Rosie's House To Host Public Grand Opening Celebration

Rosie's House will hold a public Grand Opening of its new $6.5 million, 15,000 square foot new home, located at 919 E. Jefferson in downtown Phoenix.

The Grand Opening Celebration will be held on Saturday November 5 from 10 am - 2 pm and will include live music performances, public tours, ribbon cutting with students and Rosie Schurz, the original founder, and an unveiling of its large scale mural. Festivities will also include fun activities for families including games and arts & crafts, food trucks, drumming circle, photo booth, and merchandise. Rosie's House encourages the public to RSVP at rosieshouse.org/grandopening.

Originally located 25 years ago in a two room house near 19th Ave, the organization embarked on the "More than Music" Campaign to fund a permanent home and to support the expansion of its programs and mission - to ensure equity in music education by providing free after-school music lessons and youth development for Phoenix' disadvantaged students.

Led by the community, staff and several prominent philanthropists, the non-profit raised over $6.5 million, 90% of which was raised during the pandemic. Rosie's House's new facility spans over 15,000 square feet, in a prime location on the light rail, enabling easy access for its after-school music program for underserved youth. The new campus includes the Divine Performance Hall for performances and events, 8 classrooms, several private studios for one-on-one instruction for the 500 + students who receive piano, strings, guitar, winds, mariachi and vocal instruction each week; and the Burton Digital Creativity Center, with nearly 20 state-of-the-art stations for digital music composition, audio engineering and recording. The facility also includes storage for its 900 musical instruments, administrative offices and the Youth and Family Center and Café dedicated by BHHS Legacy Foundation, which serves over 4,000 meals each year to students and their families.

Local artist/muralist Shela Yu was chosen to create the impressive mural to span front and west side of the new campus. Inspired by the study, creation and performance of music, Yu's mural incorporates the music from a piece created by composer/violinist Jessie Montgomery, entitled Rhapsody No. 1.

Over 1400% larger than the original home renovated by founder Rosie Schurz, the new facility enables Rosie's House to increase its enrollment capacity in providing after-school music instruction to over 500 students ages 5 - 18 in multiple music disciplines including strings, band, orchestra, mariachi, choral and digital music. The expanded campus also allows the organization to expand its program offerings, including an Early Music Education program for ages 4-6, a new Percussion Ensemble to teach traditional and multi-cultural drumming from around the world, and the Burton Digital Creativity Center for students to learn today's leading digital music technologies.

"This tremendous new home is such a testament to the love the community has for Rosie's House and our students," says CEO Becky Bell Ballard. "We now have the ability to grow in such a meaningful way, with new programs and a goal to enroll twice as many students in future years. I can't wait to celebrate this achievement with everyone as we begin a new chapter for the organization."

Significant support for the More Than Music Campaign includes major gifts from Karen and David Divine, Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust, Burton Family Foundation and the Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation.

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