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What We Do
We’re a community of artists and educators, committed to a better life for all.
What we do
We connect exceptional teaching artists with community partners and their youth
Arts Ignite teaches young people to think like artists, developing skills that will serve them throughout their lives. Through workshops, residencies, and arts camps, our teaching artists lead communities of young people through arts-rich learning and experiences in varied genres like theater, dance, painting, improvisation, songwriting, videography, photography, and more.
We bring the arts to young people and their communities
At Arts Ignite, we support youth ages 4-21 in developing agency through the arts. We’re committed to serving all young people, including youth affected by systemic issues and their effects. These include immigration status, houselessness, gun-violence, incarceration, the justice system, HIV/AIDS, systemic poverty, or the caste system.
We foster enduring relationships
Building lasting connections between our Teaching Artists, partners, and youth is a core part of our success. Many of Arts Ignite’s hallmark programs have evolved into multi-year partnerships, ushering our youth into adulthood as leaders in their own communities.
Where the arts flourish, communities thrive
Arts Ignite champions young people as they build both individual skills and lasting bonds with others.
“On the last day in our musical theater class, our campers tearfully told each other how thankful they were for the family they had made and praised each of their friends for their work in the performance the night before. It was such a reminder of the strength of the family that is created when we make art together.” Devin Lloyd, Arts Ignite Volunteer Teaching Artist, Art Ignite’s Art-in-Action
Our values
Our core values guide everything we do
Creative Capacity
Through the arts, we foster essential life skills and character traits like critical thinking and collaboration. We make space for our youth to practice empathy, trust, resilience, accountability, and joy.
Community
Our teachers and partners build strong, vibrant communities where young people can cultivate deep connections and healthy relationships with one another—creating a sense of belonging that brings out their best.
Courage
We use artistic expression as a tool to awaken innate potential and possibilities within young people. Courage represents the belief, bravery, and confidence needed to dream big and explore new paths.
Arts Ignite Programs
Arts Ignite cultivates community, creative capacity, and courage in young people through a range of arts experiences. Our Teaching Artists and programs amplify joy, collaboration, and communication as we support the success of each of our individual students.
Workshops and Residencies
Single-session workshops or multi-session residencies are ideal for schools, after-school programs, and community groups. They’re a perfect way to introduce youth to a new art form, build skills, or collaborate on a community project or performance.
Community Events
Arts Ignite leads multi-generational arts activities that promote togetherness, team building, and fun! Our projects, games, and other offerings add inspiration to community fairs, parties, or other special events.
Creative Activity Kits
Arts Ignite Creative Activity Kits are monthly themed art projects, activities, and supplies that offer young people guided, technology-free time to participate in new creative experiences—independently or with their caregivers.
I/magine
Piloting in 2022, the I/magine program is a five-part residency in which students evolve from arts spectators to art-makers rooted in community impact. Led by a team of Arts Ignite Teaching Artists, this ongoing long-term engagement in both artistry and community guides young people into deeper, more complex ways of seeing and thinking about the world.
Professional Development
Arts Ignite’s professional development workshops help educators and leaders build expertise in a number of priorities in the field. These include Equity and Arts Education, Co-teaching and Building Partnerships, Social Emotional Learning and the Arts, and more.
Arts Ignite NOW!
A series of free video workshops led by our very own Teaching Artists, Arts Ignite NOW! is a program designed to provide quality and accessible arts education to students and educators everywhere!
Enduring Partner Programs
We are proud of the partnerships that have evolved over many years. The programs we provide for these partners are designed and adapted to meet their specific, dynamic needs.
Newcomer Youth Summer Academy
Arts Ignite is the creative arts class and special event partner at the Newcomer Youth Summer Academy, a six-week camp with the International Rescue Committee. Together, we support the personal growth, cultural adjustment, and learning strategies of newly arrived refugee, asylee and immigrant children from over 25 different countries as they transition into the U.S. school system.
Art-in-Action
Through a 4-week arts camp in South Florida, Arts Ignite engages immigrant and migrant youth in creative classes, special events, and leadership building. We produce Art-in-Action in partnership with enFAMILIA, a community organization serving immigrant and migrant families.
Arts Ignite NYC!
Arts Ignite NYC! partners with community organizations throughout New York City to serve youth affected by challenges like incarceration, gun violence, homelessness, immigration status, systemic poverty, and HIV/AIDS.
artsINSIDEOUT
artsINSIDEOUT inspires the youth of Nkosi’s Haven, a holistic care and support home for mothers and their children affected by or living with HIV/AIDS in Johannesburg, South Africa. Through acting, singing, dancing, storytelling, and visual arts, we help them develop new skills and share their own experiences.
Shanti Bhavan and Teach for India
Arts Ignite Teaching Artists lead a two-week art camp each spring for the students at Shanti Bhavan Children’s Project for children affected by India’s caste system to enhance the personal development, academic achievement, and leadership skills for these students. Arts Ignite Teaching Artists team up with Teach for India Teaching Fellows to incorporate the arts into educational curricula in new ways to bolster classroom teaching and introduce new paths for student engagement.
Arts Ignite programs help young people develop the skills they need to thrive
21k
young people reached
135k
hours of instruction provided
3
continents where Arts Ignite offers programming
96%
of youth surveyed demonstrated gains in at least one Social Emotional Learning (SEL) capacity
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