A new initiative designed by the Temple Performing Arts Center will offer free arts programming to students enrolled in selected local elementary and secondary schools.

Eyes Wide Open in North Philadelphia, which will be supported by a two-year grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation as part of its Knight Arts Challenge, will invite local students to campus to experience a range of live performances in dance, chamber music and theater.

The program was designed to give local students early exposure to the arts, said Sue Rock, Temple Performing Arts Center director of programming.

“Many of the schools in our area have very little access to arts programming,” said Rock. “We wanted to design a program that allowed students to discover the arts in their own backyard.”

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation’s Knight Arts Challenge is a $9 million initiative supporting innovative projects that inspire and enrich Philadelphia’s communities.

For its inaugural challenge, the Knight Foundation received more than 1,700 applications from the Greater Philadelphia region. The Temple Performing Arts Center was one of 32 arts-based programs selected to receive the grant. Recipients were chosen based on their ability to create programming that compliments the foundation’s mission to improve communities and spur local economic growth through the arts.