A Brief History of ALICE
ALICE began in the spring of 2004 as a grass-roots consortium of parents, teachers and artists. Our premise: The arts are essential to every child's education and all children deserve an arts-integrated education-regardless of their racial, socio-economic, or ethnic background.
In our first four years, ALICE grew from serving 300 children in two Oakland elementary schools to over 4,000 elementary, middle and high school students throughout the Bay Area. As we enter our fifth year, ALICE continues expand the educational opportuniies for all of our children.
ALICE invites all educators and parents to think creatively about how they can work with each other to assure an arts education for all.
To inquire about bringing ALICE to your school, see Contact.
ALICE's Philosophy
From the Director
In 2004, I founded ALICE. I did so partly out of seeing the enormous gap between my own daughter's public education in a well-endowed "hills" school, and that of children whose schools struggle to provide the most basic services. The lack of a viable arts education was one of the most striking differences between schools that "have" and those that "have not." As a theatre artist living-literally-between the hills and flats, I saw the opportunity for the arts to help bridge this divide and create a sense of community among culturally diverse communities.
My work as a theatre professional has always been collaborative, community-based and interdisciplinary. It has been grounded in the belief that by going deeply into one's cultural roots, the work that emerges is universal and speaks to all people. As an educator, I believe every child should be learning grade-appropriate skills and concepts in music, theatre, dance and visual arts alongside the traditional curriculum. I also believe that while the arts need to be taught as discreet subjects, they can also be a powerful tool for teaching other curricula as well.
Most importantly, art can speak directly to children's lives. For this reason we created The Ancestor Project. When children learn the value of their own personal stories, they gain a greater respect and understanding of their own culture and history and how it relates to the wider world.
Many of the children ALICE works with rarely speak about-or find themselves embarrassed by-their family's immigrant or minority backgrounds. Even children from "privileged" families often feel uncomfortable with "old" stories that they perceive as have little to do with their lives.
Ancestor stories can help heal the rift between children and their own communities. They speak deeply to our common humanity. The late anthropologist, Barbara Myerhoff, posited the theory that one of the prime characteristics of what makes us human is our ability to "tell the story." The sharing of ancestor stories becomes a powerful act-for the children telling them, as well as for the parents and other community members who witness them. For an elder, whose immigration account tells of great hardship, or whose childhood memory recalls the tender love between a mother and child, hearing one's story retold publicly is a deeply affirming act.
In all of the ALICE programs, we seek to provide children with a quality arts experience by bringing accomplished artists into the classroom. When professional artists work with children, the caliber of the art that they are able to create sets a standard of achievement that carries over into other course work. High artistic standards translate into higher academic accomplishment.
To help us realize our vision of a quality arts education for all children, see Support.