Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sadie Piper. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Sadie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
As a creative, this question has been presented to me many times in many forms: “most meaningful project,” “most memorable experience,” “most life-changing achievement,” and my answer has always been that my achievements/memorable experiences/meaningful projects have never been just about me. It’s always been about the creative communities that have welcomed me and allowed me to be myself and grow.
But now I can confidently say: Summit Arts Collective is the most meaningful project I’ve ever been a part of.
Our programming started with Saturday Night Teen Improv. I taught, directed, and guided as I watched these young people create thought-provoking scenes and hilarious characters. I watched them become more and more comfortable with one another, become friends, and take risks.
To quickly incorporate art and music into our programming, we added Talent Showcase Nights to our calendar. During these nights, teens were invited to show off whatever talent they were proud of or a project they were working on. That very first showcase, the teens shared with us performances on piano, guitar, and recorder. They sang. They tap-danced. They showed us their paintings, drawings, and photography. They told jokes and performed card tricks. One teen even showcased their pogo stick skills. I asked each of them to explain their learning processes, share what they liked and disliked about the process, tell us about a time they had to work through something difficult and problem solve, and I asked for their opinions on how to get started. As the night progressed, more and more teens came forward with something to share. The bravery grew, the volume of questions from their peers grew, and so did the praise. They cheered and celebrated one another. And when performers made mistakes, they encouraged one another to brush it off and keep going.
As the weeks went on, we added more programs: an after-school drama club at a local elementary school, week-long production camps, a summer choir, and community events. And as our creative community grew, I realized that this space was going to be less about formal art education and more about just giving young people a safe space for creative exploration, in whatever capacity they needed.
When I started this organization, I was asked why a nonprofit. Why not an LLC? Why not a business? And the simplest answer is, I knew I didn’t want it to belong to me. I knew that this project was not supposed to be about me or my success or even MY vision.
Summit Arts Collective belongs to the young people of our community. It’s about them, what they need, what they want. Facilitating this space has been the greatest honor of my life.
Sadie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
After studying music in college and performing in the years after, I put that part of my life on hold to focus on the needs of my children. And then, a friend with knowledge of my background in theater and vocal performance asked me to help their daughter prepare for an audition. That opened the door to starting a small vocal studio and taking a job in vocal directing. As a vocal director for a local theater, I saw a group of young people in our community who were craving more creative opportunities. They already had experience in theater and were full of ideas, characters, and stories. They just needed a safe space to bring it all to life.
Being involved in the homeschool community, specifically a learning-inclusive, secular, LGBTQ+ community, I saw students who were also full of ideas, characters, and stories, who were also craving creative opportunities but needed a space that was considerate of their needs and identities.
I was determined to create an educational space that served them all, and the idea of Summit Arts Collective started to take shape.
My board members and I all have experience with non-profit arts organizations in some capacity, either as teaching artists, administrators, and/or parents. We have seen firsthand how beneficial arts education is to young people and wholeheartedly believe there should be more access to it. We listened to the concerns of parents in our community, and we committed to creating a program that included the elimination of financial obstacles and the barriers to participation in regard to level of experience or skill that are often found in traditional performance programs. We were and still are determined to grow a program that welcomes ALL young people into an inclusive space where they can feel comfortable and confident taking risks and expressing themselves authentically.
Programs we have offered since beginning our programming in February 2024:
Teen Improv
Creative Writing
Talent Showcase Nights
Stage Combat Workshops
Speech Club – based on the Toastmasters International Model
After-School Drama Clubs – free weekly class offered at a local elementary school
Spring Break: A play in ONE week! – a weeklong day camp for elementary students that uses a narrator-led script to be inclusive of all reading abilities
Production Summer Camps for teens and elementary students – in both camps, students created their own scripts and built their shows from the ground up
Summer Singers – a traditional choral experience for multiple ages
Storytelling Through Song – a program for young students that utilizes familiar songs as a way to remember and tell stories
Spooky Singers – part of the Spooky Season program: a choral experience for multiple ages that focused on vocal exploration through character voices
Spooky Stories – part of the Spooky Season program: a collection of mini plays, scenes, monologues, and poems performed by multiple ages
Mini Monsters – part of the Spooky Season program: a collaborative storytelling class for young students
Community Events: World Art Day celebration, World Music Day open mic, Open Studio art events
Because of our commitment to eliminating financial obstacles, most of our programs are free or free with a suggested donation of one dollar. When a program has a fee, financial assistance is offered without any qualifying questions or requirements. There’s no need to explain or justify. We simply offer help when it’s needed to allow all young people the opportunity to participate. Our focus on student-created performance experiences helps us to keep our costs low.
In our programs, prior experience is not required. Anyone who would like to try is given a chance, a part, a solo. And participation isn’t mandatory. We just ask that students demonstrate a willingness to participate to the best of their ability and challenge themselves to take reasonable risks to learn and grow. Sometimes, that looks like just showing up and saying “pass” when the activity finally makes it around to them.
Each program ends with a showcase performance or includes a parent/adult night. This is a way for us to communicate what students are learning and highlight student growth. This also gives us a chance to incorporate an opportunity for adult participation. We believe that parents/adults participating in creative activities, especially those outside their comfort zone, encourages young people to take risks and try new things. Seeing their adults tackle unfamiliar tasks or make mistakes and learn from them helps young people understand that the creative process involves exploration and experimentation, not just perfection.
Plus, it’s a good reminder for adults that creative exploration doesn’t stop when we reach a certain age. Singing a silly song, making weird art, and playing a goofy game is good for your soul, whether you are 9 or 90.
In the past 14 months, there have been so many experiences and students that have reminded us that Summit Arts Collective is worth all the work. We’ve laughed and cheered as our students have grown and changed. We’ve grown and changed right alongside them. And we’ve watched as the organization has grown and changed, too. We allowed ourselves and our programming to be flexible to our students’ needs, and because of that, Summit Arts Collective is becoming the most beautiful and special space. We’re cultivating an amorphous space. A DIY space. A space we can shape as it shapes us.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
I want to help people of all ages realize that they are worthy of creating art and sharing their art.
I want them to know that creativity doesn’t have to be tied to being profitable. I want them to know that they can draw, paint, act, and sing, that they are full of stories that are worthy of being told and ideas that should be brought to life. For no other reason than just because. Just because it’s fun to be creative.
I want to encourage them to make bad art and make mistakes. I want young people to know that’s how we learn and grow. Don’t be afraid of it. Don’t be ashamed.
I want them to bravely make and share their art in unconventional ways – to know that their performance in a church basement is just as important as a professional performance on a professional stage.
I want them to celebrate and appreciate every step of the process, even the missteps and stumbles.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
When they get it!
When something we’ve been working on finally clicks and I can see the realization in their face and body language.
When they finally feel brave enough to try.
When the student who always has their adult sit at the back of the class/event finally starts attending on their own.
When a student struggles and their peers jump up to support them and cheer them on.
When students ask me to read their scripts/stories/poems, listen to their songs, or look at their art.
When they realize their worth.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sartscollective.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sartscollective/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sartscollective
