audience. Heartfelt poetry spoken loud and clear in perfect English. I have seen beautiful and creative art projects by students that helped them identify who they are as individuals, the kind of person they want to be, and how they want to contribute to society as they grow into adulthood. I have seen students in the program’s first year who could barely look at one another while learning to dance, grow into confident 5th and 6th graders that not only dance but perform with flare and confidence to culturally diverse music in the famed Cocoanut Grove Theatre. And I have seen their parents, dressed in their Sunday best, silently weep with pride over their child’s huge accomplishments.

The DFS arts education program at the Community School was a giant step forward in our mission to “bring the arts to those who might not otherwise have the opportunity”, and I have no doubt that DFS, and it’s many supporters, can be very proud of the positive and lasting impact our arts education program has made on these students.

Pattikay Gottlieb, Board Member

CHECK OUT the new student literary magazine from this year’s Community School arts residency at: cap.ucla.edu/csmag

DESIGN FOR SHARING WELCOMES OUR NEWEST BOARD MEMBER: MURIEL FINE SHERMAN

WHAT IS LEARNED

Muriel’s professional life began in the Philadelphia Unified School District, where she helped develop a new U.S. History program for high school, and taught accelerated Reading and Social Studies in 5th and 6th grades.

Muriel and her husband Neil moved to Los Angeles In 1970 and settled in Los Feliz. She received a research grant from USC/Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, where she coordinated an educational program for children on dialysis, and studied doctor-patient-parent communication in the treatment of infants and toddlers. After a decade in education, Muriel embarked on a new career, beginning at Sak’s 5th Avenue. She planned fashion shows for fundraising events and community programs in her role as the principal community relations/fashion coordinator. Later, she opened a high-end boutique in West Hollywood, followed by a women’s clothing store featuring popular-priced options for working women. For the next 15 years, her company Fashion Services, offered merchandising and consulting services for clothing, accessories, and gifts to a private clientele.

Muriel has a long history in non-profit service. Over the last 30 years, she has served on the Boards of the Women’s Political Committee, the L.A. Free Clinic in Hollywood, and the Community Relations Committee of the LA Philharmonic’s educational programs. For the last 7 years, she has been on the Board of Friends of the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA.

OVER 16,000 STUDENTS A YEAR come to UCLA for DFS events. Each dot on the map represents one of the many schools from across Los Angeles who participate in our programs!

For a 2012/13 schedule of events, go to: www.cap.ucla.edu/dfs

We asked Muriel a few questions about what brought her to DFS:

What is your earliest memory of experiencing the performing arts?

My earliest memory is as a seven year old going to the children’s concerts at the Philadelphia Orchestra with my two cousins, we did this for many years and it was my introduction to classical music. At about the same time, I saw my first Broadway show, South Pacific with Mary Martin and Enzio Pinza, and I fell in love!

What drew you to Design for Sharing?

Stephanie Snyder, our new president! She knows of my love for music and the performing arts and my background in education and the need for it in underserved communities and thought Design for Sharing was a perfect fit.

What are you most looking forward to with DFS?

Involvement with the schools, and hopefully there will be some hands-on things I can do which will make the experience more meaningful.

What’s on your iPod?

I don’t have an iPod, but I do have an mp3 player and I listen to books, however, in our home there is either classical music or opera playing most of the time.

Above: Muriel shows off her spoon instrument from a My Special World workshop

BUY-A-BUSPlease consider making an additional donation

to the Perloff Memorial Bus Fund

Yes, I’d like to Buy-A-Bus: $300 (Transport for up to 75 students)

$150 (Transport for one class)

Other

Buy-A-Bus Contributions are fully tax-deductible

THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROSITY! For questions, call DFS at 310-825-7681

Please mail to

Design for SharingB100 Royce Hall, Box 951529Los Angeles, CA 90095-1529

cap.ucla.edu/dfs

NAME:

ADDRESS:

CITY, STATE, ZIP:

Phone ( ) Email:

Home Work

DESIGN FOR SHARING: YOU MAKE IT POSSIBLE

YOUR SUPPORT MATTERS

Enclosed is my check payable to THE UCLA FOUNDATION

in the amount of $

Please charge $ to my credit card (circle one):

American Express MasterCard VISA Discover

Name on Card (please print)

Card No. Expir.

My donation is a gift membership or tribute gift Please send notification to:

I would like to decline benefits and make my gift fully tax deductible

NAME:

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2012-13 MEMBERSHIP LEVELSYes, I’d like to join CAP UCLA and designate my support to Design for Sharing!

$100 ($70 tax deductible) $1,250 ($974 tax deductible)

$300 ($240 tax deductible) $2,500 ($2,188 tax deductible)

$500 ($368 tax deductible) $5,000 ($4,688 is tax deductible)

$1,000 ($676 tax deductible) $10,000 ($9,688 is tax deductible)

For more information on membership levels and benefits, visit cap.ucla.edu/support

Join now using this form, or visit cap.ucla.edu/support

DFS programs both on campus and in the schools are made possible by individuals who care passionately about making the arts an integral part of children’s lives.

