Penny Performances

As a performing artist and a mother, I strongly believe in and support arts education. I also have a first-hand understanding that, financially speaking, exposing children to live performances can be difficult. For our family, and I expect for many other families, the cost to see a live performance is often a little bit more than the budget will bear. Thanks to a new program, we will be able to enjoy live performances on a regular basis.

This year the Knoxville Symphony is one of 28 local arts groups to offer "Penny Performances." This is a new initiative by the Arts and Cultural Alliance of Greater Knoxville. According to the Penny 4 Arts website, the purpose of this program is

"(To) give every child in Knox County, including home-schooled and private-schooled students, an opportunity to attend arts and culture events/activities at the maximum cost of ONE PENNY when accompanied by an adult during the 2010/2011 academic school year. The Penny Performances program meets the local arts community’s long-term goal of serving and educating East Tennessee's children."

I looked at the calendar of events currently scheduled for Penny Performances and I'm floored. There are so many performances listed, you could take your child to something different just about every single week from now through May. Symphony concerts, artist exhibits, dance performances, opera performances, plays... the variety is enormous. I'm looking forward to taking my daughter to many of these events and I'm also looking forward to seeing some young people in the audience at the symphony this season.