University of Hartford Performing Arts Center

Key Points

• The University of Hartford Performing Arts Center project addresses three major issues: The Hartt School's critical need for additional classrooms, rehearsal spaces and performance venues to accommodate its burgeoning enrollment, both at the collegiate and community division levels; Hartt's need for an instructional and performing environment reflective of the growing diversity of its academic (following the addition of dance and theatre divisions) and public offerings; and Hartt's and the University's desires to be more deeply involved in the community.
• The University of Hartford Performing Arts Center, which involves renovating the approximately 71,000 square feet of space in the three buildings on the site, will have a total estimated project cost of $25 million. The University expects to raise half the total amount through private donations and half from state and federal governmental sources. The Connecticut Development Authority is providing $2 million in bonding, through its Community Brownfields and Information Technology Financing program, with the assistance and support of the City of Hartford. In addition, the project has received initial Congressional authorization for funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
• University officials expect that this renovation of the long-vacant facility into a performing arts center will continue the economic development activity already set in motion and spearheaded by the Artists Collective's state-of-the-art, cultural arts center.
• The Performing Arts Center project will strengthen The Hartt School's collaborative efforts with the Artists Collective to develop more complementary programs between these two arts institutions, creating a "cultural corridor" on Albany Avenue, that will benefit the local community (including the corporate community) and generations of future performing artists.
• The University is committed to increasing and enhancing its connection with its North Hartford neighbors. University students have been working in five North Hartford schools for more than a decade as tutors through the Educational Main Street program, and University faculty and students have assisted a variety of organizations in projects coordinated by the University's Center for Community Service. In addition, University faculty and administrators have worked to help launch the Upper Albany Business Training Network and to help community leaders gain "Connecticut Main Street" designation for Albany Avenue.
• The University of Hartford Performing Arts Center will offer three distinct buildings designed for vocal, dance, theatre and Community Division programs, including: two theatrical performance spaces with flexible seating, accommodating between 100 and 200 people; a vocal rehearsal and recital room; movement studios designed for dance instruction; teaching and rehearsal studios for music theatre, vocal, dance and acting programs; a performance library; classrooms; a scene shop; and a costume shop.
• The facility will offer space for community meetings and functions, and a café or coffee shop. The University is in the midst of discussions with People's Bank about locating a bank branch and drive-up ATM at the site.

Partners

• Founded in 1925, the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving is the community foundation for Greater Hartford - the City of Hartford and 29 surrounding towns. Devoted to improving the quality of life in the region, the Foundation provides grants and other support to nonprofits, helps donors make effective charitable giving decisions, and brings people together to discuss important community issues.
• The Hartford Foundation has awarded more than $280 million dollars in grants over the years to a wide range of nonprofit organizations in the area. The Foundation funds agencies and programs that make a lasting difference to the communities they serve. · Because the Hartford Foundation is non-political, nonsectarian, and locally focused - and has an extensive knowledge of the community - it is ideally positioned to convene parties from all segments of our community to identify important community needs and effective ways to address them.
• The Hartt School is the comprehensive performing arts conservatory of the University of Hartford with degree programs in music, dance, and theatre and a community arts school serving students of all ages. Currently, Hartt has approximately 250 full and part-time faculty members serving 569 undergraduates, and 100 graduate students. The Hartt School is divided into seven divisions: instrumental studies, vocal studies, music education, academic studies, dance, theatre and community
• Hartt offers undergraduate programs in instrumental and vocal performance, pre-cantorial studies, music and performing arts management, music production and technology, music education, music history, music theory, jazz, composition, dance performance, dance teaching, music theatre, and actor training. It offers master's level music programs in vocal performance, instrumental performance, music education, music history, music theory, composition, Suzuki pedagogy, and instrumental/choral conducting. Doctoral programs are offered in vocal performance, instrumental performance, instrumental/choral conducting, composition, and music education. · With more than 400 performances a year, The Hartt School brings a variety of concerts and programs to the Greater Hartford community including orchestra, wind ensemble, choral, chamber and solo concerts; music theatre and theatre productions and dance performances.

Community Involvement

• The Artists Collective and The Hartt School Community Division successfully completed their first year of a Creative Communities program providing 50 students from the Mary Shepard Place, Bowles Park and Nelton Court communities with a two day per week music experience. A concept developed by the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts and funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the National Endowment for the Arts, the Creative Communities Program is designed to provide instruction in the arts for students from public housing communities. To further support the Creative Communities program, the Artists Collective received an arts partnership grant from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts for its collaboration with Hartt and the Hartford Housing Authority, and Hartt received funding for the duration of the program from the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving to help support its portion of the teaching.
• The Hartt Community Division of the University of Hartford is one of the leading community arts schools in the country serving approximately 2,500 students. With a faculty of more than 150, the Community Division offers programs for all ages and interests in music and theater. The Community Division is committed to providing students of all ages and levels with quality instruction in the performing arts. Through its Fund for Access, the Division offers financial aid based on need for students with interest in its programs. The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving program grant, announced today, supports the Fund for Access and is targeted to the north Hartford Community. Home to the Connecticut Youth Symphony, the Connecticut Children's Chorus and a variety of ensemble and private lesson programs, the Community Division affords its students both the quality of a comprehensive conservatory and an open admissions policy to encourage participation.