To use the performing arts as a social action strategy that cultivates talent and revitalizes communities.

Our guiding principal is the firm belief that the arts cause a positive rippling effect that resonates in each community member, translates into good actions, and enhances the quality of life for all. At PBPAC, we believe in challenging and preparing students, participants, volunteers, and one another to reach individual potentials and contribute to the world in which we live.

Description:
Since its inception in 1984, Point Breeze Performing Art Center (PBPAC) has been providing year-round, first-rate instruction in the performing arts, public performance opportunities, and a range of support services, including counseling, mentorship, educational/vocational support activities and cultural exchange programs. PBPAC also organizes numerous cultural community events throughout the year, bringing together diverse people across the city and encouraging neighborhood-based economic activities. PBPAC programs target primarily children ages 3-18 who are at-risk for poverty-related challenges (e.g., juvenile delinquency, teenage pregnancy/fatherhood, drug/alcohol abuse, truancy, school drop out, etc.) from low-income neighborhoods in the Greater Philadelphia region where performing arts education and after-school and weekend enrichment opportunities are scarce. Each year, over 800 children enroll in PBPAC classes and workshops, and over 50,000 people attend PBPAC performances and community events.

PBPAC coined the term "arts for social change" to encapsulate our mission: to use the performing arts as a social action strategy that cultivates talent and revitalizes communities. Our goal is to help children become not just better artists, but also better persons and better community members. Our programs are geared towards building confidence, self-esteem, and discipline, and cultivating citizenship. So far, this philosophy has been overwhelmingly successful. All of the children who have stayed in our programs for more than four years resist the temptation to engage in delinquent activities, report no occurrences of teen pregnancy or fatherhood, show academic improvement during PBPAC participation, matriculate into post-secondary education after graduating from high school, perform community service during PBPAC participation, and re-invest in PBPAC as interns and volunteers.

History:
PBPAC was started by Dorothy Nolan, a well-known community activist, in the Point Breeze area of Philadelphia, a neighborhood suffering from the effects of long-term poverty and disinvestment. Ms. Nolan's guiding principle was the belief that the performing arts can cause a positive rippling effect that resonates in each community member, translates into good actions, and enhances the quality of life for all students. Her daughter, Donna Nolan Brown, took that dream and followed through with tenacity, successfully making PBPAC a hub of neighborhood-based talent and positive energy. In her words, "The Center is a resource for families, a place where the performing arts become a part of the solution to community despair."

Today, Ms. Brown and her husband, PBPAC's Vice President Al Brown, are still a vital part of the Point Breeze community, and they still live only a few blocks from the Center. They have cultivated life-long relationships within the community, and as the Point Breeze area has evolved, they have built bridges to new neighbors. Shunning the popular wisdom that success means leaving one's roots for bigger and better things, the Browns have reinvested their success in the community, making bigger and better things happen for Point Breeze.

Contact person: Michelle Martin, (phone), (email)
Office fax number: (215) 755-2771

Address:

1717-21 Point Breeze Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19145-1932 (See a map)

Web Site: http://www.pbpac.org

Miscellaneous Information

Are court referrals welcomed?
	Yes