Join us at Spirits of the Prairie, on Saturday, April 4, 2020, featuring the best in wines, craft beers, locally made spirits and delicious bites from area restaurants. The evening includes live entertainment, raffle prizes and plenty to please your palate. The event, presented by Schaumburg Bank and Trust, benefits the programs supported by the Foundation.

We are delighted to continue our partnership with The Wine Cellar Outlet for our seventh annual tasting event. The Wine Cellar specializes in handcrafted wines from around the world, and will offer a variety of new selections for tasting at Spirits of the Prairie. With additional tastes from local craft breweries, distilleries, and great restaurants, as well as some wonderful raffle prizes and live entertainment, it’s sure to be a fun and festive evening, and a perfect group outing for friends and colleagues.

Proceeds from Spirits of the Prairie benefit the community outreach programs of the Prairie Center Arts Foundation, and the youth programs and season of performing arts at the Al Larson Prairie Center for the Arts.

In an effort to raise awareness of and support for the Al Larson Prairie Center for the Arts and the manufacturing and technology communities in and around Schaumburg, the Prairie Center Arts Foundation is planning its 4th annual Building STEAM fundraising event. Area manufacturers and tech companies each donate a box of parts – everything from auto, appliance and electronic parts to scrap metal and plastics – to be re-purposed to create sculptures that will be auctioned off at the event.

Participating artists include a team of students from each of several area high schools, for a total of approximately a dozen sculptures. Each team is randomly assigned one of the donated boxes, and has five weeks to create the sculpture. Guidelines are set to restrict the size of each sculpture, as well as the additional allowable materials that may be used in each completed project. Rubrics are provided to establish criteria for the creation and judging of the projects.

Building STEAM will feature food and drink, unveiling of the sculptures, award presentation, and live auction. Students and their families will also have an opportunity to meet with manufacturers and technology companies to explore the wealth of emerging career opportunities in these fields. Attendees will have a chance to get up close to the sculptures and the students who created them, and hear about the obstacles and challenges they overcame while creating their works of art.

One of the hallmarks of STEM is innovation. Innovation and creativity go hand in hand. The Prairie Center Arts Foundation sees this event as an opportunity to bridge STEM to STEAM. With the support of our partners, this free event benefits all participants, and sets an example for other organizations to partner and collaborate across multiple sectors.

Having a tough time deciding which program to support? There are so many worthy options! We can help. Donate here, and we’ll put your generous contribution to work where it’s needed most.

Believe it or not, ticket prices only cover about half the cost of bringing great performances to the Prairie Center. Your contribution to the 2019-2020 season of performing arts helps offset expenses, keeping tickets affordable, and ensuring the growth and excellence of performing arts in our community.

All children should have the opportunity to learn and grow as individuals, and pursue their passions,
regardless of financial barriers. The Young Artists Assistance Program offers tuition assistance to
talented students in need, so they may participate in the Schaumburg Youth Orchestra, Schaumburg Youth Choir, or Schaumburg Dance Ensemble.

Students and their parents or guardians must apply for assistance annually. Tuition assistance, if
awarded, will fund up to 75% of the student’s youth program tuition for the year. All information is kept private and confidential.

There are people in the communities served by the Prairie Center Arts Foundation (PCAF) whose physical, mental, or economic barriers prevent them from experiencing many opportunities others take for granted. In collaboration with its agency partners, the Theatre Buddies program provides live theatre experiences to children at-risk, victims of domestic violence, senior citizens, veterans and their families, and people with psychological, emotional or developmental disabilities. At the very least, this exposure to the arts offers respite from cares and worries, and can create bridges between past challenges and future possibilities.

The program purchases tickets for performances at the Al Larson Prairie Center for the Arts, and distributes them through its community agency partners to their clients. It offers these partner agencies a unique opportunity to present a complete range of services to their clients, creating enhanced potential for growth and recovery. These experiences are transformational, creating hope for those facing seemingly insurmountable challenges.

