Access, opportunity, and the arts

The first thing many students notice is the collection of sweeping fins filling the ceiling. As they step into the Center for the Arts’ Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre, their voices instinctively lower, eyes lifting toward the lights and catwalks above.

For many, this is their first time experiencing a live performance — not on a screen, not in a classroom, but in a space designed to bring people together through art.

“Experiencing a live performance sparks imagination, strengthens critical thinking, builds empathy, and connects learning across disciplines,” said Bethany Costello, Center for the Arts engagement manager. “Every child, regardless of background or school resources, deserves the opportunity to be inspired, see creativity in action, and recognize their own potential reflected on stage.”

Making moments like this possible for students from area schools, especially those serving low-income families, takes more than programming alone. It depends on partnerships, flexibility, and a commitment to access that reaches beyond the stage. Too often, the obstacles to arts engagement appear long before the rise of a curtain, with transportation, funding, and logistics standing in the way.

For many Title I schools, public schools serving a high percentage of students from low-income families, the hardest part of attending a student matinee isn’t finding interest or enthusiasm — it’s finding a bus and a driver. Transportation costs, staffing shortages, and complex approval processes can turn a simple field trip into an insurmountable hurdle.

Connecting students with professional artists or arts experiences beyond the classroom is also challenging for teachers, particularly when limited funding, permission requirements, distance, and narrow travel windows restrict what is possible during the school day. These challenges disproportionately affect Title I and rural schools.

The Center for the Arts recognizes these challenges and looks for ways to help remove them by meeting schools where they are. While the center has long offered free programming for students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grades, it became clear that logistical barriers required more intentional support, so the center established the Transportation Relief Fund.

Made possible through philanthropic support, this reimbursement program for Title I schools covers the cost of bus drivers for student matinees, helping remove one of the most persistent barriers to participation. The center also began proactively reaching out to school administrators with opportunities to bring visiting artists directly into schools to connect with students.

From 'we can’t' to 'we’re going'

For many students, a visit to the Center for the Arts is their first time stepping inside a major cultural venue and sometimes their first time on a college campus. Surrounded by professional gallery and performance spaces, they experience art on a scale that can spark inspiration and a sense of possibility that extends well beyond the visit itself. These moments of curiosity invite students to imagine new possibilities, helping them see both the arts and higher education as spaces where they belong.

For teachers like Addie Marshall, a music teacher at Boones Mill Elementary, a Title I school in Franklin County, making those moments possible takes persistence and support. With many students living at or below the poverty line and more than an hour from a city, live performances and arts experiences are often out of reach, making field trips one of the only ways students can experience the performing arts firsthand.

That challenge is compounded by strict limits on field trips. Marshall’s school, like many others, is restricted to two paid field trips per grade level each year, typically reserved for science or STEM enrichment. Without additional funding, arts-related trips would require fundraising or asking families to absorb costs.

With support from the Center for the Arts’ Transportation Relief Fund, Marshall was able to bring her students to a student matinee performance by nationally touring dance company Step Afrika! without placing additional financial strain on families or competing with limited field-trip allocations.

“When I found out my school was eligible for transportation reimbursement, I felt relieved,” she said. “Virginia Tech’s support made it possible for my students to have these experiences and attend the Center for the Arts’ performances.”

For many, it was their first concert, and the experience left a lasting impression.

“I have many students who are ‘too cool’ to perform in class with their classmates or individually,” said Marshall. “Seeing those same students dance or sing along with the Step Afrika! performers, fully embracing the performance, was a delightful sight. I also have many shy students who are very self-conscious about their own musical skills. To watch these students throw themselves wholeheartedly into the show was a beautiful moment to experience alongside them.”

In the days that followed, Marshall saw a shift in students’ confidence. They approached music class with new enthusiasm — composing, creating dances, experimenting with rhythms and melodies, and taking creative risks. What began as a single field trip became a catalyst for deeper engagement and self-expression.

Not every school is able to bring students to the Blacksburg campus, however, even with transportation support in place. To ensure access reaches as many students as possible, the Center for the Arts also brings artists directly into schools to engage with students in their own spaces.

Meeting students where they are

“Any barriers that could potentially exist are immediately taken away when artists can visit schools,” said Glen Chilcote, administrator of fine arts for Montgomery County Public Schools.

