COMPAS

Mission:

COMPAS uses the arts to unleash the creativity within all of us so we can create better lives and better communities.

About Us:

COMPAS has been putting creativity into the hands of Minnesotans for over 40 years. We’re not just a non-profit arts organization; we’re a non-profit education organization that teaches through art. Our professional artists work alongside students, teachers, senior citizens, hospital patients, teens, and just about any other community member to spark their imaginations and infuse their lives with creativity.

History:

1968 - The National Endowment for the Arts reached out to Molly LaBerge (now Molly Taylor), to create a pilot program connecting high school classes with living, breathing, professional poets. Poets in the Schools is born.

1974 - The organization incorporated and was renamed COMPAS (Community Programs in the Arts) and we to broadened our repertoire of arts to include theatre, music, drama, visual art, spoken word among others. Our program became a model for teaching artist residencies nationwide.

2009 - COMPAS merged with Young Audiences of MN.

Today - Our artist roster boasts 100+ professional musicians, visual artists, performers, writers and the like. COMPAS has become an experienced innovator in the field of creative, art-filled learning for people of all ages, and has been recognized for excellence from organizations such as the National Endowment for the Arts, the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, and the Minnesota Department of Education.