The Flynn Center for the Performing Arts

The Flynn Center, located in the heart of downtown Burlington, VT, is the premiere performing arts organization in the region. In its 1,450-seat main stage auditorium and 150-seat “black box” performance space the Flynn presents about 100 shows a year that include jazz, dance, drama, world music, and productions designed primarily for family and student audiences. Additionally the Flynn hosts numerous productions by local organizations such as the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, the Vermont Youth Orchestra, and the Vermont Stage Company. It is estimated that through its role as a community venue, its presenting series, and its on- and off-site education programs the Flynn Center impacts some 200,000 Vermonters a year, nearly one-third the state’s population.

The Flynn’s educational mission is to “provide programs that engage children, teens and adults in the artistic process, cultivate appreciation of the performing arts, and make the performing arts an integral part of school and community life.” Central to the goals and achievement of this mission is the highly successful Student Matinee Series, for which the Lintilhac Foundation provided major founding underwriting and which it continues to support annually.

The Matinee Series began in 1987 with the purpose of offering main stage performances to K -12 students that complemented in-class curriculum while exposing them to the finest in the performing arts, ultimately forging what Flynn CEO Andrea Rogers calls, “a total classroom experience.” The Lintilhacs’ strong interest in the presence and quality of arts in education led them to make a key gift to help initiate the Series, which in its first year presented six main stage performances. Today the Series encompasses some 35 performances a year, reaching an average of 43,000 Vermont schoolchildren. Its impact is extraordinary, perhaps particularly so given state’s small population, rural character, and limited public resources to support the arts in primary education. Says Rogers, “Many of these kids never see live performance until these school trips. It is such an important experience: kids that don’t respond to reading may respond to live performance.”   

As the Matinee Series expanded, the Flynn developed a program of pre- and post-performance classroom workshops. Taught by Flynn staff, local teaching artists, or, when possible, the performers themselves, the workshops are designed to be highly interactive and maximize the potential for students to recognize links between themes in the classroom and performances at the Flynn. Over 200 pre- and post-
performance workshops are taught annually in conjunction with Series performances. Free on-line study guides generated by the Flynn help teachers weave the performance experience into their curricula.      

This success encouraged the Flynn to broaden its offerings of in-class programs that utilize lessons from the performing arts. Including Matinee Series workshops and the teacher training program “Words Come Alive,” the Flynn now sustains over 500 classroom workshops each year in northern Vermont. Says Joan Robinson, associate director for school programs at the Flynn, “One student exclaimed, ‘When we act or dance stories, they become a part of us!’ What more could any teacher want than that?”

Among the components of the Flynn’s education programming are pre- and post-performance workshops with artists.