Established in 1978, The San Francisco Children's Art Center is a non-profit, child-centered community art organization that values the importance of process-oriented art instruction. The Center offers classes for children ages 2-10 years at their Fort Mason studio. They provide visual arts residencies at preschools and elementary schools, including school-day and after school options. They also offer teacher professional development and field trips for workshops in the studio.

Our program introduces students to the art of filmmaking and celebrates both the differences and the shared values of the many cultural groups that make up our global community. We aim to develop media literacy, broaden insights into other cultures, enhance foreign language aptitude, develop critical thinking skills, and inspire a lifelong appreciation of cinema. We host film screenings, media presentations, interactive discussions, filmmaker visits, study guides, and professional development.

Education and Public Practice is a curatorial department of pedagogical and cultural programming driven by a commitment to public collaboration.

The San Francisco Opera's groundbreaking Opera ARIA programs aim at connecting professional artistic and creative elements of opera with classroom curricula. Based on a semester of investigation into the needs of the school community and a semester of pilot testing, the Opera ARIA programs focus on empowering educators to work with their own colleagues and with the Opera to develop curriculum connections, as well as connections to the California State Arts and Academic Standards.

San Francisco Opera Guild offers engaging opera programming for schools, youth, and adults. In-school programs range from interactive assemblies and workshops to residencies in which students create their own operas. Schools also come to the Opera House for Student Dress Rehearsals, an offering we have had since 1939. Intensive training programs offer an artistic and social home for young adults, while panels and lectures give adults an in-depth understanding of upcoming operas.

The Rising Star Theatre Attendance Program inspires a new generation of theatregoers by providing Bay Area high school students with a four play season subscription. As part of the TAP, students receive a pre-show lesson plan that includes theatre games/warm-ups, scene teasers and comprehension questions; the post-show lesson provides further enrichment with activities that draw on their experience as audience members. Rising Stars also participate in an immediate post-show discussion.

The Visual and Digital Art division of the Cultural Arts Competency encourages students to cultivate self-expression, imagination, and creativity through art-making, as well as to hone critical-thinking and problem-solving skills. Our professional instructors of digital art involve students in the physical as well as aesthetic exploration of images using digital editing programs and electronic tools.

The San Francisco Shakespeare Festival has a wide array of education programs, including touring Shakespeare productions, in-school workshops, Shakespeare summer camps, weekend production classes for teens, customizable theatre residencies, after-school enrichment in low-income neighborhoods, programs for young adults in recovery, community outreach Shakespeare productions for adults and youth, professional development internships, and classes for homeschool groups.

The San Francisco Symphony provides music education experiences for children, families, and schools throughout San Francisco and the Greater Bay Area. All San Francisco Unified School District elementary schools grades 1-5 participate, free of charge, in the Adventures in Music program. Instrument Training and Support provides free professional coaching to bands and orchestras in San Francisco public middle and high schools. Youth Orchestra is a tuition free pre-professional training program serving talented young instrumentalists ages 12-21.

At the San Francisco World Music Festival, we believe that music has the power to transform people. There is a simple beauty in music connecting with its listener for the first time. In our 18 years of creating stage productions, we’ve discovered that this connection not only can inspire people to explore their own potential, but even inspire change for the greater good. Change that can revive centuries-old traditions, fuel developing economies, and educate young people. This is why we thrive.