A facilitator addresses a group of students in a bright campus lobby, with some standing and others seated along a bench listening or using notebooks and phones.
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Opening Minds. Shaping Futures.

When a young person encounters live theatre for the first time, often something in them changes. Sometimes it’s curiosity. Sometimes it’s confidence. Sometimes it’s the spark of a future they didn’t know they could have.

Every season, we see this transformation unfold in classrooms and communities up and down the West Coast and right here on our Ashland campus where thousands of students step into our theatres and discover the power of story.

Our founder Angus Bowmer was a teacher, and 90 years later we still carry his legacy of using theatre to change hearts and minds. For many students, OSF is their first encounter with professional theatre — their first time seeing themselves reflected onstage, the first time meeting an actor, the first time imagining a place for themselves in the world of art.

Last season, OSF reached 16,000 students in their communities and sold over 35,000 student tickets to productions here in Ashland. Every one of those young people walked away with a question or idea that has the potential to reshape their lives forever.
You Make This Possible
Education at OSF is sustained by people who believe in the power of theatre to shape lives. Every workshop, every school visit, every student stepping into a theatre for the first time is possible because of supporters who care deeply about young people and the future of American theatre.

When you join countless others in choosing to support OSF, you’re not just giving a gift.
You’re giving a student the moment that can change everything.
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Next, we’re expanding that impact by launching the finishing phase of our long-awaited Education Center — a flexible, dedicated space designed for workshops, classes, and student programs. This much-needed facility will allow us to welcome more students to Ashland and deepen the transformative experiences that define our mission. Your support is critical to making this possible.
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How Learning Comes Alive
OSF’s Education & Engagement programs invite students not just to watch theatre but to engage in their own creativity and imagination. 

School Visit Program: This treasured OSF tradition brings performances, teaching artists, and interactive learning directly into communities. These school visits are often the bridge for students who may never have access to professional theatre otherwise.

On-Campus Workshops: This small classroom environment here in Ashland is where text, movement, creativity, and critical thinking come alive in real time. Students explore language in their bodies, ideas in their voices, and possibility in themselves.

Performances & Prefaces: Seeing live theatre becomes a springboard for understanding the world — with Prefaces and Discussions helping learners of all ages be better prepared to understand the art they see onstage.

FAIR Experience: Training the next generation of theatre makers through fellowships, assistantships, internships, and residencies.