Corporate Spotlight: PNC Foundation

By UMS

For 15 years, PNC Foundation has helped UMS meet a growing need for K-12 students throughout Southeast Michigan and beyond to have access to arts education programs that support their educational, social, and emotional well-being.

From music to theater to modern dance, UMS School Day Performances feature some of the world’s best performing artists, using the arts to ignite student imagination and support student growth and development.

K-12 students at a UMS School Day Performance

“There is now abundant evidence that engagement with the arts plays a critical role in K-12 education.” — James Coleman, PNC

James Coleman (left), with the PNC Foundation team

“We know that arts education activities help students develop the ‘Four C’s’ of collaboration, creativity, communication, and critical thinking skills along with socio-emotional learning, no matter the age or ability of the student or the environment in which the learning takes place. This is why it’s important for PNC to support arts education programs like those at UMS,” said James Coleman, PNC’s Director of Client and Community Relations for Southeast Michigan.

Coleman, who joined UMS’s Board of Directors in July, noted that PNC has been investing in arts and culture, K-12 education, and economic development for decades. Their signature program, PNC Grow Up Great, has invested $500 million in early childhood education since 2004 and has expanded to a bilingual initiative.

Terri Park, UMS Associate Director for Learning & Engagement, has overseen UMS’s K-12 programs for more than 10 years, and has seen increased demand for Mexican and Spanish-speaking artists among schools. Indeed, nearly 1,300 students will visit Hill Auditorium next month for a School Day Performance by Mexican-born singer/songwriter Sonia De Los Santos, with over 2,500 more watching in their classrooms via live stream. And the learning doesn’t stop there.

Every School Day Performance is complemented by a UMS learning guide to facilitate meaningful connections to classroom curricula. For select events, UMS also offers SDP+ workshops, where highly skilled and knowledgeable artist facilitators visit classrooms to offer arts-integrated experiences that prepare students for the performance. The 30-45 minute workshop (in-person or digital) connects directly to school curricula and allows students to actively explore, experience, and express the art form and themes from the performance right in their classrooms. And the learning doesn’t stop there. After the performance, the UMS artist facilitator returns to lead students in discussion to help them synthesize what they learned.

Ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro with students after his School Day Performance

“One of the elements I love most about UMS’s approach to K-12 arts education is the care they take to meet every school, classroom, and student where they are,” says Coleman. “The downloadable learning guides and classroom workshops make it easy for teachers to prepare their classroom regardless of their own level of expertise in the subject. If a school serves primarily low-income students, our grant helps provide ticket and transportation subsidies. It’s a thoughtful approach that really levels the playing field so any school, any student can participate.”

“Philanthropic support from our corporate partners, foundations, and like-minded individuals is so critical to UMS’s K-12 programs. It allows us not only to share incredibly talented artists from all over the world with young people, but to do so in a way that is accessible to everyone,” noted Park. “PNC’s partnership and support these past 15 years have impacted thousands and thousands of students, inspiring curiosity, sparking conversation and dialogue, and fostering a global perspective of the world around them.”