Gala to benefit Non-profit Arts Organization Strengthening the
Role of the Arts In American Education, Connecting Funders,
Artists and Cultural Institutions to Public Schools

Tony Bennett and Natalie Cole will perform at Susan and Tony Bennett’s “Exploring the Arts” Gala Monday, September 27 at Cipriani Wall Street, 55 Wall Street. The 2010 gala will be hosted by ABC World News’ Bob Woodruff and honor Michael Francis, EVP & Chief Marketing Officer of Target Corporation and Joseph Laurita, CEO and President of Margaritaville Apparel Group. New York City-based “Exploring the Arts” (ETA) is dedicated to strengthening arts education in public schools as a way to achieve greater equality of resources and opportunity for youth of all means and backgrounds.

ETA champions arts education programs that teach students to embrace true craft and that integrate arts with more standard academic subjects and that encourage community service. ETA’S most exciting project to date has been to support the school that Tony & Susan founded in partnership with the New York City Department of Education, Frank Sinatra School or the Arts. ETA is now expanding its work to support more public schools at the local and national level.

ABOUT EXPLORING THE ARTS:

Susan and Tony Bennett founded Exploring the Arts (ETA), a non-profit organization to strengthen the role of arts education in the public schools.  They have raised millions of dollars to date and have fostered a unique partnership between the public and private sectors.  Susan and Tony founded the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts (FSSA), a public NYC arts high school in Queens, which is supported by ETA.  FSSA opened in 2001 in temporary quarters and since its inception has consistently been a exemplary NYC high schools with one of the highest graduation rates in the city.  A permanent site for the school, designed by Susan T. Rodriguez, design partner in award winning Polshek Partnership Architects, opened to students in February 2009, adjacent to the Kaufman Astoria Studios complex in Astoria, Queens (Tony Bennett's hometown).  For more information on ETA and FSSA please visit www.exploringthearts.org.