The Youth Arts and Voices Project aims to provide refugee and immigrant children and youth with an opportunity to share their voice.
BRYCS believes that incorporating a “youth voice” into programs that serve refugees and immigrants is essential to operating from a positive youth development perspective. Youth Arts and Voices aims to showcase the creativity and talent of refugee and immigrant children and youth living in the United States and bring together, in one place, information on innovative expressive arts programs, bibliographic references and Web sites.
Creative Writers
826 National consists of seven 826 non-profit programs located in San Francisco, New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Ann Arbor. Each chapter offers drop-in tutoring, field trips, workshops, and in-school programs helping students, ages 6-18, with expository and creative writing. All programs are offered free of charge.
Poets and Writers provides information, support, and guidance to creative writers. Founded in 1970, it is the nation’s largest nonprofit literary organization. Their publication, Poets & Writers Magazine includes essays on literary life, interviews with writers, practical information for writers, and a comprehensive listing of literary grants and awards. The Web site also offers P&W Online with a database of over 7,000 writers, information on how to publish, links to over 1,500 Web sites, and the Speakeasy Message Forum. P&W also sponsors more than 1,700 literary events in New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.
Teachers and Writers Collaborative promotes the literary arts and supports writers and teachers in encouraging young people to learn about and appreciate writing and literature as a whole. Founded in 1967, T&W’s activities include writing workshops, an on-line discussion group, publications, the 2020 Visions event featuring readings, panel discussions, and book launch parties with both established and emerging authors; and Everything Goes, a literary radio program broadcast on WNYE-FM (91.5) in New York City. In addition, T&W operated a Center for Imaginative Writing, a resource library and meeting place for teachers, students, writers, and the general public.
The Asian American Writers Workshop, established in 1991, is a nonprofit literary arts organization “devoted to the creating, publishing, developing and disseminating of creative writing by Asian Americans.” AAWW holds regular events and publishes a semi-annual Asian Pacific American Journal as well as numerous poetry anthologies. With more than 800 members and an audience of more than 11,000, AAWW has become a unique educational resource for Asian American literature and awareness across the nation. (Description taken from the Web site.)
The Poetry Foundation is a non-profit focused on raising poetry to a more visible and influential position in American culture. The Foundation pursues its mission through seven principal areas of endeavor: Poetry magazine, a poetry institute, online initiatives, poetry and youth, poetry in the media, awards and recognitions, and the creation of a national home for poetry. In partnership with the National Endowment of the Arts, The Poetry Foundation sponsors a national recitation contest: Poetry Out Loud. The Web site has on on-line journal, a weekly audio pod cast, and a blog. There is also a poetry database with poetry reading guides, articles on the poet’s creative process, a gallery of a book art, and an archive of children’s poetry.
The Young Writers Society is an online community forum for young creative writers, ages 13 to 25. The Young Writers Society was created in 1994 with a mission to encourage creative writing as a past time and to promote confidence and good writing skills. YWS is very concerned with the safety of its contributors and the discussion forums are carefully moderated by the site administrators. The site has a semi-monthly e-zine called Squills, which includes flash fiction, poetry, comic strips and writing tips.
WritersCorps, a project of the San Francisco Arts Commission, places professional writers in community settings to teach creative writing to youth. Since its inception in 1994, the program has helped over 14,500 young people from economically disadvantaged neighborhoods throughout San Francisco improve their literacy and increase their desire to learn. With its poetry slam league, local and national events featuring young people, and award-winning publications, the organization is considered a national model in arts and literacy. San Francisco WritersCorps is also part of a national alliance with DC WritersCorps and the Bronx WritersCorps, with a shared vision to transform and strengthen individuals and communities using the written word.
