The Umoja Arts Centre
Arusha, Tanzania
Unity! 2008 Opening Campaign
Dear Friends of the Arts,
As musicians, artists, performers, parents and educators, you know that every local arts community needs a gathering place: a center in which people from all walks of life can teach, learn, perform, share, and grow. Arusha, Tanzania is an East African city rich with artistic talent and cultural possibility. Today, we write on behalf of the Umoja Arts Centre to seek your help in opening Arusha's very own arts centre.
While the people of Tanzania are surrounded by a potentially vibrant culture of traditional music and dance, these art forms too often suffer from neglect. In almost every Tanzanian school, the arts simply aren't a part of daily curriculum. Talented visual artists, songwriters, dancers and instrumentalists--working in both traditional and modern modes--have few opportunities to display, perform, and share their work.
The Umoja Arts Project--"Umoja" means "unity" in Kiswahili--is an Arusha-based non-governmental organization (NGO) that promotes cultural awareness, personal empowerment, and artistic exchange through education, performance, exhibition, and outreach. Our aim is to support the development of a sustainable economy for the arts in Tanzania through these programs.
Umoja Music School, under the umbrella of Umoja Arts Project, is an outreach program which offers Suzuki string instrument education to local families in Arusha. Prior to the inception of the Music School two years ago, these lessons were available only at Arusha's most elite international school. By providing violin lessons and parent education at extremely low cost, Umoja has opened the door to quality music education for everyone in Arusha. For Umoja Arts Project, this program represents the first of many steps towards a vibrant future for Tanzania--one that is shaped by people whose lives have been enriched through the arts. But the vision of the Umoja Arts Centre extends well beyond string education. Our Arts Center will be a place where classical instrumentalists study by day, local reggae artists perform by night, and novice painters, dancers, and singers come to gain new skills.
The artistic staff of the Umoja Arts Project, hailing from the United States, Canada, Madagascar, and Tanzania, is a diverse group of individuals who bring different cultural and artistic backgrounds to the table. We at Umoja are committed to working with Tanzanian artists to enrich the life of the arts in Tanzania. Co-directors Liza Barley (Music), Linda Willms (Visual Arts), and Tiana Razafy (Dance) bring years of teaching experience and cultural knowledge to their disciplines. Our artistic directors and staff are ideal ambassadors for the arts: they are people deeply connected to the existing arts scene in Tanzania, and fully aware of its needs and potential.
Umoja is preparing to open the doors of its new space in January 2008. Our Unity! 2008 Opening Campaign is raising funds for the following:
- Furnishing and preparing our new Arts Centre for January classes
- Launching a broad-based publicity campaign to reach the underserved communities least likely
- Providing our faculty and students with art supplies, dance equipment, music, and other teaching tools
Your financial support during the Unity! 2008 campaign is vital to Umoja's successful beginning and sustainable future. If you consider yourself a patron of community development through the arts, becoming an Umoja supporter is for you! Donations of any size are appreciated and needed.
In addition to cash, Umoja is also accepting donations of materials (instruments and supplies, art supplies, furniture, office supplies) and services (web design, printing and copying, donation shipment, etc). Umoja also encourages interested supporters to organize benefit concerts, dinners, or other events in their own communities. Please feel free to contact us for more information about any of these opportunities to give!
Because Umoja is a Tanzania-registered organization only, these donations are not yet tax-deductible in the United States. (Umoja's staff expects to have U.S. tax-exempt status within the next year.)
Please see the attached donation envelope for information about giving. The simplest way to give is by visiting our website, umoja-arts.com, and clicking the link called "Donate." Those who become donors will receive quarterly reports on the way donated funds are being spent.
As you look through the materials provided, please feel free to contact us with any questions. We appreciate enormously your time, interest, and support. We look forward to hearing from you, and will keep you updated as Umoja continues to grow in the months and years to come.
With gratitude,
The Umoja Artistic Staff