Performing Arts Workshop

Specialties

Performing Arts Workshop is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping young people develop critical thinking, creative expression, and basic learning skills through the arts.

History

Established in 1965.

Performing Arts Workshop was established in 1965. With schools and community centers as her laboratory, Workshop Founder Gloria Unti developed a teaching method based on the conviction that the creative process is a dynamic vehicle for learning, problem-​solving, and communication. Today, the Workshop’s commitment to marginalized youth has grown stronger than ever. The Workshop’s Artists-​in-​Schools and Artists-​in-​Communities programs reach thousands of youth in public schools, transitional housing facilities, and community centers each year. The Workshop also collaborates with numerous community partners to ensure that the Workshop’s longstanding value-​the belief that all young people, regardless of social status, identity, or ability, are equally entitled to benefit from the creative process-​is upheld.

Meet the Manager

Jessica M.

Manager

Executive Director, Jessica Mele, joined the Workshop in April 2006, where she combines her love of the performing arts with her interests in education and community building. Under her leadership, its programs have increased the number of youth served by 15 percent.

In the community, she currently serves as the Advocacy Co-​Chair for the Arts Provider’s Alliance of San Francisco and as a member of the steering committees of Teaching Artists Organized and the Alameda County Office of Education’s Alliance for Arts Learning Leadership.

From 2002 – 2005, Jessica managed the academic research projects of Marshall Ganz at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. She also developed her own negotiation and community building skills as an organizer for the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers (AFSCME, AFL-​CIO).

She holds a B.A. in Anthropology and French Studies from Smith College and an Ed. M. in Education Policy and Management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.