And Kids Rock Free©

The Fender Museum of the Arts Foundation is a 501 C3 not for profit public benefit corporation that was founded in July of 1997. On July 6, 1998 the Foundation opened the Fender Museum of Music and the Arts, a small preview and education center located at 365 N. Main Street in Corona, California. That day it began providing free lessons in piano, guitar and drums to children ranging in ages from 7 to 17 thus beginning the Kids Rock Free Program. Two hundred and nine children attended that first eight-week course. Currently, over four hundred children per week take advantage of these free educational opportunities, which now include piano, guitar, drums, bass,and combo band classes. The Foundation envisions expanding these offerings, over the next few years, to include additional multi-cultural musical instrument, dance and theater instruction.

The Foundation is committed to creating and maintaining a world class museum and education center that will celebrate the performing arts in all of their culturally diverse forms. On July 13, 2002 this dream was realized with the Grand Opening of the new 33,000 square foot museum and education facility complete with classrooms, a 48-track digital recording studio, outdoor amphitheater, gift shop, Visual Arts Gallery and a 2,500 square foot exhibit entitled, Celebrate the Legacy…the Fender Story.

The state of Arts education for the children in this country is in dire straights. Only 32% of the Elementary Schools in the U.S. offer any arts education to their students. Time after time studies have shown the positive impact that arts education has in early childhood development, and yet programs continue to get cut. This is a grass roots program that has already helped thousands of children, but thousands more are on the waiting list. The Fender Museum’s Kids Rock Free© Curriculum has already been shared with other institutions around the country and is working on continuing to expand it even further… including Kids Rock Free© On-Line with Internet classes for children around the world. This can only happen with continued and expanded support. Kids Rock Free© is not just about teaching young lives, it’s about enriching them. Remember, in a perfect world… Kids Rock Free©!