Washington Performing Arts Celebrates 40 Years of Its Embassy Adoption Program at May 2 Gala

This year’s Washington Performing Arts Gala & Auction—Saturday, May 2, at the Marriott Marquis—will have an international theme as Washington Performing Arts focuses on the 40th anniversary  of its Embassy Adoption Program and its planned expansion.
           
The Embassy Adoption Program is a partnership between Washington Performing Arts and the District of Columbia Public Schools, which pairs 50 embassies with 50 fifth and sixth grade classes for a year’s worth of cross-cultural learning, projects, and enrichment activities.

“There is no city, no place in the country which has a program like this,” said Jenny Bilfield, Washington Performing Arts President and CEO. “We are fortunate to have this and be able to do this.”
           
This year, DCPS Chancellor Kaya Henderson will receive Washington Performing Art’s first Leadership in Arts Education Award at the gala. Henderson is receiving the award as the representative of DCPS, which is partnering on the Embassy Adoption Program, along with taking part in  and collaborating with Washington Performing Arts on a host of programs, including Concerts in  Schools, Capital Dance, Capital Jazz, Capital Strings and Capital Voices.  
           
According to Washington Performing Arts, the award has no fixed timing: it will be given based on arts-education merit alone, and not time-elapsed criteria.
           
“The Embassy Adoption Program has benefited thousands of students over the years,” Bilfield said. “Our students in this city live in a world that’s not always recognized by others—they are surrounded by a hotbed of international culture.  To be able to connect in such a programmatic way with the international community here is one of our proudest achievements.”
           
The focus of gala comes on a day which also kicks off the annual Passport D.C. festivities, a month-long  explosion of international culture in which the city’s embassies open their doors to the public for a variety of activities, exhibitions, and events.
           
This year’s gala is chaired by Reginald Van Lee. The Embassy Adoption Program is chaired by Jake Jones, Daimler.  EAP committee co-chairs are David Marventano, Fluor; Rachel Pearson, Pearson & Associates; Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan, former Mexican Ambassador to the United States and Veronica Valencia-Sarukhan. 
           
The gala kicks off at 6 p.m. with a Kentucky Derby Watch Party.  Cocktails and Silent auction begin at 6:30 p.m. with dinner and program at 8 p.m.
           
Performers will include the Washington Performing Arts Children of the Gospel Choir and the New York-based hot jazz ensemble, The Hot Sardines, who are—did we say?—hot.
           
The Embassy Adoption Program is described as an arts-integrated  academic program in which fifth and sixth grade teachers apply to participate.  Each class is paired with a single embassy, and together they embark on a school year-long journey, exploring the adopted country’s history, culture, government, arts, food and geography. 
           
Some 50,000 students have been able to participate in the program over the years, from all eight wards of the city, partnering with some 100 embassies.
           
The program culminates in a presentation about the countries which the classes have partnered with and a mini-United Nations event in May.
           
The gala comes at a time when Bilfield is completing her second year at the helm of Washington Performing Arts and her first season which bears her programming mark, including new programs, such as “The Art of the Orchestra,” “Mapping Our Silk Road: Creative Intersections” and “Wynton Marsalis x 3: a 30-year Friendship Deepens.”
           
The gala also comes days after Washington Performing Arts’ 2015-2016 season announcement, the first of two seasons in anticipation of 2016’s 50th anniversary  celebrating.