FROM THE DIRECTOR’S CHAIR

The Arts Are Happening Here

Dear Friends,

As a Truckee native, TTUSD graduate, musician, educator, and now Executive Director of Arts For The Schools, leading this organization feels deeply personal to me. I know what it means for a young person in a rural community to encounter an artist, hear something new, or suddenly discover a creative part of themselves.

Our 2026–27 season is about creating more of those moments.

From the rhythms of Brazil and the natural-world discoveries of Sounding the Wild to Living Cultures, Día del Niño, student workshops, collaborative performances, and the new Truckee River Trail murals, we are bringing the arts into the places where our students and families already live, learn, and gather.

We believe extraordinary arts experiences should not depend on a child’s ZIP code.

Whether a student is hearing live music for the first time, performing beside a professional artist, or watching a familiar community space become a work of art, these experiences can change what they believe is possible.

Thank you for helping us make the arts accessible, visible, and alive throughout our region. I cannot wait to share this season with you.

With gratitude,

Lindsay McIntosh
Executive Director
Arts For The Schools

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AFTS IN ACTION

Follow the artists, students, educators, and community partners bringing our 2026–27 season to life.

Happening Now

The Truckee River Trail murals are underway!
Follow the artists as two large-scale murals transform the Tahoe City underpass.

Brazilian musicians arrive in October.
School performances, workshops, rehearsals, and a collaborative concert will bring Brazilian music and culture directly to local students.

Sounding the Wild returns to area classrooms.
Music, science, literacy, and environmental learning come together in this year’s school programming.

ART BEYOND THE CLASSROOM

Arts For The Schools believes that art belongs everywhere—including our sidewalks, trails, civic spaces, and everyday gathering places.

During the 2026–27 season, we are leading the creation of two major public murals along the Truckee River Trail near the Tahoe City Transit Center:

  • The Light, led by artist Frida Ticehurst

  • A Dip Into the Truckee River Ecosystem, created by Bryn Merrell and Alex Bailey

Selected with input from more than 500 community members, these murals transform an important public passageway into a celebration of creativity, community, and the Truckee River ecosystem.

Public art turns the places we pass through into places we remember.