The tickets are purchased by the Foundation and distributed through community agencies, which currently include the Kenneth Young Center, Children’s Advocacy Center, Clearbrook, Shelter Inc., Seguin Services, the Schaumburg Senior Barn, Illinois Fire Safety Alliance, and Resources for Community Living.

While funding levels can vary from year to year, the program typically provides 250-350 theatre tickets to people in need in our community.

All children should have access to the arts throughout their schooling. Because the arts – music and dance in particular – have been shown to contribute to reading and language acquisition and sequence learning, the Arts Partners program is valued by its participating teachers and principals as a necessary supplement to their curricula. This program provides tickets, transportation and classroom resources to second grade bilingual and dual language students and their teachers to attend at least three live performances in different genres at the Prairie Center for the Arts during their academic year. Each year, approximately 350 students and teachers attend a concert by the Schaumburg Youth Choir, a performance of the Nutcracker ballet presented by the Schaumburg Dance Ensemble, and at least one culturally or historically specific performance by a professional singer, group, dance ensemble, storyteller, or theatre troupe.

While most schools have at least a basic arts curriculum, they are rarely able to offer their students a live performing arts experience in a theatre space. The Arts Partners program brings children to the Prairie Center who would otherwise never have an opportunity to attend a live performance in a theatre setting. This in-depth experience brings the arts back into their classrooms. In addition to the students that are directly impacted by this program annually, the student performers from the Schaumburg Dance Ensemble and Schaumburg Youth Orchestra also benefit, serving as role models and providing inspiration to the program participants. The program also includes feedback from the children’s teachers and principals, making Arts Partners a relevant and vital contributor to their classroom curricula, and supplementing the children’s language skills.

Screen Test Student Fest is the Chicago area’s premiere festival dedicated to exhibiting short films made by students in grades K – 12. Films are selected and awarded by a panel of judges.

The first annual festival was held in February, 2007. The number of submissions has quadrupled over the years to include a variety of genres and styles, including stop action animation, war films, issue-driven documentaries, and experimental films.

In 2015, Screen Test began accepting submissions from throughout the U.S. and overseas, making it a truly international festival. All filmmakers participate in the fest, either in person or via live internet video connection.

For more than 25 years, Schaumburg Dance Ensemble’s production of the Nutcracker has been delighting audiences across multiple generations. The Nutcracker features more than 100 students and professional dancers, beautiful choreography, stunning costumes, colorful sets, and live narration. Professional dancers from the American Ballet Theatre, Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, Cincinnati Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Company, and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre have graced this production over the years. Student dancers come from far and wide to audition for the opportunity to perform with accomplished dancers in this highly professional production.

The Nutcracker has grown in popularity since its beginnings, with additional performances added to include ten public shows, and two abridged presentations for area school children. Dancers and audiences alike are enriched by the artistry and history of this classic ballet.

The Schaumburg Youth Choir is a recreational and educational outlet for talented singers, open to elementary students in grades 3 and up, junior high, high school and college students.

Members meet once weekly at the Prairie Center for the Arts to rehearse choral repertoire. The three ensembles present concerts at the Prairie Center and for the community throughout the area. They have performed for the Chicago Bulls, Schaumburg Boomers, the Harlem Globetrotters, and at Chicago’s Symphony Center for the Schaumburg Youth Orchestra’s 25th Anniversary Gala Concert.

The SYC is comprised of three separate performing ensembles:

Prelude – Open to all students in grades 3 and up, this choir trains our youngest singers. Focus is on singing technique, beginning sight-singing skills, unison and beginning two-part singing, and developing a life-long joy and love of singing.

Cantabile – Open to students in grades 6 through high school that demonstrate strong vocal technique and independent beginning sight-singing skills. Students learn more challenging sight-singing skills, vocal technique, and perform unison, 2-part, and 3-part choral repertoire.

Kammerchor – Open to high school and college students that demonstrate mature, experienced vocal technique and strong sight-singing skills. Students perform a wide variety of more challenging repertoire, ranging from unison to 8-part harmony. Students are instructed in vocal technique, music
theory, and ensemble performance skills.