The institute will do work including workforce development for underserved Philadelphia youth, and summer and after-school programming

by Kristen A. Graham | The Philadelphia Inquirer

The Mann Center for the Performing Arts is hiring the Philadelphia School District’s arts chief and launching a new institute to focus on community outreach and workforce development.

Frank Machos, 44, who rose from music teacher to executive director of the Office of Arts and Creative Learning during a 21-year career in Philadelphia, will join the Mann in May as vice president and director of the Mann Center Institute for Creative Arts and Community Impact.

It’s an “inflection point” for the Mann, the sprawling Fairmount Park venue best known as a venue for outdoor concerts, said Catherine M. Cahill, CEO.

The Mann hosts nearly a half million visitors a year, but its leaders have “a desire, a track record, and a responsibility to do more” — because its Parkside neighbors have asked for that, Cahill said.

The institute will do work in three areas: workforce development for underserved Philadelphia youth; summer and after-school programming; and deepening initiatives that bring together people to work on cultural projects, emphasizing “co-creation with community artists, residents, and partners to ensure equitable engagement for groups historically excluded from participation, particularly people with disabilities, senior citizens, and communities of color,” officials said.

Machos began teaching music in the district at Grover Cleveland Middle School in Olney in 2004. He also taught at School of the Future before moving to administration as the district’s head of music education. In 2016, he took on a larger arts portfolio, working with outside groups on an audit of arts programs in the district as a way to redesign and expand arts education in the city.

He’s built a network of relationships with arts organizations locally and beyond, helping to grow arts programs under superintendents William R. Hite Jr. and Tony B. Watlington Sr. (Watlington has placed growing the arts as a priority in his administration, and for the coming facilities master plan.)

From forging partnerships that bring funds directly to school music programs via Live Nation and the Grammy Music Education Coalition to placing students on national stages, Machos has been at the heart of some big moments for the district. But some of his favorite partnerships have been with the Mann, which already hosts the All City Orchestra Summer Academy and after-school programs.

Leaving the district “is incredibly bittersweet,” said Machos, who holds bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees from the University of the Arts, but “it just felt right. It felt like it was the right time to take some projects that were so impactful for our kids and make it my full-time focus.”

Machos also said he is “confident in the current leadership and their commitment to the arts.”

Yes, students love live music — making it, listening to it — but the Mann can provide students with a pathway to myriad jobs in the industry, Machos said. For every live production, there are a few hundred ancillary jobs, from marketing and talent buying, to producing and concessions, and more.

“The secret sauce of this work is thinking about all the off-stage work,” Machos said. “This brings together all of what the district is thinking about in terms of postsecondary readiness.”

Cahill said she is “beyond thrilled” to bring Machos into the fold.

“Frank knows our programs so well and was at the advent of their birth over these last six years,” said Cahill “He has a national profile that can help us further our work.”