Citi Performing Arts Center names Toni “Bee” Brooks as community artist fellow

Citi Performing Arts Center has named Toni “Bee” Brooks as its community artist fellow for 2012-13.

Working with Citi Center’s Education Department, Brooks will develop, deliver and advocate for arts education programming in the Greater Boston area, encouraging youth and adults in public schools, libraries and community centers to express their creative voices. She will host upcoming interactive readings of Dr. Seuss’ “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” for youth and families at the Faneuil Hall Marketplace, Boston Public Library branches, and Boston Centers for Youth and Families sites. For the full listings of dates and times, go to www.citicenter.org/grinch.

“The arts teach us how to communicate across the artistic realm, the business world and the borders of our community — empowering future leaders to make positive change in our increasingly global community,” said Brooks. “I am thrilled to be in a position where I can work with these youth and expand their minds through poetry and the performing arts.”

As Citi Performing Arts Center’s community artist fellow, Brooks inspires youth and adults to connect with their community through creativity. A writer, photographer and community advocate, she said she writes wherever she goes. Discovering poetry at age 15, she became a freelance journalist for community newspapers after high school and, while in college, created a writing club and held seasonal poetry readings. Writing even sustained her during her stint in a homeless shelter when she was pregnant with her daughter. After moving to Cambridge in 2004, she continued publicizing artistic events while publishing in the Cambridge Chronicle, writing and performing poetry at local events, and hosting her own talk show at Cambridge Community Television. In 2011, she was named the Cambridge poet populist, charged with leading workshops, performing at local events and promoting poetry in the city during her two-year term.

“Throughout her life, Toni has empowered teens and adults to use their creative voices to make an impact in their communities,” said Josiah A. Spaulding Jr., president and CEO of Citi Performing Arts Center. “Citi Performing Arts Center shares the belief that youth who have a creative life become thinkers, doers and leaders in their communities, making Toni the perfect partner.”

Since 1988, Citi Performing Arts Center’s award-winning education programs have reached 220,000 youth, families and teachers with free opportunities to experience the arts and learn life skills in a creative environment. Since 2010, it has expanded with key citywide partnerships including the Boston Public Schools, Boston Public Library, and Boston Centers for Youth and Families. Of particular note is its signature City Spotlights Leadership Program that provides local area teens with meaningful summer employment in the arts and life and job skills training. For more information, go to www.citicenter.org/education.

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