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TeenTix LA Settles In
Seattle-based program encouraging teen access to the arts debuts in Los Angeles
By Julia Stier
Photo: courtesy TeenTix Seattle. Top photo: TeenTix Seattle press corps.
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What makes TeenTix different is its specific focus on teens, as well as its ambition of being an all-purpose arts destination site for youth, including components of interactive teen discussion in general, and journalism in particular. By creating an inclusive, easy-to-navigate platform, Whorton is hopeful that the program will cultivate the next generation of theater-goers and creators.
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This year, you may notice a change in the ages of your fellow theater-goers.
A new program called TeenTix LA is coming to Los Angeles, with the hopes of dismantling the barriers – mainly financial – that keep teens away from the arts.
TeenTix first started in Seattle, in 2004, as a way to help teens gain access to – and have active involvement in – the performing and visual arts. The Seattle community recognized the value of helping teens engage with the arts, and currently, there are 70 organizations throughout the Puget Sound region participating in TeenTix Seattle.
“[TeenTix is] really about teaching young people how to attend and engage with arts and culture themselves, and really putting the ownership in the hands of the young people,” says Monique Courcy, Executive Director of TeenTix Seattle. “A lot of times young people are taken by somebody else, and so TeenTix allows young people to really be at the forefront, and at the lead of, that arts outing.”
Now, after two years of research and coordinating efforts, TeenTix is ready to open its first chapter in Los Angeles County.
According to surveys conducted by the fledgling TeenTix LA program:
“Surveys of LA teens showed us that 39% recognized cost as a barrier that prevented them from seeing art, and 43% of surveyed teens said it was somewhat of a problem. Additionally 68% of teens said they did not feel welcomed in arts spaces; however a notable 52% said they’d be likely to attend an arts event if the ticket was $5.”
Through the TeenTix Pass Program, teenagers, ages 13-19, can sign up for free TeenTix Pass, which will allow them to purchase day-of-show tickets for just $5 from participating arts organizations, including concert venues, galleries, museums, and theaters. To help teens make the most of this program, and to make navigating LA’s abundant arts scene easier, the local chapter has created the LA.TeenTix.Org Calendar, which posts all listings available on a specific day.
Allison Whorton, the Program Director of TeenTixLA, shares how the program will not only benefit teens, but participating arts organizations as well.
“TeenTix LA helps engage the next generation of arts lovers,” says Whorton. “Young people who experience the arts in their teens will grow up to become arts-makers, arts patrons, arts supporters, and arts advocates.”
(Whorton’s assertion is supported in research by The Wallace Foundation in Santa Monica and the LA County Department of Arts and Culture.)
And for the teens themselves, TeenTix educates, as well as entertains, benefiting teens by “Providing [them] access to the arts [which] inspires creativity and imagination that’ll help form more well-rounded, curious, engaged citizens & leaders,” Whorton adds. Furthermore, “The arts open minds to different stories, backgrounds, and perspectives,” as well as “help promote social discourse and social change, and encourage education and literacy.”
Whorton also hopes that the TeenTix programs will encourage young arts-attendees from marginalized communities to attend events in LA.
“Inviting teens into arts spaces with a TeenTix partnership not only helps make the arts accessible and equitable,” say Whorton, “it also fills arts space with young, eager patrons and strengthens the arts ecosystem of LA. It is an investment into the future of the arts and culture industry of Los Angeles.”
And what does Whorton hope the community’s response to this initiative will be?
“I hope – eventually – TeenTix LA becomes a household name within the households of families with teens, as well as within the LA arts community! Given the expansive geography of LA county, we’re starting small with our partnership building by focusing our efforts on arts/community organizations within four neighborhood hubs. We hope this incremental growth will help us build sustainable partnerships and generate organic momentum within the city and county. We look forward to being an invaluable resource for teens and arts organizations.”
However, while TeenTix looks to cast a wider net than other programs, they are not the first to notice the discrepancy between younger audiences who want to attend arts events, and those who actually do.
Some organizations have already put programs of similar ideology into place. Center Theatre Group’s FreePlay program offers free tickets to the first previews performance of all shows at the Mark Taper Forum and Kirk Douglas Theatre, as well as a select few tickets made available for shows at the Ahmanson Theatre. This program is geared towards those 25-years-old and younger.
What makes TeenTix different is its specific focus on teens, as well as its ambition of being an all-purpose arts destination site for youth, including components of interactive teen discussion in general, and journalism in particular. By creating an inclusive, easy-to-navigate platform, Whorton is hopeful that the program will cultivate the next generation of theater-goers and creators.
And that’s not all from TeenTix. Over the past couple of years, the organization has also been looking to create new initiatives and programs. TeenTix programs that are currently up and running in Seattle – and will be making their way to LA in the future – are the Teen Leadership Board and Teen Press Corp.
And how do they know what teens want? They ask the teens themselves!
“The development of TeenTix over the last few years has really been team driven,” says Courcy. “We don’t really make decisions without consulting young people at TeenTix, and I think that’s a really unique way to drive an organization’s growth.”
For more information on how to sign up for the TeenTix Pass Program in Los Angeles and to sign up for the TeenTix newsletter, visit https://la.teentix.org/
Disclosure: Stage Raw Founding Editor, Steven Leigh Morris serves as an officer on the Steering Committee for TeenTix LA.
