Harris Theater for Music and Dance

harristheaterchicago.org

In recent years, it has become common to extol the power of the arts to improve children's skills in the classroom. What we hear less frequently is how powerful the arts are, unto themselves.

The Harris Theater takes the latter approach, seeking to broaden the cultural opportunities available to children and families, from a belief that music and dance have a profound ability to elevate and inspire—and, in times of need, even heal—the human spirit.

The Theater's Access Tickets program is designed to bring this power to underserved constituencies. By building relationships with service agencies, the program ensures that tickets are available to kids or families with a specific need: military families with little time to spend together, talented children without the wherewithal to attend world-class performances, or parents looking for insight into a child's passion.

"It's up to us to be mindful of the diverse needs that are there," says Michael Tiknis, president and managing director of the Theater.

"So much of what the arts represent is the possibilities that life offers, as opposed to the certainties—and these agencies are helping families who are dealing with some very grim certainties."

Perhaps the best indicator of the powerful impact that Access Tickets can have is the responses of participants. "Not only was the Afro-Beats! concert fabulous," one mother recently wrote, "but the fact that the musicians hung out with our children after was touching and heartwarming. My son had a wonderful time laughing and enjoying playing the instruments... Thank you for this event and we hope and pray you do it again next year."

To Tiknis, these kinds of reactions reflect the experiences of a lifetime spent in the arts.

"The most important thing to me," he says, "is that the arts are about possibilities. It's not so much about where you are, but about where you can be, and where you might go."

See the Trust's recent grants to the Harris Theater

Learn more about our grant making in Arts & Culture