Nominate someone today for the Sonoma County Arts Educator of the Year Award!

The Sonoma County Arts Educator of the Year Award, presented by Luther Burbank Center for the Arts and Creative Sonoma, recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to the advancement of arts education over an extended period of time. The award seeks to honor professional arts educators working with the K-12 population including, but not limited to, teaching artists and classroom teachers who teach visual art, music, drama, dance, or multimedia arts.

Learn more and submit a nomination.

Questions?

Contact Debbie Yarrow at Creative Sonoma.

This award is made possible by Daniels Chapel of Roses.

Local school volunteers make community events possible! Thank you!

For many years, a top-notch team of Santa Rosa High School student volunteers led by teacher-extraordinaire Emma Zavala spread holiday joy at two annual LBC community events: Posada Navideña in December and Fiesta de Independencia in September. These events simply would not be possible without the help of volunteers like those from SRHS!

Emma and her students cheerfully join our staff in tasks from Spanish-English translation, working side-by-side with ushers, overseeing craft activities for children, distributing materials to patrons, handing out goody bags, and much more! We love seeing Emma, not only as our friend year-after-year, but as a person we’ve come to count on to assist with anything we need. Pouring eggnog? Check. Car show ballots? Check. Balloon filling and tying? Check. Emma’s students are always among the best volunteers we get because she sets a phenomenal example.

For more information about student volunteer opportunities at Posada Navideña and Fiesta de Independencia, email us at education@lutherburbankcenter.org

Student volunteers are eligible for volunteer hour credit.

Sing-Along: A Walk Down Memory Lane

Singing, dancing, smiling, laughing, understanding, and sometimes tears. These are words that characterize our Sing-Along: A Walk Down Memory Lane program held in partnership with the Alzheimer’s Association®. The free monthly program is open to anyone with early memory loss, along with their caregivers, and it is truly a time of joy and connection.

Tunes are carefully curated each month to reflect the season and to resonate in the hearts and minds of all participants. Sing-Along is all about camaraderie, live music, and joyful voices—where no talent is required.  It’s a fun experience in a safe environment for all, typically on the last Friday of every month throughout the year at 10:00 am.  This little-known gem of a program makes meaningful impact not only on memory care patients, but also their loved ones, providing an opportunity for families and friends to come together through music.

For more information about the program, email Tracy Sawyer or call 707.800.7529.

IDEA IN THE CLASSROOM

Tell Me Your Story: Using Identity as a Tool for Learning 

$10 each 

Wednesday, January 22

4:00 – 6:00 pm

LBC Education Studio

Open to all!

In this interactive session, participants will explore the transformative power of oral narrative in fostering inclusive learning environments. Through engaging activities and reflective practices, this workshop emphasizes that everyone has a story to tell – even our young people – and that these stories shape our unique perspectives on the world. By gaining insight into their own narratives and those of others, educators will develop tools to begin to create spaces where student voices are amplified, respected, and valued. Participants will hear directly from young people, hearing their perspectives on how to center student voices to create equitable, inclusive, and supportive classrooms that celebrate diversity and promote deeper understanding.

TEACHING ARTIST TRAINING

Navigating Developmental Landmarks: A Group Dialogue on Child and Adolescent Development

$10 each

Session 2: Ages 10-12

Wednesday, January 29

9:30 – 11:00 am

Session 3: Ages 13 an dup

Wednesday, February 26

9:30 – 11:00 am

Attend any or all sessions! 

Open to all educators!

Embark on an insightful journey through developmental benchmarks of childhood and adolescence. Inspired by Chip Wood’s Yardsticks: Child and Adolescent Development, this series of workshops facilitate group discussions on the nuances of cognitive growth across ages 10 through 12 or ages 13 and up. While we won’t prescribe curriculum adaptations, you’ll gain valuable insights and strategies through collective dialogue on tailoring communication and expectations for diverse learners.

