Youth-oriented non-profit provides economic impacts to the greater community
Bryn Glassey is another in the growing number of individuals who grew up performing in Ukiah and is returning as a professional to work for the organizations that inspired them.
Glassey’s childhood was spent in Los Angeles and Reno, but her summers were spent with her grandparents in Ukiah, who fostered her love of dance by enrolling her in SPACE (Near & Arnold’s School of Performing Arts & Cultural Education) summer camps. Her parents were in the film industry- training exotic cats- tigers, lions, leopards and mountain lions for movies. “There was one year where my parents were working on a film in the Middle East, so I ended up spending about a year in Ukiah,” Glassey notes.
Glassey was a natural performer, noted SPACE Executive and Development director, Laurel Near. She spent about five summers in Ukiah, and despite her preference for dance, Glassey often ended up with lead roles. She went on to receive her BS in Public Health Sciences and her MS in Speech Language Pathology. Now, Glassey, a Speech and Language Pathologist has made the decision to live in the community she learned to love as a kid, and will be working in a variety of capacities with SPACE.
“Bryn is yet another example of a child who came to SPACE, went out into the world and is choosing to bring her skills and career back to our community,” says Near. Currently, over 50 percent of SPACE’s staff were either students of the non-profit or lived in the area before being employed there.
“Being involved with SPACE is such an impactful experience for young minds as they develop social and emotional skills, and we’re doing it all through play, being creative and being brave,” says Glassey. She has spent the past 15 years working on communication development with children. “What has been so fun and interesting is that my work always circles back to developing play skills through music, movement, storytelling and imaginative play. It all comes back to the arts. The arts build so many skills.”
Glassey “kept being reeled back to Ukiah. I’d leave, have an adventure and find myself returning. My career is very flexible so I can work on a variety of projects for SPACE.” Currently, she is the assistant director for Elf Jr., the Musical- SPACE’s next big performance. She also created SPACE’s All-Ability Arts program, which is dedicated to providing access to the arts for children and adults with disabilities.
“I work in the school district with children struggling with communication skills. I use music, movement and imaginative play as therapy to help with skills- particularly kids with developmental disabilities such as autism, Downs Syndrome or learning disabilities. One of the things I’ve noticed is that the arts are generally an area that is not accessible for those children.” While working in San Diego, Glassey connected with a program that provided performing arts to children and adults with developmental disabilities. “It inspired me. What a great idea- putting people in this community, with these abilities on stage, and letting them play, shine and experience creativity- the same skills SPACE gives every child. When I was visiting Ukiah, I started discussing my experience with Laurel, and that’s what inspired us to make something like this happen at SPACE.”
“We had several classes- a movement and music class and two dance classes for younger and older adults, exposing them to different dance styles. Bryn connected with the Redwood Coast Regional Center, and it turned out they paid for recreational activities for this community, so SPACE became vendorized and the cost of the classes was paid for by RCRC,” says Near.
“The adult class is still continuing, and it’s absolutely incredible. So joyous. Now that Bryn is here, we’re hoping to build up the program,” Near continues.
Like every non-profit in every community around the country, Near is focused on how changes in federal funding will impact her organization.
“SPACE does not receive funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, but we are a recipient of funds from the California Arts Council. And we are so lucky to be generously funded by individuals, businesses and foundations.” Nonetheless, Near is concerned about SPACE’s financial future.
“We call SPACE ‘The Biggest Little Theatre for Children in the United States.’ Our jewel, the SPACE Theatre has been continuing to build audiences since the pandemic. There are very, very few theaters in the country specifically devoted to youth, so it’s imperative that we keep this opportunity safe and available to our community,” Near continues.
One of the most important components of the SPACE mission is to run the organization as a business. “SPACE is deeply involved in the circulation of revenue within our local economy,” says Near.
“Economic development is often thought of as the promotion of restaurants, parks and festivals,” Near continues. “The arts are a business. We regularly employ about 100 people- from technicians to artists to contractors, to people working on the HVAC or other aspects of our facility. We’re providing a lot of economic resources to our community, which is what it takes to put on all the events that occur here.”
Near doesn’t call it “trickle-down.” She calls it “trickle-around.”
“A person paints the building, and their children end up taking classes here. The local community contributes generously to the arts in Mendocino County. People understand what goes on here- even contributors from out of town. Our donors value the fact that this campus keeps thriving.”
Near’s mind is always planning about 3 to 10 years out, designing and imagining programs for the future. The economic impact of the arts on communities is surprising and significant, according to a report by Americans for the Arts. Nationally, the arts sector generated $151.7 billion of economic activity in 2022. The arts supported 2.6 million jobs, provided $101 billion in personal income to residents and generated $29.1 billion in tax revenue to local, state and federal governments. This is the largest study of its kind, and underscores not only the economic impact but the social impact of arts and culture on communities. The arts are essential for tourism, with cultural events attracting and retaining more local dollars. “The study concluded by saying that the arts are not just food for the soul; they also put food on the table for millions of Americans,” Near notes.
Specifically, for SPACE, Near found an abundance of the study’s takeaways applied to the organization: the employment of local people, local purchasing of supplies, keeping residents spending locally to attend local arts activities, creating a sense of community pride, improving the community’s quality of life and well-being, and building empathy, shared experiences and the ability to better understand other cultures.
“We are continuing to listen to our community, our parents and our SPACE alumni to see what best works for children and families,” says Near. “We continue to listen to experts like Bryn to see where we can best serve youth, and how we can find funding to provide those services.”
Near is planning to bring more “named” acts to the state-of-the-art SPACE Theater. “We’re investigating how to get that next level of professional artists to come to this theater and enjoy the amenities of Mendocino County.”
In the meantime, Near is constantly seeking to recruit teaching artists. “We are lucky to have so many SPACE alumni who are eager to return and work for us. They understand our mission, the importance of the arts economy and have a deep commitment to SPACE because of the impact it has made on their lives. It’s taken some time, but we have this huge, amazing infrastructure that will eventually be passed on to the next generation.” Until then, Near is deeply grateful to have Bryn Glassey on the SPACE team.
For more information on SPACE programs and performances, visit www.spaceperformingarts.org.
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