Developing Communication Skills
CommonAction provides research-driven training, tools and technical assistance for children, youth and the adults who seek to engage young people. Areas of focus include: youth engagement, youth voice, meaningful student involvement, youth/adult partnerships, adultism, youth action, student engagement, radical democracy, youth as resources, service learning, intergenerational equity, adults as allies, school improvement, positive youth development, students as partners, civic engagement, youth rights and responsibilities, new roles for youth throughout society. The Washington Youth Voice Handbook, an introductory guide to youth voice shares what, why, who, when, where, and how youth voice happens, can be downloaded for free on the CommonAction Web site. (Description taken from the Web site.)
Youth Communication offers writing and public speaking workshops for teenagers to help them develop their reading and writing skills. YC also publishes magazines, books and other materials written and illustrated by young people. Publications include: New Youth Connections, a general interest magazine written by New York City public high school students; Represent, written by and for young people in foster care; and Rise, written by parents with children in foster care. The Web site offers a selection of downloadable stories and teachers’ resources including curriculum guides and a downloadable monthly Tips for Teachers.
Spoken Word
The Moth, a not-for-profit storytelling organization, was founded in New York in 1997 by poet and novelist George Dawes Green. Today, The Moth conducts six programs and has brought more than 2,000 live stories to over 60,000 audience members. Launched in 1999, The Moth Outreach Program offers eight-week storytelling workshops to high school-age students from underserved communities students and marginalized adults living in New York City. The workshops teach participants how to use the key elements of narrative to shape their life experiences into well-crafted stories. All workshops begin with a show performed by established Moth storytellers and conclude with a show performed by the participants for their local community. Four times per year, Moth Outreach graduates appear in professional productions for the general public as part of the Stories on Stage series at The Players Club and at The Nuyorican Poets Café.
Urban Word NYC, offers many programs such as New Skool Journalism, where student can make an ethnographic exploration of NYC’s diverse neighborhoods, use spoken word and alternative writing forms together with journalistic methods, and be published in the Brooklyn Rail, an alternative news weekly. Women Reborn through Music, Media, and Culture uses critical artistic inquiry to uncover women’s contribution to media and to the world. Art & Social Justice workshops encourage its participants to work toward positive social change. Urban Word also holds open mics monthly at venues around the city, including poetry clubs, libraries, and museums, hosted by local spoken word artists. Every fall, Urban Word presents a monthly poetry slam at the Bowery Poetry Club. Top-scoring poets from these slams pre-qualify for the semi-final round of the Annual Teen Poetry Slam held every February. The Annual Teen Poetry Slam determines which five teens will form that year’s NYC Teen Poetry Slam Team and compete at Brave New Voices, the National Teen Poetry Slam. Urban Word NYC works in collaboration with other organizations, such as the Brooklyn Public Library, the Bowery Poets Club, and the Nuyorican Poets Café, and brings live spoken word poetry events to audiences of teenagers in all five boroughs of NYC.
Youth Speaks, founded in 1996, is a presenter of Spoken Word performance, education, publications, and youth development programs. Its mission is to “empower the next generation of leaders, self-defined artists, and visionary activists through written and oral literacy.” Youth Speaks offers literary arts education programs during the school day and after-school hours. Youth Speaks works with 45,000 teens per year in the Bay Area alone, and has created partner programs in 36 cities across the United States. The Living Word Project (LWP), a resident theater company of Youth Speaks, works closely with writers and performers, ranging in age from 19-25, who are committed to producing verse-based literary performance. The company’s works focus on current social issues and includes dance, music, and film as well as the spoken word.
Young Reporters
New America Media is a national collaboration of ethnic news organizations. Founded by the nonprofit Pacific News Service in 1996, NAM’s goal is “to promote the editorial visibility and economic viability of this critical sector of American journalism as a way to build inclusive public discourse in our increasingly diverse, global society.” NAM also conducts multilingual polling and organizes events for ethnic media. NAM’s news wire streams the work of its own writers and editors, its multiple youth media publications and broadcasts, and aggregated content from more than 700 ethnic media partners into one subscription-based service. (Description is taken from the Web site.)
