Sacramento Metropolitan
Arts Commission
800 10th StreetSuite 1SacramentoCA95814916-264-5558916-264-5570

Program: Late Night Sacramento Year Started: 1993 Focus: Multidisciplinary Arts Youth Served: 200 Ages: 13-18 Budget: $15,000 Recognizing that not everyone is interested in basketball, the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission (SMAC) initiated an arts alternative to Sacramentos Friday Night Basketball program. Working with the Police Athletic League, the City Council, the Parks and Recreation Department and Neighborhood Services, SMAC developed Late Night Sacramento, a Friday night drop-in program in the arts held at six area high schools. Artists are recruited by SMAC to submit proposals for the workshops. Projects all work toward the creation of a product for exhibition or a performance. Students drop by the schools between 7:00 p.m. and midnight, between March and September for activities such as the production of a poetry anthology and the creation of murals, street dances and musical compositions. Late Night Sacramento provides a safe place where teens can discover the arts. As one Late Night participant suggested, "This is the first place IÌve come to where there is no trouble. I can enjoy myself without feeling like I'm going to get into trouble myself." SMAC also runs a Healthy Start after-school program with an arts component for low-income children ages 9 to 12 and The Neighborhood Arts Program, an artist-in-residence program that takes place at a variety of community sites.