Reimagining Opera for Kids (RoK)

In conjunction with the Jacobs School of Music, Reimagining Opera for Kids was a non-profit community arts and education organization based in Bloomington that provided art experiences for children. It's two goals were to introduce children to opera through engaging first experiences, and to give developing professional musicians the opportunity to hone their performance skills. We have provided free performances for schools in the Southern Indiana region as well as curriculum guides for teachers to use in the classroom. In addition to live performances and artist interactions, Reimagining Opera for Kids presented an ongoing real-time experiment in community-centered organizational evolution and development. ROK has a long standing relationship with many educational institutions and community centers throughout south central Indiana, and intentionally worked with community partners to evolve in ways that best support those partners. This initiative was relevant for those in the arts as performers or administrators, or those in the community as educators, activities directors, advocates, or those involved in community engagement in other roles. The counties that were involved are Monroe, Lawrence, Brown, Spencer, Owen, Daviess, and Greene.