For Immediate Release                       Contact:

October 23, 2003                                   Cindy Reynolds

                                                            Communications Manager

                                                            (714) 541-8314 ext. 19

Saint Joseph Ballet Honored with Prestigious

Coming Up Taller Award

from the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities

and Three Federal Agencies

SANTA ANA, Calif. (October 23, 2003) – Saint Joseph Ballet today announced that it is a recipient of the prestigious Coming Up Taller Award for its work with local, underserved youth.  This award was bestowed by the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, and Institute of Museum and Library Services. It is one of 18 organizations across the U.S. and in Mexico being honored. The award of $10,000 will be presented at a ceremony in Washington, DC on November 5, 2003. 

“In receiving the Coming Up Taller Award, Saint Joseph Ballet celebrates how a community came together to lift up youth who are struggling to overcome enormous economic obstacles”, said Beth Burns, Founder and Artistic Director. “When all parts of society join to invest in communities at risk, the cycle of poverty can be broken, and hope becomes the catalyst for many youth and families to create better futures for themselves. Speaking for the youth, families and all the supporters of Saint Joseph Ballet, I am sincerely grateful to receive this award."

The Coming Up Taller Awards recognize and support outstanding community arts and humanities programs that celebrate the creativity of America’s young people, provide them with new learning opportunities, and chances to contribute to their communities. The awards also highlight the contributions that historians, scholars, librarians, and visual and performing artists make to families and communities by mentoring and teaching children. Since the program’s inception in 1998, 71 organizations have been honored from more than 2000 nominations nationwide.

Saint Joseph Ballet was founded in 1983 to empower low income youth from diverse backgrounds to strengthen self-esteem, self-discipline and a sense of accomplishment through dance, academic and family programs.

Today, Saint Joseph Ballet is one of the largest nonprofits in the nation offering comprehensive, integrated programs aimed at nurturing and empowering low-income youth.  Saint Joseph Ballet has touched the lives of more than 37,000 youth through year-round dance training and performance opportunities, academic and college scholarship programs, family services, personal enrichment and outreach programs.

The Coming Up Taller Awards are made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the following individual, corporate and foundation contributors: Beth Singer Design; Cherner Automotive, Arlene and Harvey Cherner; Cranium, Inc.; GMAC Financial Services; Green Family Foundation; H.E. Butt Grocery Company; The Harman Family Foundation, Jane and Sidney Harman; MetLife Foundation; Miller and Long Companies; John and Lucia Mudd; Caren H. Prothro; The Ruth C. and Charles S. Sharp Foundation, Inc.; Surdna Foundation, Inc.; and the Vin and Caren Prothro Foundation. The Mexican awards are sponsored by CULTURAL CONTACT/The US-Mexico Foundation for Culture, based in Mexico City. The Coming Up Taller Program is coordinated in collaboration with the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies.

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