Drama Department Receives Mediacom Grant

Clarke Drama Department Receives Mediacom Grant

Funding will Support Elementary School Tour

Clarke University’s Drama Department announced today that they have received a Mediacom 2012 Arts and Culture grant.  The $1,000 grant will help support a tour of elementary schools following the Drama Department’s spring production, “Cootie Shots: Theatrical Inoculations Against Bigotry” (edited by Norma Bowles and Mark E. Rosenthal).

Cootie Shots is a theatrical collection of poems, short plays, and songs which work to explore the messages of anti-bullying, tolerance, and a celebration of diversity.  After their spring performance, Clarke’s Drama Department will take the production on the road to many participating public and parochial elementary schools in Dubuque.  Marketing of the tour has just started, and the Drama Department expects to have a full schedule and list of participating schools completed later in the year.  The Mediacom grant will enable Clarke to conduct this tour at no cost to the schools.

This is the second time the Drama Department has received the Mediacom grant to support its “theater on tour” program.  Clarke University has conducted this program for almost 30 years, and for the past ten years it has been under the direction of Joe Klinebriel, Associate Professor of Drama.

While Cootie Shots was created with young audiences in mind, the themes and messages of this fun, thought-provoking production are designed to be experienced community wide.

“What’s special about the elementary school tour is the opportunity for Clarke students to showcase and reinforce the importance of role-models,” said Ellen Gabrielleschi, Chair and Associate Professor of Drama. “It also demonstrates the impact and effectiveness the arts have always had in delivering powerful messages.”