Cameron Movie

Super Project Lab with Outside In at SMYRQ

Dear Friends, Family and Supporters of Super Project Lab Improv:

On a warm Sunday evening last June at the intersection of Broadway and West Burnside in downtown Portland, two women from a nearby shelter peeked from the sidewalk into a dimly lit theatre to see an audience on its feet, cheering in support. Inside, fifteen students hug, high-five and bow clearly filled with the rush of adrenaline that is unique to a live stage-performance. For the past 25 minutes, these young performers suspended their fear of judgment, put the success of the group above their own survivalist mentality, and forgot that they are homeless. These confident, creative youth are students of Super Project Lab Outreach.

To us, this story represents the remarkable impact we’ve had in the last year and the potential for even greater impact in the upcoming one.  On so many levels 2010 has been a hugely successful year for us. Here’s how it all unfolded:

Over the course of the year we piloted five new programs serving over one hundred and fifty at risk youth.  Additionally, we produced six performances to provide those youth with an opportunity to be up on stage putting their skills to the test in front of a live audience.  Our 2010 partners included; Boys and Girls Aid-Pettygrove Residential Program, Boys and Girls Aid-the Annex, Outside In-Guerilla Theater, OYA’s Hillcrest Youth Correctional Facility, The Pathfinder Academy and Portland’s Sexual Minority Youth Resource Center.

In May we gained a part-time Education Director, Nicholas Kessler, who has taken our curricula to a new level.  His experience as a teacher is invaluable, and his strategies for impacting the lives of our participants are not only innovative they’re proving highly successful!  We are lucky to have found Nicholas, a partner that shares our organization’s passion and extends its reach.

In September we were awarded our first grant from the Multnomah County Cultural Coalition to complete our pilot program with Outside In.  This grant is evidence of our community’s need for this work and we’re proud that MCCC has shown their willingness to foster an underserved community of young new artists.

Perhaps now more than ever, Super Project Lab is dedicated to its mission: to use performance, outreach and strategic partnerships to connect within and educate throughout our community using the methods of improvisational theater. Our goals for 2011 include doubling the number of youth we serve and continuing to offer classes at zero cost to our partnering social service agencies.

The holiday giving season is upon us and while we know that there are many deserving causes in our community that you will consider supporting, we would like to ask that you consider Super Project Lab Outreach among them.

If you are able to make a tax-deductible donation to our organization, please send a check made payable to:

Super Project Lab

1001 SE Water Ave, #255

Portland, OR  97214

Or if you’d like more information about the work we are doing or how you can get involved, please visit our website at www.superprojectlab.org

Happy Holidays!

Shelley Darcy

Executive Director, Super Project Lab

www.superprojectlab.org

shelley@superprojectlab.org

(503) 750-5247

We are very proud of our work with Hillcrest Youth Correctional Facility and the Pettygrove Program, and we thank their teams for the great times we’ve had so far!

1. This workshop helped me feel more confident to speak in front of other people.

2. I learned that being “fit and well” can improve most situations.

3. I felt safe to perform the games and was able to suspend judgement of myself and others.

4. If given the chance, I would participate in more workshops like this.

Nicholas Kessler
Education Director, Super Project Lab

Please join Super Project Lab and Outside In’s – Guerilla Theater Project for a fabulous night of camaraderie and courage! This show features participants from a class that SPL has been teaching at Outside In. The students will perform an opening set for SPL’s professional improv performers. It’s a great opportunity for us to showcase the work we are doing in our community and celebrate the hard work and courage of the kids from Guerilla Theater.

Super Project Lab performers will include Shelley Darcy and Matt Tabora-Roberts with special guests Nicholas Kessler, Daryl Olson, Heberto Espinosa and Ritah Parrish!

7:00 PM
The Brody Theater
16 NW Broadway, Portland, OR 503.224.2227
Directions to the Theater

Tickets $10.00 ($7.00 for students) – Purchase tickets at the door or online
Buy Tickets Here!

Super Project Lab received notification on June 25th that we are the recipient of a $1500 grant awarded by the MCCC.

This grant will provide funding for a six-week workshop that proved highly successful last April with the Guerrilla Theater Project, Outside In’s in-house cultural group that uses art to inspire Portland’s homeless youth. SPL will teach a two-hour improv theater class once a week for five weeks. Two instructors will use the ten hours of class time to teach basic improv games that promote self-confidence, listening, teamwork, positive attitude and trust. On the sixth week of the workshop, the participants will perform on stage in front of a live audience alongside the professional improvisers that make up Super Project Lab’s performance ensemble.

This program was a big success in its pilot phase. Outside In’s Nili Yosha comments, “The program has been extremely successful. The youth looked forward to the weekly sessions which provided a positive and stable energetic outlet and the opportunity, at the end of the unit, to showcase their skills to the community.”

In its notification letter MCCC said, “We received 84 applications for Cultural Participation Grants. Each proposal was evaluated on the basis of the criteria outlined in the CCP guidelines. We believe the proposals selected for funding, including yours, meet the criteria very well.”

SPL will begin the program in September 2010.

Shelley Darcy
Executive Director, Super Project Lab

Super Project Lab presents ‘Spring Cleaning’!

The show begins with a special opening performance of Guerrilla Theatre, a youth art group from Outside In. Don’t miss it!

Help inspire the evening’s improv and support the valuable work of Goodwill Industries at the same time. Bring an under-used object or article of clothing to the show; after the show we’ll donate your item to Goodwill.

Special guests: Shelley McLendon and Nicholas Kessler of the The Liberators.

We have also signed on to run a four week pilot program with Hillcrest Youth Correctional Facility in Salem. Hillcrest serves males, 12- 25 years old who are in custody of the Oregon Youth Authority.  We have been asked to work in the intake program facility to help prepare the boys to work effectively in a group dynamic.  We will use improv practices to help equip them with collaboration skills they will need to be successful at Hillcrest.

We will continue to forge new partnerships throughout the year and report back on our successes so keep checking in for updates!

Shelley Darcy
Executive Director