Your contribution supports:

• Age-appropriate performances and activities with professional artists

• Special art-making workshops and school residencies

• Subsidized bus transport for students to attend performing arts events at UCLA

• College-readiness materials and campus tours for students in grades 6-12

Arts programs in the Los Angeles Unified School District continue to be adversely affected by severe and continuing budget cuts. Your gift to Design for Sharing is a gift of the performing arts to our community’s children – helping DFS to provide arts education and special programs for thousands of students. Working together we can ensure that the performing arts remain an important part of our children’s education.

Thanks for being a part of the DFS family – we couldn’t do it without you!

THANKS TO ALL THOSE WHO CONTRIBUTED TO THE PERLOFF MEMORIAL BUS FUND IN THE 11/12 SCHOOL YEARAnonymousPhyllis & David AdelmanSylvia & Joe BalbonaDori BardavidRon BlancThe Board of Directors of Design for SharingTyler & Dorli BurgeDavid & Marlene CapellMarjore ChronisterJudy & Joel CitronSusan CoddingtonAnn & Lee CooperDel Rey LightingMary DeVallBarbara & Bruce DobkinSylvia El BayarFeintech Family FoundationSteven & Billie FischerDr. Audree FowlerStanley GendlerRoberta GillermanAnn GoldbergPattikay & Meyer GottliebSherman GrancellElizabeth Gray & Randall GordonLois HaytinMrs. Vera HowardDavid & Kathleen JacksonSandy KanengiserBob KayLetha KemperDoreen KleeSandra Klein & Don McCallumMadi Kleiner & Harley WilliamsJoanne KnopoffShari LeleaJoan Lesser & Ronald JohnstonDiane Levine & Bob WassWendy LevineNan LewisAstrid & Howard PrestonWilliam & Sally RutterRuth Roberts & Dennis WasserThe Schrillo Family FoundationMuriel ShermanStephanie Snyder & Michael WarrenMike ThurmanWilliam TurnerCarol Vernon & Bob TurbinChristopher & Glennis WatermanPamela WeinbergerDiane WeinsteinBudd & Vicki WillisMimi & Werner WolfenStanley & Dorothy WolpertRuth ZeiglerAnita & Julius L. Zelman

OUR GRATEFUL APPRECIATION TO THE MAJOR DONORS WHO MADE OUR 11/12 SEASON POSSIBLE

CIRCLE OF MUSESAnother Planet EntertainmentLeonard Apt, MDBank of AmericaJames A. Doolittle FoundationThe Dream FundDr. Audree FowlerMr. Sherman GrancellThe Ring FoundationThe Schrillo Family FoundationMr. & Mrs. Werner Wolfen

PRESIDENT’S FORUMMrs. Helen BingThe Samuel Goldwyn FoundationMrs. Goldyne HearshHSBC BankJoan Lesser & Ronald JohnstonDiane Levine & Bob WassShirley & Ralph ShapiroAnita & Julius L. Zelman Foundation

STERLING BENEFACTORSMrs. David L. AbellDel Rey LightingThe Feintech Family FoundationJan & Steve Winston

DISTINGUISHED BENEFACTORSAnonymousSylvia & Joe BalbonaMargaret M. BloomfieldMrs. Terri BloomgardenRosanna Hirshon BogartEli J. BorokJudy & Joel CitronAnn & Lee CooperBarbara and Bruce DobkinBillie & Steven FischerGood Works FoundationJackie & Stan GottliebPattikay & Meyer GottliebCarol & Irving GreinesMs. Leslee Hackenson & Mr. Roger AllersMrs. Lois HaytinLewis & Sandy KanengiserJoanne KnopoffMrs. Marti KoplinMorelle & Norman LevineMrs. Ginny ManciniDr. Jeffrey Perloff & Dr. Jacqueline PersonsDr. James D. PersonLaurie Raskin Shuman & Rick ShumanWilliam TurnerHarley Williams & Madi Kleiner

(Gifts received before 5/25/12)

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

FOUNDERMRS. HERBERT WITHERSPOON *

CO-FOUNDERMIMI PERLOFF ** in memoriam

PRESIDENTSTEPHANIE SNYDER

PHYLLIS JOHNSON ADELMAN ‡ LEONARD APT, M.D.SYLVIA BALBONAMARK CARLSONMARJORE CHRONISTER ‡

BARBARA DOBKIN ‡

AUDRÉE FOWLERPATTIKAY GOTTLIEBCAROL GREINES ‡

SHERMAN GRANCELLSUZANNA GUZMÁNLOIS HAYTINSANDRA KANENGISERBOB KAY JOANNE V.C. KNOPOFF ‡

MARTHA KOPLINJOAN LESSER ‡

DIANE LEVINELEONA MATTONI ‡

NANCY NEALTHEODORA CARRAS PRIMES ‡

DAVID S. RODES ‡

MURIEL FINE SHERMANLAURIE RASKIN SHUMANBONNIE TAUBMIMI WOLFENBONNIE YAEGER ‡

‡ Past Presidents

PROGRAM COORDINATORTHERESA WILLIS PETERS

DIRECTOR, EDUCATION & COMMUNITY PROGRAMSMERYL FRIEDMAN

DIRECTOR, CAP UCLAKRISTY EDMUNDS

Special thanks to our Volunteer Coordinator, Ellen Kaufman