Local Story: Akron, Ohio

ArtSparks

ArtSparks’ mission is to provide access to high-quality dance programming; to foster the understanding of dance as an art form; and to challenge students of all ages and abilities to discover new heights of individual excellence through focused attention, creative exploration and a sense of community so that they might joyfully dance their way to becoming a more confident human-being than they were before they stepped onto the dance floor.

Visit website: artsparksdance.org

Find on social: Facebook | Instagram

Kara Cea is a dancer, businesswoman, and leader. Her non-profit, ArtSparks, was born out of her passion to ensure that every student in the Greater Akron area knows they are worth it.

After a hiatus from her professional dance career in New York City, Kara Cea returned to dance, and to her hometown of Akron, to found ArtSparks. The mission of the non-profit is simple: to provide every child access to the art of dance, and to instill belief in each child that they can achieve success, wherever that may be. To accomplish this, ArtSparks hosts dance classes, residencies, workshops, and year-end performances across Akron and its surrounding cities.

The vision of Buy Local Serve Local is to share local stories of local non-profit leaders to build connection, loyalty, and generosity in the community. We had the honor of sitting down with Kara to talk about the impact that dance instruction can make in a child’s life, her passion for increasing arts accessibility, and the importance of community engagement. Here is how Kara and her team of 12 choreographers and musicians grew from students at Summit County Developmental Disabilities Board in 2012 to students at over 50 community locations, including Akron Public Schools, by 2021.

On the first day of an ArtSparks dance lesson, three young boys sit in the back row of the classroom giving the teacher a look that says yeah, right. Only a few weeks of meaningful co-curricular dance instruction later, the same three boys are dancing enthusiastically at the front of the room. This transformation happens because ArtSparks challenges students to take a risk, be persistent, and feel the success that inspires them to thrive in pursuit of their passions. Kara knows this method works because it catalyzed her own achievements both on and off the stage.

Kara was a quiet child. Teachers had to beg her to raise her hand in class, yet on stage, she had a voice. She began studying ballet at age 4, and soon began an apprenticeship at the University of Akron and the Ohio Ballet before heading to New York City.

“It was all I could do; it was all I cared about,” she remembers. “I knew from a very young age that dance was what I should be doing. It gave me an opportunity to feel successful at something.” It is this exact same feeling of pride and success that Kara, as the Executive and Artistic Director of ArtSparks, seeks to cultivate in students of varying abilities, ages, and backgrounds.

Alongside her co-founder Ron Hazlett, Kara, a three-time graduate of the University of Akron, had already established meaningful connections among Akron’s non-profits, allowing them to start ArtSparks successfully. But Kara remembers push-back, too.

“I’m female, and I didn’t walk in the room with a suit on and an MBA,” she recalls, thinking of those who didn’t believe in her project in its early stages. But she held on to her passion, facing no’s with confidence and understanding that some people simply wouldn’t get it. “Being able to tell a story about whatever you’re doing is key. You have to be invested to the point where there is no doubt.”

Knowing that filling gaps in communities by coming alongside individuals to ensure their needs are met is a crucial element of non-profit engagement has helped Kara persevere. ArtSparks not only provides meaningful arts education, but it goes far beyond that as well.

One reason the organization is so well-received by community members is likely due to Kara’s dedication to identifying and addressing these gaps in the community not only from her own perspective, but from the perspective of the people who live with and teach these students day-in and day-out. She and her staff host focus groups with teachers, aides, and parents, getting their perspective on what will be impactful for students. This humble, synergistic approach drives excellence.

“The more you collaborate, the broader of an understanding you get about your own community, which helps you further serve it,” Kara acknowledges. “You have to love and care for all of these children, but you also have to be a champion in the community.”

When asked how ArtSparks reflects the spirit of Akron, the city where she was born, raised, and fell in love with dance, Kara immediately had one word to say: grit.

“There’s grit to ArtSparks. We get in the trenches, and Akron gets in the trenches. We do not give up; we dig in and do the work and do it joyfully,” she says with pride. “We believe so strongly in what we’re doing, so we fight for it. We fight for each and every student.”

The arts are notoriously inaccessible, both physically and financially, and are often the first programs cut when stringent school budgets tighten. This is where ArtSparks’s pedagogy, or teaching method, comes in.

“We have this fabulous pedagogy to take what has been so successful … and adapt it to what we do here [in Akron]. The delivery methods do so well because they engage kids in a way that’s meaningful,” Kara says of her staff’s approach to teaching. It involves taking what students are learning in academic contexts and reinforcing these concepts in a way that solidifies them, all while bolstering students’ confidence and creativity.

“We put so much into our productions for these children [because] they need to know that they’re worth it,” she says. “They need to know they’re worth it to have teachers and musicians in a classroom, and not just a CD player.” Her staff also ensure that programming is always child-centered.

“They show up day after day after day, and they never miss a beat,” Kara says, tearful with appreciation. “It just blows me away.” And just as Kara and her staff love the students of ArtSparks, the Akron community loves them all right back, in a kinship that feels mutually beneficial.

“I have this great sense that there is acceptance and understanding, especially by the educators and art community, that there is great value in what it is that we do. It’s really fabulous to live in this community,” she says.

Not every child feels successful in the same way—be it sports, academics, the arts, or another endeavor. But through dedication, organization, and community support, ArtSparks is ensuring that students are given an opportunity to thrive on stage, and thus, in all avenues of life.

“How nice it is to give children permission to express themselves,” Kara remarks. “By giving them accessibility, you’re giving them permission to be expressive. Dance is the way we celebrate who we are.”

Buy Local Serve Local is grateful for the opportunity to share Kara and ArtSparks’s story of passion, education, and artistry. Learn more about ArtSparks’s work in the Akron area at artsparksdance.org, on Facebook and Instagram.

Support ArtSparks!

Visit website: artsparksdance.org

Find on social: Facebook | Instagram

ArtSparks

Support ArtSparks!

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