Touring Artist Program

The Touring Artist Program sponsors more than 60 professional touring artists who present multicultural performances and workshops at school sites in  Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. The Touring Artist Program has been a cornerstone of CCP’s mission to nurture creativity, foster learning, and build bridges between artists and communities. The Arts Catalog, produced every year, creates an easy way for schools to participate in this program.  

To book a performance, please visit our bookings page

Art Credits

One $600 arts credit per year is available for each public school in Santa Barbara County, provided by funds raised through the annual I Madonnari Festival. The arts credit can help subsidize the fee for touring performances listed in the ArtsCatalog. In some cases, the Art Credit can cover a full performance, having no cost to the school.

Dance Artists

Music Artists

Theater Artists

Visual Artists

How it Works

Overview:

  • Schedule date and time for performance on our bookings page

  • Confirm artist’s fees and cancellation policy

  • Schools do NOT pay artists directly. The CCP pays artists for all services and invoices schools for reimbursement.

  • Once performance(s) are completed, we request schools submit the Touring Artist Survey Form—see below.

  • Obtain technical requirements for performances from artist, as needed

  • Request a copy of teacher study guide materials from artist, if available

    Reminder: A $600 credit is allocated to all public schools in Santa Barbara county and will be applied automatically to your invoice. Other funds may become available throughout the school year as well.

Step 1: School Scheduling

Performances and touring artist workshops generally run for 45 minutes. Please be sure the school and auditorium schedules are clear of conflicts before booking an event. Please ask the touring artists if they require any technical assistance. Due to heavy scheduling of artists, the ability to reschedule is very limited. Please be aware of each artist’s cancellation policy.

Visit our Bookings Page to submit a request.

Once completed, CCP staff will reach out to the artist and send you a confirmation email.

Touring Artist Survey For Schools

Once a performance is completed, we request the school complete and submit the Touring Artist Survey Form below.

Survey Form For Schools

Touring Artist Survey For Artists

Once a performance is completed, we request the school complete and submit the Touring Artist Survey Form below.

Please remember to provide a separate invoice to CCP for payment.

Survey Form For Artists

Step 2: Payment

School payments to CCP are due for all completed services to date. CCP will invoice schools for payment beginning in December and every two months thereafter as needed. If available, CCP will deduct from the invoice one $600 Arts Credit as described above.

Step 3: Surveys

Your feedback is very important to ensure that we are able to provide quality artists to your students. We would greatly appreciate it if you could complete the survey applicable to you, linked below.

More Info

  • Performances and touring artist workshops generally run for 45 minutes. Please be sure the school and auditorium schedules are clear of conflicts before booking an event. Due to heavy scheduling of artists, the ability to reschedule is very limited. Please be aware of each artist’s cancellation policy. Please visit our bookings page to request a performance.

  • Because many of the touring companies come from outside of our community, they have set minimum booking requirements for performances. If your school does not meet these minimum booking requirements, please try to find one or more partner schools to schedule additional performances. These can be scheduled together, or block booked.

    Please see “Minimum Booking/Number Performances” listed on each Touring Artist’s page for more information.

  • Fees and other essential information are listed in the online Arts Catalog under each Touring Artist. CHildren’s Creative Project has allocated a $600 credit to all schools in Santa Barbara county. Additional important grant funds to support touring artist fees for specific school districts come from the City of Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara County Office of Arts & Culture, and the Santa Barbara Bowl Foundation EdOut.

  • Please ask touring artists if they provide a performance study guide. This can help classroom teachers prepare students for the performance and provide follow-up activities

  • The stage must be cleared and technical requirements prepared prior to the artist’s arrival. Please ask the touring artists if they require any technical assistance. Students should be seated in advance to begin the performance on time. Allow enough time between performances to give performers a rest and to move students in and out of the performance area.

Helpful Tips:

Please discuss all program details with the principal or site administrator before scheduling a performance. You will need all or some of the information below:

  • site contact person information (name, phone, email address)

  • site address and staging area

  • site calendar to avoid scheduling conflicts

  • site hours for start, dismissal, lunch and recess

  • site stage floor surface (wood, concrete, carpet, etc.)

  • dimensions of staging area

  • availability of a private dressing area

  • number of microphones available

  • availability of a piano

  • number of students attending and grade levels