News from PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
Office of Communications
Stanhope Hall
Princeton, New Jersey 08544-5264
Telephone 609-258-3601; Fax 609-258-1301

For immediate release: Jan. 29, 2002

Contact: Marilyn Marks, 609-258-3601 or mmarks@princeton.edu
 

Arts Alive program kicks off with visits to museum, Broadway

Program benefits children most affected by Sept. 11 attacks

Princeton, N.J. -- Arts Alive, a program created and funded by Princeton University to provide cultural experiences in New York for up to 10,000 schoolchildren affected by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, begins this week with visits to the American Museum of Natural History, the Hayden Planetarium and two Broadway shows.

On Wednesday, Jan. 30, 100 students from Public School 234, located near the World Trade Center disaster site, and family members will tour the natural history museum and planetarium. Sixty students and family members will attend matinees of "42nd Street" or "Beauty and the Beast." The program continues Thursday, Jan. 31 and Friday, Feb. 1, as 100 students and family members visit the museum and planetarium each day. The children will be accompanied by students from Princeton University.

If you would like to cover the kickoff programs and speak to children, parents, participating Princeton students and program organizers, please contact Marilyn Marks at 609-258-3601 or mmarks@princeton.edu.

Princeton is conducting the Arts Alive program in partnership with HAI (Hospital Audiences Inc.), a non-profit organization that has been working with the New York City Board of Education to provide public school students with opportunities to attend live arts and cultural programs.

P.S. 234, on Greenwich Street in TriBeCa, has been temporarily relocated since Sept. 11, with the children attending classes at St. Bernard's Parochial School. Over the next few days, the school staff will be preparing to move back to the regular school building.

Schedule:

Museum / Planetarium visit, Jan. 30, Jan. 31, Feb. 1: Orientation for Princeton University students begins at 10:30 a.m. at the offices of HAI, on the third floor at 548 Broadway. Children and family members will gather at noon at the main entrance of the American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West and 79th Street. The visit will take place at 12:15 p.m., followed by a viewing of the "Space Show" at the planetarium. One hundred children and 15 Princeton students will participate each day.

Broadway shows, Jan. 30 only: Orientation for Princeton University students begins at 10:30 a.m. at HAI offices on the third floor at 548 Broadway. Children and family members gather at 2 p.m. at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre (205 W. 46th St.) to see "Beauty and the Beast" or at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts (213 W. 42nd St.) to see "42nd Street." Approximately 30 children and their family members, and three Princeton University students, will view each show.

Background:

Arts Alive aims to provide arts and cultural experiences for children who were dislocated by the attacks or live in communities that lost a large number of residents, and to help sustain arts and cultural organizations in New York at a time they are struggling financially. Through the spring, schoolchildren will be treated to visits to museums, art galleries, and theater, dance, and music performances, and will enjoy related educational programs in their schools. Princeton University has devoted $500,000 to the program.

The Arts Alive program has been adopted by Princeton's class of 2004 as a class project. The class and the student Performing Arts Council, which represents a broad range of student performing groups, will develop educational programs to prepare the participating children, so that they will receive maximum benefit from each experience.

HAI, founded in 1969 to provide access to the arts for New Yorkers who are isolated from the cultural mainstream, will identify the schools and children to participate, select appropriate cultural experiences, arrange for tickets and transportation, and work with the Princeton students to provide related educational offerings. For information about HAI, contact founder and Executive Director Michael Spencer at 212-575-7676 or mspencer99@aol.com.

Princeton University has committed $1 million to four programs, including Arts Alive, that were created to respond to the tragedies of Sept. 11. In addition to Arts Alive, the University established a scholarship program at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, which lost more than 100 students and alumni as a result of the attacks; set up week-long programs next summer for children who lost parents; devoted funds to support faculty and staff who can contribute special expertise to New York's renewal and recovery, and provided support for student research related to the attacks.
 

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