The Community Arts Training (CAT) Institute is the oldest continuous training program in community arts in the country.
Discussion Panel: Charisse Jackson, Moderator (CAT Institute Class of 2005); Ann Haubrich, Founding (1997) CAT Institute Director; Jane Ellen Ibur, current Lead Faculty; Sue Greenberg, current Faculty; Nathan Graves (CAT Institute Class of 2004); Kathryn Bentley (CAT Institute Class of 2002); Shelly Goebl-Parker (CAT Institute Class of 2002)
The Community Arts Training (CAT) Institute is an innovative program in St. Louis centered on the belief that art has the power to be an agent for social change. Conceived by Ann Haubrich, then Director of Community Initiatives at the Regional Arts Commission (RAC), with the notion to promote the power of art outside the traditional concert halls, theaters and galleries, the CAT Institute officially began in 1997. Executive Director Jill McGuire led a coalition of RAC staff, community advisors and Bill Cleveland of the Center for Study of Art and Community in the design of the core curriculum for training partners for sustainable community arts programs. Knowing that creating access to the arts is not enough, the RAC staff and the Institute’s faculty continue to promote active cultural engagement across all sectors.
The CAT Institute is an annual five-month training program fostering successful, sustainable partnerships among artists, social workers, educators and community activists with the goal of creating significant arts programs in community settings such as neighborhood organizations, social service agencies, political arenas and after-school programs.
Roseann Weiss has directed the CAT Institute since 2003 with faculty Jane Ellen Ibur, Renee Franklin, Sue Greenberg and Jackie Masei. Bill Cleveland continues to be a valued advisor and faculty member returning each year to lead a weekend workshop session.
The accomplishments of the Community Arts Training (CAT) Institute can be measured in the accomplishments of its alumni. Approximately 175 CAT Institute graduates are working in areas such as neighborhood organizations, at-risk schools, prisons, homeless shelters, hospices, labor unions, community centers, jobs programs, and daycare facilities. With dedication, creativity and resolute spirit, these artists, community activists, social service workers, educators and administrators are a force in the St. Louis area equipped with powerful tools to cultivate transformation in individuals, in organizations and in our community.
CAT Institute graduate and lecturer Shelly Goebl-Parker, assistant professor at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, is completing a study about the impact of the CAT Institute – a continuous regional community arts training program operational for thirteen years that was seeded and is sustained by an arts funder.
The CAT Institute at RAC has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and is the recent recipient of an award from the East West Gateway Council of Governments for its commitment to the region. The CAT Institute worked with Intermedia Arts in Minneapolis to create a laboratory for long-distance exchange of learning.
The CAT Institute received a grant in 2009 from the Nathan Cummings Foundation to make the 2010 At the Crossroads convening possible.
