Midland was once a thriving steel town in southwestern Pennsylvania. But the closure of its huge mill in the 1980s quieted the whole region. Businesses shut down, families left, and eventually the remaining 50 students enrolled in its once-proud high school were being bussed to other districts. In 1999, however, Pennsylvania passed Act 22, which paved the way for new charter and cyber schools. Midland leaders saw this as an opportunity to take care of its own students, and they launched a regional cyber school that educated 500 students in its first year.

 

The school continued to grow, but Midland families still wanted a brick-and-mortar option. Knowing the profound benefits of an arts-rich education, community leaders designed and constructed a world-class performing arts facility in the middle of town, next to a green space called Lincoln Park. The beautiful Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center was designed to share a space with a high school offering a unique arts-infused curriculum. The Center, along with the Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School (LPPACS), opened to rave reviews in 2006.  

 

Today, the Midland-based cyber school supports over 11,000 students, and LPPACS draws both middle- and high-school students from more than 50 districts to its innovative facility. And the Center itself attracts audiences from a tri-state region with nearly 100 events annually—from Broadway-style musicals, to concerts, plays, lectures, and exhibits. The former steel town has transformed into a hub for education and culture. The Center packs both its MainStage Theater and BlackBox Theater with performances, and its professional scene shop rents the sets and costumes it creates to schools and theater companies nationwide. 

 

The Center also has an education branch—and that’s us: Artifact Creative. We’re a team of teachers, writers, professional artists, designers, and technology experts on a collective mission to celebrate the arts and promote them as an essential part of a student’s education. When we get our curriculum and courseware into the hands of homeschooling parents, cyber educators, and classroom teachers, we know students will benefit. That’s because we know the arts help students thrive.