By Christopher Tiffany, University of Michigan School of Education

The Mosaic Youth Theater of Detroit is helping high school students at the Detroit School of Arts (DSA) literally learn the nuts and bolts of theater production.

Mosaic was founded in 1992 to bolster arts education in Detroit, and the program now serves more than 1,000 students annually from schools throughout the Metro Detroit area. Mosaic’s programs provide young artists with training and mentoring opportunities while fostering a culture of high expectations and active participation.

Mosaic has been working directly with the DSA for the past 2½ years to provide a weekly after-school set building workshop, as well as regular in-class activities. In addition to set building, Mosaic has conducted workshops with students on sound design, stage management, and stage lighting. Funded through a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the DSA has also been able to acquire equipment, tools, and set construction materials.

Each week, Mosaic’s teaching artists—including Production Manager Dave Early and Assistant Production Manager Drew Hall—work side by side with students to provide hands-on learning in all aspects of set building and production management. Mosaic’s role is to walk students through the process of designing and building the sets for several theater productions each school year. Mosaic’s process touches on every facet of set building: from story and research to design and construction. . . including disassembling it after the production closes to start all over again.

The goal of the program is to provide students with the opportunity to experience first hand aspects of theater arts beyond acting and performing. DSA students gain vital backstage, design, and construction experience while working with all the technologies available at the school.

Mosaic’s President and Artistic Director, Rick Sperling, was instrumental in developing the initial partnership with DSA, and since then Delashea Strawder, Mosaic’s Director of Music Programs, has managed the partnership along with Aaron Nolan, DSA’s Acting Teacher.

During the past year, Mosaic has helped DSA students design and create the sets for Douglas Turner Ward’s Day of Absence, as well as the various components of the production design for Barbara Robinson’s The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. Coming up in May 2015, DSA students—once again with the help and guidance of Mosaic’s teaching artists—will produce their most ambitious project to date: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, set in contemporary Detroit.

The Detroit School of Arts is a performing and fine art public high school in midtown Detroit that provides, through partnership with the University of Michigan School of Education and the Knight Foundation, resources and opportunities for students to explore and excel in the fields of theater, voice, orchestra, band, dance, visual arts, music tech, and radio/television/broadcasting.