By Megan Sayles
AFRO Staff Writer
msayles@afro.com
The Baltimore School for the Arts (BSA) held its annual fundraiser, “Expressions,” March 5, 7
and 8—showcasing the creativity and talent of the city’s young artists to donors, community members and art enthusiasts.
This year, the event ran under the theme, “The Power of Wonder and Awe,” a nod to the faculty’s philosophy of encouraging BSA students to infuse wonder and awe into all of the work they create. The fundraiser raised $740,000 in gross revenue, ultimately netting $500,000 to support the school’s programming..
Stephanie Moore, director of the Baltimore School for the Arts Foundation, called the weekend “a wild success.”
“This gala is our second highest revenue-driven line item for the foundation each year. Supporting through ‘Expressions’ helps us fund the Baltimore School for the Arts,” said Moore. “It pays for all the part-time arts faculty, master classes, field trips and seminars with working artists. This money also helps us cover some costs for the TWIGS program, which is our completely free out-of-school program for Baltimore City youth in second through eighth grade.”
Unbeknownst to some, BSA is a public high school within the Baltimore City Public School System. The BSA Foundation, the school’s fundraising partner, privately raises 33 percent of BSA’s funding to support arts training and enrichment opportunities that fall outside of the traditional school budget. .
The institution is also one of the city’s top-performing schools, with attendance rates above 97 percent and a 100 percent graduate rate. There, students spend half of their day on academic coursework and the other half receiving intensive arts training in disciplines such as dance, theater, music, visual arts and film.
“These students are ready for anything when they leave here. We have students doing the full breadth—going straight out to a dance company, going to pursue their art in college and some going into astrophysics or becoming a doctor,” said Moore. “They’re going out and doing some of everything, and having that background, the dedication and passion to follow their art builds skills in these students that push them forward.”
Rosiland Cauthen, executive director of BSA, said “Expressions” represents the height of BSA students’ talent, allowing every department to come together to perform.
She said it also serves as a community-building experience.
“We have our donors and our trustees through the foundation that are part of our stakeholder community. We have parents, alumni and partnering arts organizations in the neighborhood that all consider themselves like a part of the BSA community,” said Cauthen. “‘Expressions’ allows for all of those different stakeholders to come together and celebrate the success that is BSA and hopefully find a little joy and inspiration from what the students are able to do on stage and put together.”
Cauthen emphasized that investment in the arts is needed now more than ever, especially considering the sense of joy and inspiration they bring during uncertain times.
“I would encourage people to continue to give to the Baltimore School for the Arts because the students are so brave. They are willing to take risks to actualize their dreams,” said Cauthen. “Many of us, when we were younger, had a dream of being a singer, dancer or poet. Then life got harder and harder along the way and bills started coming in. These young people still have all the hope in the world so as much as we can support those dreams of artistry, the better we are as a community.”
