April 16, 2009 – The University of Utah Fine Arts Auditorium will fill with laughter, music and movement as children who attend Neighborhood House perform the original production “Not So Skary Harry” on Thursday, April 30 at 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

The performance is the culmination of a partnership between University students enrolled in the Fine Arts LEAP (Learning, Engagement, Achievement, and Progress) program and children from Neighborhood House, a Salt Lake City daycare facility for financially disadvantaged children.

LEAP is a learning community that enables new University students to play an active role in their own education. Jennifer M. Bauman, Ph.D. designed Fine Arts LEAP and is the director. “The goal of our program is to give fine arts students the opportunity to work on an entire production in all its aspects, and to share their talents with children with little exposure to the fine arts,” says Bauman. “This is the third year of this project, and next years program will be twice as big, giving opportunities to even more students to participate.”

The Fine Arts LEAP students worked closely with the Neighborhood House children to show them their potential in the fine arts. Bauman believes the connections created through the past few months have helped both students and children see another way of life and strive to unite within their community. “The idea is to create community so we learn to work together,” she says.

Fine Arts LEAP consists of a year-long seminar that focuses on the theme of community. Students follow the course the entire year with the same instructor, Peer Advisor and classmates, thereby forming an interdisciplinary fine arts community.

For more information about LEAP visit www.leap.utah.edu. For more information about the production of “Not So Skary Harry,” contact Jennifer Bauman at 801-585-3266 or at j.bauman@utah.edu.