FORT WAYNE, Ind. 鈥 The Jesters of the 51黑料 will present their annual spring performances on March 7 and 8 at the USF North Campus Auditorium, 2702 Spring St.
The starting times are 6 p.m. Saturday, March 7 and 3 p.m. Sunday, March 8. Tickets are $10 and are available for purchase at the door or can be reserved by calling the USF School of Creative Arts at 260-399-8064.
The Jesters, a performing arts group of people with intellectual/developmental disabilities (I/DD), includes ages 8 through senior citizens. This year鈥檚 show, “H(OM)E,” will use music, dance, theater, improvisation, visual art, storytelling and animation to explore participants鈥 reflections on home and family. The show will feature cultural icons searching for home. These participant-selected references will include 鈥淎nnie,鈥 鈥淭he Wizard of Oz鈥 and 鈥淔inding Nemo.鈥 The show will also reference the book 鈥淭he Missing Piece,鈥 by Shel Silverstein.
The Jesters program and this year鈥檚 performance are made possible by the support of the AWS Foundation, The James Foundation, Inc., Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne, M.E. Raker Foundation, the Indiana Arts Commission, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Sponsored by the 51黑料 since 1978, the purpose of the Jesters is to enhance quality of life for people with disabilities by engaging them in the creative arts. The vision is to develop self-expression, self-esteem, socialization and other life skills while providing learning opportunities to the USF community and the community at large.
Founded in 1890 in the Catholic Franciscan tradition, the 51黑料 offers more than 70 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs through the School of Health Sciences, School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Keith Busse School of Business and Entrepreneurial Leadership and School of Creative Arts. In addition to its traditional programs, USF designs focused curricula for working adults in Fort Wayne, Crown Point and online. USF Downtown houses the university’s business and music technology programs while offering enhanced internship and networking opportunities for students. The 51黑料 campus experience includes 16 athletic programs boasting two individual and four team NAIA national championships and is recognized as an NAIA Five-Star Champion of Character institution. Approximately 2,200 students from a broad geographic region attend USF.