Give to the Max Day Spotlight: Brooklyn Center’s SPARK Theater and Dance
Give to the Max Day is coming up on Thursday, Nov 21. One local organization, SPARK Theater and Dance, is one area group vying for donations.
The Brooklyn Center-based nonprofit puts on original, professional productions. Its founders and artistic directors, Betsy and Corey Mills, said the nonprofit’s biggest goal is to connect people to the arts.
“Our heart is to build community among artists that we are working with, and among artists that we are creating for and performing for,” Corey Mills said.
The pair founded the nonprofit in 2006. Since then, they’ve put on a number of original productions in several mediums.
For Give to the Max Day, SPARK is asking for donations to keep the program alive and performers well paid.
Right now, the troupe is preparing for its original adaptation of “The Gift of the Magi,” coming next December.
A past SPARK performance.
The Mills say they want to pay artists what they are worth, while also making their productions accessible to anyone in the community. That accessibility, Betsy Mills said, applies to financial and physical barriers.
“We really focus on that accessibility part, but we also have to weigh that with the honoring the artist part. So that brings us back to the fundraising,” she explained.
SPARK is holding its annual “Swing KaChing,” a free fundraising event on Thursday, Nov. 21, at Elision Playhouse.
There will be live music, a swing dance lesson and a screening of SPARK’s short film. The Mills ask that people RSVP.
It begins at 6:30 p.m. that day in Crystal. More details about SPARK and the event are available on its giveMN page, as well as its website.
The nine cities within CCX’s viewing area have a wealth of organizations to support. You can search for more local nonprofits to support on giveMN.
