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Education and Outreach
Our enriching campus will give school children across the valley access to the same cultural opportunities enjoyed by students in other cities around the country.
"It's thrilling to see school buses full of children who are dressed in their best clothes and excited to see a performance."
- Candy Schneider, Director of Education and Outreach at The Smith Center
Exposure to the arts has been proven to enhance children’s mental and cognitive abilities, increase cultural understanding, improve performance across all curriculum areas and develop social skills.
The Smith Center has joined with the Clark County School District and the Culture Division of Clark County to participate in the John F. Kennedy Center Partners in Education Program. This partnership features national and international artists who conduct workshops for teachers and students, connecting the arts to all areas of the curriculum.
In the fall of 2009, The Smith Center became one of 16 regional programs in the country, in cooperation with the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts in Virginia. This internationally recognized program enhances preschool education by training teachers how to incorporate creative music, theater and dance into their curriculum.
Candy Schneider is six months shy of being a native Nevadan. Recently named as the Director of Education and Outreach for The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, Candy's entire professional career has been focused on arts education and working with the community to enhance education. Prior to joining The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, Candy worked for the Clark County School District for 33 years, first as a visual arts teacher, then as the administrator of the visual arts, and finally as the assistant director in the School-Community Partnership Program.
Over the years, Candy has served on a variety of local, regional, and national boards and committees including the National Art Educators Association, Getty Center for Arts Education, National Endowment for the Arts, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts - Partners in Education, Nevada State Education Curriculum Standards, Henderson Cultural Plan, Nevada School of the Arts, Las Vegas Centennial, Lied Discovery Children's Museum, VSA Nevada, and a host of Clark County School District committees. In March of 2007, Ms. Schneider was selected by the National Art Education Association to receive the Nevada Art Educator of the Year Award.
Since 1995, Ms. Schneider has served on the Board of the Nevada Arts Council, as an appointee of the Governor. She served as chairman of the NAC Board for five years, and continues to work to ensure the arts are accessible to all citizens and are ever growing. Increased support for arts education, individual artists, arts organizations, and advocacy issues have been the focus of Candy's work on the NAC Board. As the appointed representative of the Nevada Arts Council, Candy also serves as vice-chair of the Nevada Commission for Cultural Affairs, which is responsible for reviewing and awarding $3,000,000, in grants each year to preserve and maintain Nevada's historic sites to serve as cultural centers throughout the state.
