Mission

Sunset Cultural Center's mission is to enrich, educate, and entertain through quality, diverse cultural offering. Our vision is making the arts accessible, inclusive, and meaningful.

The Big Idea

Classroom Connections engages students through a series of in-classroom workshops featuring Sunset Presents artists, including a matinee at Sunset Center - often the students' first - to see the professional performance live, on-stage. Two performances each season are selected for the Classroom Connections program. This season’s featured performances are “Sewam American Indian Dance"" and “Lula Washington Dance Theatre"".

Classroom Connections gives students an intimate, hands-on experience of the connection between process and product. We aim to empower students by breaking down the process of creating an artistic product step-by-step with the artists themselves, showing that success is not mysterious or unattainable. On the contrary, everyone can achieve their goals by developing the skills and determination to succeed. Participating students range from kindergarten to high school, special needs to at-risk, across Monterey County. Sunset Cultural Center believes in the potential of youth; our goal is to help them believe in themselves.

This letter is in acknowledgement of the Classroom Connections program through our spectacular community partners at the Sunset Center. Students from our Art, Media, Performance Academy and Production and Managerial Arts Career Technical Education pathway had the opportunity to not only visit and watch a world-class performance at the Sunset Center, but also receive hands-on experience working with the professional performers in their very own classroom. Our students received an opportunity to meet Aquila Theatre performers and engage in acting techniques through “fun” and “exciting” games. Students reported the activities to be helpful in cultivating a real connection to the art. Shortly after the performer’s visit to the classroom, our students took a field trip to the Sunset Center to watch Pride and Prejudice. This overall experience enabled students to connect to what is learned in the classroom to real world applications in the Arts, Media, and Entertainment Industry.

- Renee Mondragon