TOOLS FOR TEACHERS

Designing Classroom Spaces for Arts Integrated Learning

$10 each 

Wednesday, February 12

4:00 – 6:00 pm

LBC Education Studio

Open to all educators!

In this session, consider how to redesign your classroom’s physical layout and furniture arrangement so it is flexible and can support students’ ability to be creative and collaborative through the arts.

TOOLS FOR TEACHERS

One-Minute Challenge Tableau: Comprehension and Assessment for Learning

$10 each

 $10 each

Thursday, February 13

8:00 – 11:00 am

Monroe Elementary, Santa Rosa

Open to all educators!

This participatory workshop is designed to demonstrate ways to help students apply and expand their knowledge and understanding across the curriculum. Learn how to facilitate the creation of living pictures that capture a moment in time. See how this theatrical strategy can deepen comprehension and help you differentiate instruction, motivate all types of learners, and gain an instant assessment tool for use in subjects such as language arts, social studies and science. Come and see how drama can empower, educate, and transform!

ARTS FOR ALL RESIDENCY

Comics/Cartooning

Grades: 3 and up
Subject: Visual Art

Humans are story-loving machines. Prove it?

Once upon a time there was a child. All that the child wanted in the whole wide world was…a bicycle.

You can’t help it. You want to know if the child gets a bicycle. This energizing residency is a crash course in fundamental drawing and storyboarding techniques explored through the fun and approachable medium of cartooning. Students will learn about anatomy, perspective, character building, and visual design as they tell stories through their own comic strips and books.

Literature to Life®’s production of 

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Friday January 21, 2025 at 9:30 am

Grades 7-12

This stage adaptation features verbatim portions of what is widely considered one of the great American novels, The Great Gatsby. In this one-man-show, we follow midwestern WWI veteran Nick Carraway, who moves to New York City in search of employment after the war. In the height of the Jazz Age and Prohibition Era, Nick is soon pulled into the world of the rich and powerful by way of his cousin, Daisy; her husband, Tom; and a mysterious millionaire neighbor, Jay Gatsby. Relish in the privilege and face the pitfalls each character encounters as they each reach for their own “green light.” Explore themes of social class, “old money” versus “new money” ideology, gender, race, environmentalism, and the price of the American Dream.

The Pa’akai We Bring

by Honolulu Theatre for Youth Ensemble

Wednesday January 22, 2025 at 9:30 am

Grades 1-6

Explore the rich culture of Hawaii as we discover the Native Hawaiian relationship with pa‘akai (salt).  Traditionally, pa‘akai is food, medicine, a sacrament, and a treasured gift which requires determination and inherited knowledge to harvest correctly. Follow a family of multiple generations of salt farmers on the island of Kauai. Enjoy ancient stories, hula, live music, original songs, and plenty of audience participation in this beautiful performance.

RUBBERBAND Dance Company

Thursday March 6, 2025 at 11:30 am

Grades 7-12

Join us for this special performance designed for student audiences. Artistic Director and founder Victor Quijada was born to Mexican parents and raised in Los Angeles, thriving in the b-boying circles and hip-hop clubs. Quijada founded RUBBERBAND in 2002, after working in New York and Montreal in classical ballet, winning praise for combining the choreographic principals of ballet with the raw ideology of urban dance. The company’s creations are imbued with a strong theatricality, the energy of improvisation, and the codes of cinematic language. They are sculpted by an incomparable precision of gesture. RUBBERBAND Dance Company has redefined the codes of break, classical ballet, and dance theatre.

Pete the Cat 

by TheaterWorksUSA

Wednesday March 12, 2025

11:30 am show added!

Grades PK-3

Join us for a musical adventure based on the book series by Eric Litwin. The minute Pete the Cat meets the Biddles, he gets the whole family rocking, all except for Jimmy. For this organized second grader, the end of the school year has a lot of tests and the last thing he needs is some new cat in his life turning everything upside down. But when Jimmy draws a blank in art class it turns out Pete is the perfect pal to help. Together, they conquer second grade art and learn a little something new about inspiration and friendship.