InterAct Arts Experience Program
InterAct provides the opportunity for students that don't normally have access to the arts to see and participate in arts performances and activities, which can be a valuable experience.
The program also provides a fantastic opportunity for students to visit and explore places that they have never been to before, such as the city, Sydney Opera House and the sea.
Member sponsorships and partnerships ensure that participation and transportation are free for all students that participate in the program.
What is involved
Business members that are corporate sponsors of art bodies work with the ABCN to provide students with access to the arts. The program will continue to expand as sponsorship partnership opportunities emerge.
These sponsorship partnerships have so far enabled over 4000 primary and high school students to:
- Attend performances and workshops at the Sydney Theatre Company
- Attend sculpture workshops and visit the Sculpture by the Sea exhibition in Bondi
- View the Zeal Theatre's Stones, a play based on the experiences of two teenagers who threw a rock off a bridge onto a road, with fatal consequences.
Students will also have the opportunity to participate in the Sydney Writers' Festival Schools Day in 2006.
Benefits for students
'… thank you for giving us the opportunity of a lifetime.' Student
- Experience new places
- Incentive/reward for attaining reading and behavioural goals set with teachers
- Provides inspiration to write, draw and talk about experiences.
'I saw some of the most beautiful and amazing sculptures I have ever seen! Everything was so creative. I had the most fun.' Student
Success in 2005
One member company provided two sponsorship partnerships that enabled over 4000 students from schools in southwest Sydney to attend Sculpture by the Sea and a performance by the Sydney Theatre Company.
More information
Read about the program's success.
Register to find out more about InterAct.
Research note
Studies have revealed the important relationships between learning in the arts and thinking skills, and motivations that underlie academic achievement and effective social behaviour. The studies suggest that learning in the arts may be especially helpful in boosting learning and achievement for certain populations - economically disadvantaged students, students needing remedial instruction and young children (Critical Links Highlights, Arts Education Partnership).
