We are raising money for My Nose Turns Red Youth Circus and your contribution will make an impact, whether you donate $5 or $500. Every little bit helps. Thank you for your support.
My Nose Turns Red Youth Circus (MNTR) provides a non-competitive, safe environment for students of all ages to be courageous, to set personal goals, to persevere, to work together, to be inspired, and to have fun. MNTR serves over 450 students per year through after-school programs, year-round classes at the Evendale Cultural Arts Center, and summer camps. Through funding from ArtsWave, the National Endowment for the Arts, SC Ministry Foundation, Ohio Arts Council, and the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, MNTR is able to provide free after-school circus classes and summer camps to underserved youth.
Youth engaged in circus learn to trust and support each other both physically and emotionally as they take risks and persevere to master new and exciting skills. These skills, and this community, have become even more important in the past year. Due to COVID-19, we have all felt more isolated than before. And this is especially true for young people. MNTR’s programming is a significant part of our students’ social-emotional well-being.
COVID-19 recommendations for social distancing required us to reduce capacity in all of our programs. Yet, we persevered to sustain as much face-to-face programming as we could, while bringing circus to children and youth in new, virtual formats. We are thankful for all of our donors, the board of directors, and funders who have helped sustain our work in the midst of tremendous challenge. Although we will be unable to gather audiences for some time, and most of our after-school programs are on hold, we are committed to finding new ways of serving culturally, linguistically, and socio-economically diverse youth.
We remain a safe, non-competitive place where youth learn how to collaborate and communicate, create engaging performances, celebrate the joy of working toward a personal goal, develop leadership skills, and learn to trust and support each other.
We made it through 2020—almost—and next year will be just as challenging. We need your support to help My Nose Turns Red finish the year strong and poised to continue to provide the joys and challenges of circus to the youth of our community.
Our mission is “Through the art of the theatrical clown and the one-ring circus, My Nose Turns Red cultivates a supportive environment that inspires youth to challenge themselves, develop essential life skills, and engage audiences.”
