By Howard Pousner

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Young Audiences is the newest and least known of the Woodruff Arts Center’s divisions, operating in the shadows of an internationally respected orchestra, a Tony-winning theater troupe and a museum whose high-profile partnerships have brought blockbuster exhibits to Atlanta.

But it’s becoming clear that, as education becomes more central to the Woodruff’s mission, Young Audiences’ profile is rising.

Last week’s announcement of a three-year, $12 million Goizueta Foundation education grant promises to expand the division’s already substantial arts programming, reaching nearly 700,000 students in more than 600 schools in 50-plus counties across Georgia yearly. Importantly, the funding also enables a transition that will make Young Audiences the clearinghouse for the educational offerings of its sister Woodruff entities — the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Alliance Theatre and High Museum of Art.

A coming out party of sorts kicks off this Saturday, and continues Aug. 22 and 29, as Young Audiences presents Artspalooza. It’s a free public showcase of talent from its roster of 65 professional artists and ensembles — musicians, dancers, puppeteers, storytellers, comics, theater and circus performers and visual artists who more typically perform in school classrooms or assemblies and for community groups.

Young Audiences for years presented a smaller event called Showcase, targeting school administrators and PTA leaders, but decided this year to expand it to three Saturdays and open it up to families and others. When 700 quickly signed up for tickets for this Saturday’s opening event, registration had to be closed. But reservations are available for the final two Artspaloozas, which also includes hand-on activities for kids such as mask-making, mural painting and cartooning.

“We didn’t expect it to be quite this successful right away,” says Tony Kimbrell, executive director of the 26-year-old organization that became part of the Woodruff in 2005. “We’re trying to satisfy a broader agenda than the traditional selling mode of performances and workshops. And it’s great that the crowds will be well populated by students who are our usual audiences for these shows, so the adults can witness the interaction between performers and kids.”

Of course, if those adults take the message back to school boards, PTAs and community organization leaders about a performer in particular or the presenter in general, then mission accomplished. With that in mind, Young Audiences, operating with a budget of just under $2 million this year, plans to hand out ample promotional materials. And shows in the Woodruff’s Rich Auditorium will taped with Web streaming and other promotional initiatives in mind.

Matt and Emily Kent of the Atlanta dance and storytelling troupe PickleShoes think the greater name recognition for Young Audiences, Georgia’s largest provider of arts-in-education programing for pre-K through 12th grades, is a great idea.

Both long-time performers and collaborators with the nationally acclaimed modern dance troupe Pilobolus, they’re big believers in Young Audiences’ mission to reach and teach kids of every demographic with the arts.

“We’re not about performing only for the privileged few,” Emily Kent, 34, says from Atlanta. “Young Audiences provides an outlet for us to reach kids whose families don’t have the means or sometimes the knowledge to bring them to a dance concert.”

Her 37-year-old husband, speaking from Pilobolus rehearsals in Connecticut, adds, “Kids may see a Jonas Brothers concert and that’s great, but they might not know there’s another realm of the arts that they could have contact with. ... We have the opportunity to expand their perspective. Bringing art into schools is about changing perspectives.”

The PickleShoes principals, the rare Young Audience performers who are able to support themselves as working artists, have had a year of heady achievement. The highly athletic dancers helped bring “Jabberwocky” to Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall in April, were nominated for an Emmy for a NFL Network promotional spot, and now Matt is collaborating on a dance that Pilobolus will premiere in Madrid in September.

“But next week we could be performing in a cafetorium, and we don’t care,” Matt Kent says of PickleShoes, which can expand to eight professional dancers depending on the needs of the school. (Its Artspalooza gig will be at 1:45 p.m. Aug. 22.)

He adds that academic settings can be a good test for performers: “As a dancer, you have to be totally on top of your game to go into a school at 9 in the morning.”

Event

Artspalooza

10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Saturday (no tickets remaining) and Aug 22 and 29. Free.Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. To register for Aug. 22 and 29 tickets: www.yawac.org , 404-733-5293.