SAMMONS CENTER FOR THE ARTS

Sammons Cabaret began in early 2012 to bring New York-style cabaret to Dallas. Sammons Cabaret provides an opportunity for local singers, accompanied by a pianist, to perform a broader repertoire that can include original music, Broadway show tunes, torch songs, popular vocal standards, as well as the Great American Songbook. This is a very intimate concert format and is an intensely personal evening of song and stores, delivered in a simple, honest way in an intimate space that shatters the fourth wall between artist and audience. The audience participates in a direct, emotional conversation with the artist and leaves feeling contacted and personally touched.

We Grow the Arts by providing an essential creative habitat and performing arts center for nonprofit Dallas theater groups, dance troupes, choruses, and orchestras which, without our support, could not enrich the cultural life of this city. We are the only provider for small and midsize performing arts groups of affordable facilities and other resources to meet the critical, core needs of 15 resident arts groups and more than 90 nonresident groups. Our multipurpose center is regularly used for rehearsals, meetings, workshops, performances, special events, and auditions. We provide high-quality office space at roughly half of the market rates to our resident groups. We also offer management assistance and mentoring and our virtual office program known as DARS (Dallas Arts Resource System) gives very small, emerging organizations and individual artists many of the same amenities enjoyed by our resident groups.

In partnership with the Dallas Area Boys and Girls Club, we have expanded our youth jazz outreach program. This enables us to introduce youth, ages 6 to 12, to jazz as a unique American art form. We have events at the Sammons Center in conjunction with youth agencies such as the Dallas Area Boys & Girls Club, church groups, and recreation centers that are interactive as well as educational and help expose these children to jazz music. We use established jazz musicians as well as young jazz musicians from the Arts Magnet High School to play for the children and get them involved with interactive activities as participants in the concerts. These events are held at our facility during the summer and as an after-school program that is both fun and educational.

We are the founding organizer of Dallas Jazz Appreciation Month. This collaboration of DFW area jazz presenters and jazz educational centers participates in the National Jazz Appreciation month program spearheaded by the Smithsonian each April. Jazz Appreciation Month is to draw greater public attention to the extraordinary heritage and history of jazz an its importance as an American cultural treasure. D'JAM is also intended to stimulate the current jazz scene and encourage people of all ages to participate in jazz - to study the music, attend concerts, listen to jazz, and support institutional jazz programs.

Art-Works is the Center’s response to the challenges facing small to midsize arts groups. This program serves as a lifeline for organizations needing access to free resources, training, and support. Art-Works includes continuous educational workshops and expert panels providing insights into the latest trends and best practices. A comprehensive resource portal on the Sammons Center for the Arts website gives access to hundreds of documents, articles, webinars, and trainings organized by topic, as well as event listings and arts news to keep everyone informed. Additionally, it also provides networking and development opportunities that allow individuals and emerging leaders to gain knowledge and experience, making them better and stronger nonprofit leaders.