ABOUT US
Who we are and what we do.
MISSION
Bridging the gap to achieve performing arts mastery for West Virginia students and aspiring artists through education and practical application opportunities.
VISION
​To make theatrical excellence accessible to West Virginia artists and audiences by providing support to professional artists developing new works rooted in social awareness, cultural understanding, and artistic excellence and by providing specialized education opportunities for local artists and aspirants to achieve mastery.
We give young artists and performers much needed support through workshops and masterclasses.
HISTORY
Education Programming
Three Bridges Arts received their 501c3 status in August 2019 and hit the ground running. With plans to debut a local new works reading in the spring of 2020, Three Bridges Arts had to quickly switch gears when the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Refocusing their efforts on education, Three Bridges Arts launched a fourteen-week pilot program titled Wednesday Workshops. Weekly Zoom masterclasses were held every Wednesday from March 25 – June 24, 2020 at no cost to the participants. The program’s purpose was to provide education and test the need and effectiveness of such a program in the Kanawha/Putnam county community. The number of weekly returning participants confirmed that specialized education is desired by young community artists who seek advanced opportunities for advancement through education. In August 2020, The Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation awarded Three Bridges Arts $5,000 to present another season of virtual Wednesday Workshops from October 2020 through June 2021. A portfolio of personal stories reflects artistic growth from the participants’ masterclass education experience. Expanding on this need for specialized education, Three Bridges Arts launched a Choral Artist-in-Residence Pilot Program at Andrew Jackson Middle School for the 2022-2023 school year and plans to continue this program into the following school year.
We help make a career in the arts a viable and fruitful endeavor for many West Virginia artists.
Performance Programming
With the slow opening of public performing arts in 2022, Three Bridges Arts reintroduced this aspect into their 2022-2023 programming by partnering with Mission WV to present theatrical pieces for the 2022 THINK conference. Mission WV requested performing arts pieces that spotlighted the social issue of human trafficking. Three Bridges Arts provided two performing arts vignettes from Sins of a Savior, a new musical work set in the sex trafficking world, at the conference to shed light on victim's stories and varied aspects of this issue before an expert speaker presented on this issue to conference attendees. The mission of Three Bridges Arts encompasses producing new works rooted in social awareness and this project allowed Three Bridges Arts to utilize art to support Mission WV's mission, raise awareness regarding sex trafficking in our local community, and motivate action. Our performing arts programming is the changing variant yearly as the project will depend on the art we choose to produce and potential partnering organizations needs.
CORE VALUES
