Madame Walker Theatre Center - Educational Programs

Educational Programs

The educational programs of the Madame Walker Theatre Center are intended to foster in young people a cross-cultural appreciation for the arts.

Youth-in-Arts In 1987, the Madame Walker Theater Center launched the Youth-in-Arts program, opening a world of possibilities to Indiana’s children. The program annually targets more than 150 youth who may or may not have the resources to experience the arts outside of their typical school setting. Youth-in-Arts reflects the Center’s mission as it seeks to “provide an environment of cross-cultural appreciation through nurturing and celebrating the artistic and cultural perspectives of African-Americans.

In 2007, the program was redesigned and now consists of three subprograms: 1) Project MAPPED; 2) CRUSHING the CONVENTIONAL, and 3) BEYOND THE WINGS. These fresh new offerings approach the arts through performance and scholarship with the goal of making them an inclusive, lifelong experience. Each new program targets students, teachers and parents.

The Youth-in-Arts mission is to “encourage, expose, explore, and expand the talents of young ‘arts-minded’ individuals by combining African-American cultural phenomena with an integrated arts environment that will ensure every participant the opportunity to experience various roles within the realm of artistic production, while also cultivating civic minded, highly motivated, respectful individuals.”

Project MAPPED M.A.P.P.E.D. is an acronym, which stands for Music, Art, Poetry, Performance, Expression, and Dance. The new program is a 12-week interdisciplinary arts curriculum offered 3 days a week in 2-hour intervals targeting grades 3 through 12 and serving students on all performance levels.

The program offers: • chorus & individual voice lessons, • string orchestra & individual string lessons, • poetry & spoken word writing • speech lessons • set production & visual arts, and • various genres of dance (i.e., modern, ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop).

Each session culminates with a semiprofessional performance on stage at the Madame Walker Theatre. The sessions are assigned themes dictated by specific historical events or phenomena within American and African-American culture. In addition to the daily rigors of the program, students enjoy workshops, lecture-demonstrations, and concerts that further introduce them to business practices in the music industry and expose them to the creative processes and aesthetics of various genres.

Crushing the Conventional This is a concert/lecture/master class series for students, educators and parents showcasing traditional and nontraditional art forms within the African and African-American Diaspora. Admission to these matinee performances is set at an affordable rate ($5 to $7 per performance). The series occurs during the school day and includes master classes and lectures for parents. The matinée series is scheduled to launch in February 2008.

Beyond the Wings This is a new Arts Administration introductory training initiative of the Center targeting high school students. The program exposes students to basic arts administrative duties and allows them enjoy the benefits of learning about the growing, popular field of arts administration, while collecting valuable community service credits many are required to obtain on a semester basis.

Arts in Education This program provides comprehensive arts experiences to Indianapolis Public School students and students in private, suburban and outlying school districts. The program utilizes artists in residence who are participating in our humanities or performing arts programs to provide workshops, master classes, lecture-demonstrations and mini-concerts that educate the student to the process, technique and aesthetics of various art forms. The Arts in Education program also includes the Children’s Performing Arts Series, which affords opportunities for students to attend matinée performances at the Madame Walker Theatre.

Madame Walker Academy for Girls This program provides comprehensive intermediate-level refinement skills to an underserved segment of the Indianapolis community. Through an ongoing series of workshops, lectures and activities, participants graduate from the academy armed with the ability to present themselves with poise and charm in a variety of settings. The program is open to girls ages 11–17.

Humanities Because the arts and humanities play important roles in shaping and enriching people’s lives, the Madame Walker Theatre Center’s programming for the humanities is designed to encourage participation by persons of all ages.

Writer’s Symposium Series This is an ongoing program of the Center and is designed to familiarize participants with the written word and its place in American culture. The program presents a series of dialogues based in and around the works of local, regional and national authors.

Walker Film Series The series of films is designed to bring visibility to national and international film and video with special emphasis on African and African-American and other ethnic filmmakers.

Tours & Living History Madame Walker Heritage Center. The Heritage Center serves as a display space and repository for information regarding Madam C.J. Walker’s life and legacy as well as the lives of African-Americans who have contributed to American culture. This street-level space offers tours, lectures and small heritage programs presented by local living history theatre Freetown Village. Each year, we anticipate serving more than 5,000 visitors in the Heritage Center.

Today and In The Future The Center continues to develop strong associations nationally, as well as in the local arts and cultural community. The Center provides facilities for Freetown Village and Iibada Dance Company. It serves as a rental facility for other arts, social, civic and business organizations to host their programs and activities.

Through its educational, performing arts and humanities programs, the center strives to better lives through positive cultural experiences.