SPARC's LIVE ART Tickets Now On Sale

SPARC has announced that tickets for LIVE ART have now gone on sale. The tickets can be purchased at www.sparconline.org/liveart. Tickets start at $35, for general admission.

V.I.P. tickets available for $250, per person. The V.I.P. tickets include premier seating, a tax deductible donation of $125, exclusive admission to the LIVE ART cast party immediately following the concert, and a LIVE ART commemorative t-shirt.   

For patrons who are deaf or hard of hearing, there is a special reserved section with clear sight-line to an ASL interpreter. 

LIVE ART is a 20-week educational project uniting children with all abilities together to perform alongside local and national musicians, culminate with a major performance on June 3, at the Carpenter Theater. 

LIVE ART allows students with and without developmental disabilities and hearing impairment to work together in an inclusive environment. Many of the participating students have never taken performing arts classes or have publicly expressed themselves artistically. 

“Words cannot begin to describe the changes in social development, arts exposure, and pure unabashed joy from every student and teacher in the room,” said Erin Thomas-Foley SPARC’s Director of Education, about the program. 

Only a handful of such programs are believed to have been piloted worldwide, and none on such a scale. LIVE ART is positioning SPARC, its partners, and the Richmond community as leaders in performing arts education nationwide. 

Participating musicians will include soulful singer-songwriters Steve Bassett, Susan Greenbaum, and Jesse Harper; conductor/arranger Samson Trinh and his Upper East Side Big Band; jazz vocalist Terri Simpson; stellar singer and banjoist Josh Small and Independent Music Award winner Robbin Thompson.

Along with these renowned performers, and Grammy Award winner Jason Mraz —a SPARC alumnus — nationally recognized keyboardist Daniel Clarke (Modern Groove Syndicate and k.d. lang), and producer Tim Timberlake will contribute as artistic advisors. 

LIVE ART is being documented by film makers Martin Montgomery of Martin Montgomery Films and Bill Gaff of Human Story Films. A 4-minute excerpt of the LIVE ART documentary project can be seen at http://bit.ly/LiveArtExcerpt 

All students are participating tuition-free, thanks to major project funding by the Stanley and Kim Markel Memorial Fund of the Community Foundation Serving Richmond and Central Virginia.

LIVE ART is a part of the statewide arts initiative, Minds Wide Open 2012: Virginia Celebrates Children and the Arts. 

For more information about LIVE ART, please visit www.sparconline.org.