Founded in 1997, the Community Arts Training (CAT) Institute is an intensive cross-sector training of artists of all disciplines and community activists of all kinds with 225 graduates.

The goals are to create and sustain strong arts-based community programs that amplify the voices of under-resourced communities; regenerate and unite neighborhoods; and create significant vehicles for positive change.

The CAT Institute is an innovative program centered on the belief that art has the power to be an agent for social change: For sixteen years, as the oldest sustained training of its kind in the country, the Community Arts Training Institute has provided a rigorous multiple-month curriculum to prepare artists of all disciplines and their community partners to collaborate in creating and sustaining significant arts programs primarily in under-resourced community settings, such as neighborhood organizations, social service agencies, development initiatives and education programs.

For more information about the CAT Institute, see "About CAT Institute" or contact Roseann Weiss at roseann@stlrac.org or Lisa Harper Chang at lisa.harper.chang@stlrac.org, or call 314/863-5811.

CAT Institute Class 2012/2013:

Program Spotlight

Community Health-In-Partnership Services (CHIPS)

Community Health-In-Partnership Services (CHIPS)

CHIPS, CHIPS In Motion, and CLUB CHIPS (Community Youth Leaders United for Better Health) have gained recognition around the St. Louis area as innovative programs that use theatre as the teaching model to educate young people about preventative healthcare. For five years, they have spread their message to over 4,000 students, parents, and school and program administrators by touring area schools, civil and social organizations, educating peers about healthcare issues, such as smoking, reproductive health, safe sex, and abstinence, while offering information on nutrition, self-esteem, conflict ...More Info