CATHEDRAL ARTS PROJECT INC

Knowing the arts reach children in ways nothing else can and in ways that stay with them for life, CAP is committed to helping children approach the challenges of school and life in a positive and creative manner.

In early 2021, CAP initiated an inclusive process to gather input about the challenges our community’s children face. We proactively pursued feedback from a broad array of stakeholders including student families, arts educators, principals, business and civic leaders, donors and funders. Then we charted a course for how CAP can best leverage its strengths as a nationally recognized, proven and trusted organization to address both existing problems and root causes.

During the next three years, we will approach our work through a lens that is as wide as the world in which children live and learn and will, eventually, work. CAP will embrace its unique role to:

1. Strengthen student programs to celebrate and develop every child's unique skills and strengths.

2. Team up with student families as the crucial partners they are in a child's development.

3. Advocate for Northeast Florida to lead the nation in providing essential and accessible arts education that recognizes, amplifies and grows every child's creative spirit.

4. Refine and develop our fellowship model to bring the highest caliber teaching artists to Jacksonville, cultivating lasting impacts for our children and our community.

Student Programs

CAP is a nationally recognized and trusted provider of quality, comprehensive and sequential instruction in the visual and performing arts. Teaching students an art form will always be at the core of what we do. CAP will:
- Offer more students rigorous programs that lead to a lifetime of engagement with the arts
- Nurture CAP alumni
- Utilize crucially inclusive practices
- Develop and measure progress toward shared goals


Families

Families of current and former students are crucial partners to our direct services and advocacy efforts. CAP will focus on the following three imperatives:
- Cultivate mutual relationships with student families
- Empower families to use their voice
- Gather and use information to improve programs


Advocacy

Working with other for systemic change and increased access to arts education, CAP will expand its reach beyond what it could ever do alone. CAP will focus on the following three imperatives:
- Cultivate relationships with advocacy partners
- Advocate for issues that advance CAP's mission and vision
- Build public awareness of why arts education matters


Fellowship Model

Through a unique teaching artist fellowship, CAP will eventually triple the number of enrolled children, elevate arts education in Northeast Florida and create a replicable model for organizations nationwide. CAP will focus on the following three imperatives:
- Establish the fellowship program as the national model
- Expand the fellowship program
- Cultivate lasting impacts

Since 2002, CAP has thrived under the tenacious leadership of Rev. Kimberly Hyatt. Her 25+-year career is notable for developing new initiatives, growing programs, formalizing structures and processes and executing to achieve goals. Rev. Hyatt is supported by a team of central office staff who provide fiscal, administrative, programmatic and evaluation expertise and oversight. CAP's senior staff are not only experts in their administrative fields, but also have strong and diverse creative backgrounds. All CAP staff are engaged in the arts and education communities in a range of disciplines, including voice, instrument, visual arts, film production and dance.

CAP's teaching artists are at the heart of our arts learning programs. They are chosen for their accomplishments and expertise in their artistic field, ability to communicate with children and depth of experience in the classroom. CAP's teaching artists design their own curricula using Florida Standards and the National Core Arts Standards, as well as best practices outlined by the NEA and the Kennedy Center. Performance is monitored by the chief program officer, senior director of programs and program coordinator, who observe all programs throughout the year.

CAP demonstrates the capacity to accomplish goals, track progress, exercise financial controls and report on outcomes to funders and the community. CAP has administered numerous grants from local, regional and national foundations that believe in our work and our mission.

CAP continues to realize an ambitious strategic plan that focuses on strengthening student programs, engaging the families of students as crucial partners, advocating for Northeast Florida to lead the nation in providing essential and accessible arts education, and expanding our fellowship model to bring the highest caliber teaching artists to Jacksonville.

There are both accomplishments to celebrate and goals that have yet to be achieved. Some of our greatest accomplishments include piloting the fellowship model and hiring four full-time teaching artist fellows; launching Landscape of Education in the Arts in Duval (LEAD) and the LEAD artlook(r) map as an advocacy tool for the community; creating and implementing program markers of quality to execute relevant programs throughout Northeast Florida; and leveraging the expertise of teaching artist fellows and staff to continue delivering rigorous programs for CAP students in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.

There is still much to accomplish, but we are steadily making progress toward some of our major goals, including engaging and enlisting CAP alumni as ambassadors and advocates; establishing a family advisory council that reflects the diversity of our students to secure feedback and ideas that will strengthen student programs; developing and executing a comprehensive advocacy communications campaign; and continuing to build and differentiate our fellowship program so it becomes a highly coveted position for candidates from around the country.