About Us
The Salida Circus is a non profit social action circus school, offering traditional circus training (acrobatics, juggling, trapeze, clowning, stilt-walking, plate-spinning, etc) to children and adults in Chaffee County as a personal development and community-building tool. While reaching out to all members of the community, we specifically target at-risk youth through the Chaffee County Mentoring Program, Nurturing Parenting Program and Family to Family Mentoring. We offer free performances at senior centers, nursing homes and community fundraisers. We foster relationships with other with other social action circuses around the world, including the Zip Zap Circus in South Africa, WAVE (Widows Against Violence) Circus in Belfast, Northern Ireland and the Afghanistan Mini Mobile Children's Circus. This summer we are hoping to bring 10 children from the WAVE Circus to Salida for a circus exchange.
Who We Are
The Salida Circus Outreach Foundation is a 501c3 designed to support the services of the Salida Circus. The Salida Circus uses circus training as a personal development and community building tool, locally, nationally and internationally.
Our Organization's Mission
SCOF was established in Sept 2007 to allow the Salida Circus to provide free circus training to children and adults in Chaffee County, Co. SCOF is committed to offering circus training as a personal development and community building tool, in a non-competitive and nurturing atmosphere.
Who We Serve
We offer our services to all members of the community, and specifically target youth at-risk by collaborating with the Chaffee County Mentoring Program, Nurutring Parenting, and Family to Family Mentoring.
Our Programs
At the moment we offer three weekly workshops in acrobatic balancing, juggling, plate-spinning and trapeze. We also offer a parent/child class "Circus of All Ages", in which we invite mentors to bring their youth matches.
Upcoming Events
Salida Circus camp, month of June
Circus Bonanza, June 20
Parker Festival, June 15
Salida ArtWalk, June 28-30
Chaffee County Fair, Aug 2
Longmont Circus Camp, July 11-13
Lamar County Fair, Aug 10-16
Leadership Profile
Jennifer Dempsey, 40, has been a professional circus performer, director and tutor for the past 20 years. She began her circus training at 8 years old with the Oak View Elementary Youth Circus in Fairfax, Virginia. In 1989, she moved to Belfast, Northern Ireland where she joined the Belfast Community Circus. There she worked for ten years as a performer, director, tour manager, fundraiser and tutor. In 1998, she was hired by Circo Rum Ba Ba in London as an acrobat, stiltwaker and knife juggler, before starting her own company Circus Spectacky. In 2001 she moved to Orange County, California where she formed the Scarlet Sisters Circus with her sister. She moved to Salida in Feb 2007 and founded the Salida Circus. "Throughout my experiences in the UK and the US, the circus has proved to be the most effective means of personal and community change. It brings people together in a joyful, non-competitive, playful way and brings out the unique performer in everyone. I have yet to find another vehicle for personal and social change as effective as the circus!"
Board of Directors
Jennifer Dempsey, director
Cathy Haruf
Marti Thomas
Katie Davis, Treasurer
Andrea Mossman
Ann Marie Swan
Michelle Riggio
Tom Russell
Board of Advisors
Jerry Mallet, County Commissioner
Jane Whitmer, Nurturing Parenting Program
Eleanor Farhney, Chaffee County Mentors
Major Supporters and Sponsors
Harald Kaspar
High County Bank
Marti Thomas
Roberta Smith
Katie Davis
Kent Haruf
David Roach
| Volunteers : |
8 |
| Annual Income : |
$20,000 |
| Amount Spent Fundraising : |
$2,000 |
What Sets Us Apart
After many years of working in socially conflicted areas, I have yet to find a more effective tool for community building as creating a circus. The fun and uniqueness of the circus draws people together that may otherwise not socialize. The many skills within the circus allows each individual to find his/her niche. As a non-competitive activity, circus skills training sets an atomsphere of cooperation and playfulness and allows learning and creating to happen in a nurturing way.
Objectives for This Fiscal Year
$20,000. This would allow for free weekly training sessions and a part-time administrator/bookkeeper.
Recent Accomplishments
We recently celebrated the first anniversary of the Salida Circus with a sold out show in Maysville, Colorado. We had 15 performers and a capacity crowd of 75. Over the past year, we have held three camps and three weekly workshops. We have performed at Salida ArtWalk, FIBark, Westcliffee Western Days, the Wise Fool Circus Center in Santa Fe, the Manitou Art Theater, the Santa Fe Children's Musuem, libraries throughout southern Colorado and many many local fundraisers. We are planning to host children from the WAVE Circus in Northern Ireland this summer for a cultural/circus exchange.
