During a recent midday performance, Brooklyn-based all-female band the Brass Queens had the entire Oregon State University concert hall on their feet, jumping and screaming with excitement to hear their cover of Chappell Roan’s mega-hit “Pink Pony Club.”
The audience consisting entirely of K-12 students only made the energy more thrilling, according to staff at PRAx, the Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts.
“Students watch so much on screens these days. It was awesome to see the Brass Queens getting all the students fully in their bodies,” said Peter Betjemann, PRAx executive director and associate vice provost of arts and humanities. “It feels so important to the cultural vitality of the Corvallis community and the cultural impact of the shows to be connecting across every generation, especially with live performance.”
The PRAxSCHOOLS initiative makes it possible for local K-12 students to see special matinee performances by musicians coming to PRAx, and it also sends artists out into local schools to give workshops and assemblies. Most shows also include dedicated Q&A sessions for students to talk directly to performers.
The program is funded by grants from the Reser Family Foundation and works primarily with Corvallis and Albany schools, although teachers from neighboring Alsea, Dayton, Junction City, Lebanon, Philomath and Scio, including from homeschool programs, have brought students for field trips, too. So far, more than 2,000 area students have participated.
“We select artists for PRAxSCHOOLS based on who makes sense to perform for kids,” said Steven McIntyre, who runs the day-to-day operations of the initiative as PRAx’s education, engagement and community development manager. “With Brass Queens, especially for elementary schoolers who may not have done band classes yet, it’s a good early exposure to the arts and to instruments they could go on to play in middle school. It kind of plants that seed of interest.
And it’s not just music. McIntyre has organized field trips for students to visit the visual arts gallery, and also worked with a Philomath art teacher to have students participate in a workshop with one of the artists and then create their own works in response, which were then displayed in PRAx’s student arts corridor.
This week, more than 400 third- through 12th-grade students got to enjoy a special abridged performance of “Hasta la Muerte” (“’Til Death”) by Las Cafeteras, a Los Angeles-based band making their second appearance at PRAx. The main evening show on Tuesday was sold out weeks in advance.
It’s the latest example of PRAx working specifically with dual-immersion school programs to create opportunities for Spanish-language students to connect with Spanish-speaking performers. McIntyre worked with Linus Pauling Middle School, South Shore Elementary School in Albany and the Corvallis High School MEChA Club to pull in students who would most benefit from seeing Las Cafeteras in person. The band also performed at an Albany school assembly for bilingual education students in 2024 during their first appearance at PRAx.
Liddy Detar, PRAx director of engagement and interpretation, said she’s struck by the profound importance of experiencing art and music in physical spaces, particularly for a generation of K-12 students who spent a major chunk of their lives taking classes virtually during the worst of the pandemic.
“The Brass Queens talked during their concert about what it means to show up and feel your body in this experience, and part of that is to be in your body around many more people,” Detar said. “Years from now, the students might not remember that it was the Brass Queens, but they’ll remember all the sensations of being in that concert. It’s about that communal experience. I really hope we pass that on generationally.”
PRAx is partnering with OSU’s College of Education to connect with OSU student teachers who are placed in local classrooms and build relationships in those schools. This provides student teachers with a ready-made opportunity they can offer their students.
Another connection with area teachers was a movement workshop last year led by the dancers of push/FOLD for 65 science teachers who were on campus for a conference led by OSU Precollege Programs. The workshop provided teachers with examples of how they can incorporate movement into their classrooms, regardless of their subject matter, McIntyre said.
Overall, PRAx wants to help fill in gaps local students may have in arts education and exposure, particularly in an era of budget cuts to arts programming.
“PRAx belongs to our community in so many ways, and PRAxSCHOOLS also brings in kids who don’t live in this town, so they, too, have access to what we’re doing,” Detar said. “I think that’s so critical to what we’re doing — to have that extended impact and opportunity to offer resources.”
Teachers interested in learning more about PRAxSCHOOLS and how to get involved can sign up here for the email list to receive updates and opportunities from McIntyre.
By Molly Rosbach
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