Growing Artists Citizens of The World 

I founded Stomp and Shout Chicago in 2013 with a clear mission, ” to innovate inspiring ways to bring music, art, and theatre to kids and their families”. I was seeing SO many arts programs that were offering the “same old thing”. SO many programs that were offering a limited slice of the delicious arts pie. I believe the best kinds of Arts Classes are less concerned with training the next Broadway star, and are more concerned with growing their student’s confidence, inspiring team work, strengthening problem solving skills, deepening creative and critical thinking skills, and growing big, beautiful imaginations. Speaking of imagination — take  a minute to imagine what our kid’s adult lives would like with these tools at their disposal? It’s pretty thrilling to imagine, right? 

Back to that mission. Let’s breakdown how we aim to serve that statement: 

 

• We provide an Arts Foundation for all of our families so that they can continue to sing, play, and create for years to come. 
• We spark imaginative conversations in class with the goal that this imaginative language develops at home. 
• We bring arts programming to families that may not have the resources to attend an arts class on their own. (See specifically our partnership with Rivendell Theatre Ensemble on the Strong Girls Make Stuff Program as well as our Play For Everyone Program that reserves two free seats in each session of our Early Childhood Programming for families that are having financial difficulties). 
• We foster community between families and their neighborhoods. We like to say we’re helping to create mom and pop tribes. 
• We create unique {fun} classes that expand our student’s artistic horizons. 

 

A Bit Of History: 

September of 2013
Our first Early Childhood session begins in Logan Square. At session’s end our enrollment was at 9 kids. The class was taught by Cassie with Noah on guitar.

Summer 2014
We added two more location into the mix (for a total of three) and found that we’d grown to 21 students! 

Winter 2014
Cassie partners with Brooklyn based songwriter, Jo Solomon. The merger lands Cassie with amazing songs to develop the early childhood music and creative play program she’s been dreaming about for years. It also gives us a sister, Stomp and Shout Brooklyn. 

Summer 2015 
Holy smokes — 38 enrollments, 3 teachers, 3 locations, and 2 guitarists. 

Winter 2015
Our Early Childhood neighborhoods grow to include: Logan Square (the OG), Roscoe Village, Bucktown, West Loop, and Oak Park. 

Stomp and Shout Chicago spearheads it’s first program for older kids, Strong Girls Make Stuff at Rivendell Theatre Ensemble. 

Big Things On The Horizon

You can see we’ve been growing in a big, beautiful way! Even more amazing opportunities have been flying Stomp and Shout’s way and we’ve found ourselves in one of those exciting moments: there’s a need and an opportunity for growth, but all of that growth needs capital to support it. That’s where you come in….

The Launch of Stomp and Shout Kids
We’ve been slowly rolling out a brand new music and creative play program for kids ages 8 months – 4 years. By Spring of 2016 we’ll have added a Manhattan location, an Iowa location, and many, many families. We’ve got BIG DREAMS for this unique program. Your investment will help facilitate: 

• Recording & Sound Design for our original poems & short stories 
• Design, Writing, Research, Printing of Take Home Materials 
• An Illustrator for our Play Packets, Poems, and Stories 
• The nitty gritty: a lawyer for trademarking, partnership agreements, and licensing. 
• Spreading the word: A fancy-schmancy PR person to alert the masses to the brilliance of Stomp and Shout 

Stomp and Shout HQ located in Logan Square 

The time has come for us to plant our roots. Where to do it was a no brainer — beautiful Logan Square! Not only will Stomp and Shout HQ provide a space for our classes, trainings, and a much needed office for Cassie, it will also open up opportunities for us to throw parties, produce inventive, immersive children’s theatre and family friendly concerts  (what up kindie rock!), and offer space to other family/kid focused companies (think: birthing classes, mama groups, dance classes, instrumental music lessons, and more!). Don’t worry — we’ll continue to offer our classes all over the city of Chicago!! 

Summary:
With each step we’ll be able to reach more and more kids and families. We’ll be able to offer creative income outlets for our teaching artists, we’ll be able to develop new programs like First Stomp for infants and Big Stomp for Pre-School aged kids, we’ll be able to build an Arts & Imagination filled space for the families of Logan Square (and our other beloved neighborhoods), we’ll be able to introduce the power of play to cities around the country, and we’ll be filled with JOY while we do it.

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_ZsIKi5YI0M
See Campaign: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/stomp-and-shout-kids-igniting-imaginations#/
Contact Information:
Cassie Slater

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