When artists travel to a school, the usual constraints of distance and transportation disappear. There are no buses to schedule, no permission slips to track, no lost instructional time spent commuting. Instead, familiar spaces — cafeterias, gyms, classrooms, and multipurpose rooms — are reimagined with music, movement, and storytelling. Here, arts experiences are immediate, accessible, and woven directly into the school day.

“Our in-school matinee program is designed especially for Title I schools that may face barriers such as transportation or funding, as well as for schools located farther from campus that cannot make the round trip within their district’s field trip window,” said Costello. “These matinees bring the same high-quality, world-class performances students would experience on our stage right to their school. Imagine walking from the classroom to the cafeteria to see a professional performance.”

In-school experiences often extend beyond performance alone. Through artist-led workshops, students engage directly with visiting artists, moving from observation to participation.

“Artist workshops provide more personalized, hands-on engagement,” said Costello. This gives students insight into the creative process and the dedication required to pursue artistic careers.

These workshops are frequently led by artists already visiting campus for public performances. While in Blacksburg, performers from Step Afrika! traveled to Blacksburg Middle School to work directly with the school’s step club, meeting students in their own classroom for an energetic, hands-on session that deepened their understanding of the art form.

Many in-school experiences are also designed specifically for cross-curricular learning for PK-12 audiences. In September, the center hosted rapper, educator, and teaching artist Baba Bomani for a series of in-school engagements. “The Frederick Douglass Writing Club,” his program connecting history, social studies, reading, and writing through performance, reached students at four different Title I schools and demonstrated how the arts can reinforce classroom learning across disciplines.

These in-school performances are often school-wide, with entire student populations participating, instead of just a single class or grade level.

“That’s a really big advantage when it comes to equity,” said Chilcote.

That school-wide approach is central to the Center for the Arts’ commitment to availability. In-school matinees and workshops ensure that engagement with the arts does not depend on which class a student is in, whether a teacher can organize a field trip, or whether families are able to cover additional costs. Every student shares in the experience, removing disparities that can exist even within a single school and reinforcing the idea that the arts are for everyone.

“Typically, when a school is going on a field trip, whichever teacher is responsible for that field trip is preparing the students,” Chilcote explained. “But when it's a school-wide event and everyone's coming to see it, there's curricular collaborations that happen in those preparations.”

He saw this happen during Bomani’s visit to Christiansburg Middle School.

“Because it was the entire sixth grade that got to participate, English teachers, fine arts teachers all got to collaborate and talk about these experiences with students,” he said. “And the Center for Arts gave lesson plans and preparation material to make it a really meaningful experience for the kids to do even before they got to see it.”

An investment in impact

Whether students are traveling to the Center for the Arts or welcoming artists into their own schools, the goal remains the same: to ensure that meaningful arts experiences are not limited by geography, funding, or circumstance. Together, student matinees, in-school performances, and artist workshops form an interconnected approach to access that meets students where they are while also inviting them to imagine what’s possible beyond their everyday surroundings. These experiences are not isolated moments, but part of a sustained journey that supports creative growth, confidence, and connection over time.

For educators like Marshall, that continuity matters. The impact of a performance doesn’t end when the bus pulls away or the artist packs up. It continues in classrooms, conversations, and the ways students begin to understand themselves and one another.

“Students who are able to experience the arts are more able to facilitate their social emotional learning by connecting with peers, family members, and themselves,” she said. “I have students becoming more eloquent with how they express themselves, both musically and emotionally, based on their experiences at Virginia Tech. Experiences outside of the classroom are being drawn upon to create conclusions about how different types of music make them feel, such as a family member passing away and the nostalgia of remembering the time spent together being recollected from a piece of music. Continuing to grow these departmentalizing skills is paramount to the students’ successes, not only as learners, but as members of the community who will continue to grow our social safety nets as emotionally healthy and regulated adults.”

These opportunities exist because Center for the Arts donors believe that access to the arts is not a luxury, but a vital part of a well-rounded education.

“When we support students’ arts experiences, we support the next generation,” Costello said. “When we make time for and support funding for the arts, we are supporting students’ learning skills of teamwork, compassion, self-awareness, emotional intelligence, strong work ethic, critical thinking, and creativity. Investing in our students’ arts education is an investment in building up a well-rounded population.”

Donor support makes it possible for the Center for the Arts to present these meaningful engagement opportunities for PK-12 students. Learn how you can help support this work.