The Institute for War and Peace Reporting is an international network for media development supporting training and capacity-building programs for local journalism, with field programs in more than two dozen countries. Their media development and training program is designed to work with journalists (both young reporters and seasoned professionals) to develop their professional capacities as part of an overall effort to strengthen local media. IWPR supports skills development through a mentoring program, on-the-job training, regular workshops, and formal seminars. IWPR also supports distance learning through instant messaging and a discussion list serve, both with input from IWPR staff.
WireTap Magazine, founded by AlterNet.org and a project of the Tides Center is a “national news and culture magazine by and for socially conscious youth.” WireTap publishes journalism primarily written by 16-28 year old youth and young adults. The Web site offers tips on reporting, writing, interviewing, editing and grammar as well as links to codes of ethics from the Society of Professional Journalists, the New York Times, and National Public Radio. (Description is taken from the Web site.)
Youth Media Organizations
Educational Video Center is a non-profit organization, which teaches documentary video to youth. Their mission is “to develop the artistic, critical literacy, and career skills of young people, while nurturing their idealism and commitment to social change.” Their programs include a High School Documentary Workshop, Advanced Documentary Workshops, a Teachers’ Development Program, YO-TV a pre-professional paid internship program for high school students, and the Youth Media Learning Network. The Web site offers an EVC video catalog and a section on tools for teaching youth-directed documentary and video production. (Description taken from the Web site.)
Global Action Project provides media arts and leadership training for young people living in underserved communities in the United States and abroad. Their stated mission is to provide youth with the knowledge, tools, and relationships they need to create powerful, thought-provoking media on local and international issues that concern them, and to use their media as a catalyst for dialogue and social change. G.A.P. has developed two media programs specifically for refugees and immigrants.
Listen Up! is a youth media network of over 90 member organizations across the country. Its mission is to connect “young video producers and their allies to resources, support, and projects in order to develop the field and achieve an authentic youth voice in the mass media.” Member organizations are eligible for technical, organizational and financial supports including opportunities for scholarships and grants, unique Web page space to upload youth produced work, and help with networking and distribution of the youth work. The Web site has special sections for producers, educators, and media partners and provides information on film festivals, job and funding opportunities, calls for entries, events, and youth media news. (Description is taken from the Web site.)
The Film and Video Festival, a program of the Council on Foundations, showcases foundation-funded productions and the strategies by which grant makers use film, video and television productions to advance their program goals. The festival is held in conjunction with the Council on Foundations Annual Conference, the Fall Conference for Community Foundations, and the Family Foundation Conference and showcases work funded by foundations and corporate giving programs. Productions selected for the festival demonstrate the unique effect media can have in advancing program goals. The festival is co-sponsored with Grantmakers in Film and Electronic Media. (Description adapted from the Web site.)
Youth Voices for Tolerance and Peace
Mix it Up! is a program of Tolerance.org, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Mix It Up! publishes stories by and about students, as well as tips and ideas to support activist efforts. Teenagers are encouraged to submit stories, poems, or essays about their personal experiences with social boundaries in schools or communities. The Web site has published nearly two hundred submissions including several refugee stories (search under “refugee”). Sign up on-line for a monthly e-newsletter or find links to other youth activist groups. Mix it Up! also has a small grants program for youth-directed programs and projects that address social boundaries in schools or communities.
The Youth Empowerment Initiative was founded by the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation in 2000. It is one of the few nationally sustained peace programs involving high school and college students in the United States. Youth Empowerment Initiative’s activities include the Barbara Mandigo Peace Poetry Contest, the Internship and Volunteer programs, and over a dozen Peace Leadership trainings. The Swackhamer Peace Essay Contest was discontinued in 2006, however peace essays written by past contest winners may be read online.
Documentary Arts
Finding Voice is an innovative literacy and visual arts program funded largely by the Every Voice in Action Foundation and Tucson Pima Arts Council. This project-based curriculum is dedicated to helping refugee and immigrant youth in LEARN Center ESL classes at Catalina High School in Tucson, Arizona develop their literacy and second language skills by researching, photographing, writing, and speaking out about critical social issues in their lives and communities. (Description taken from the Web site.)
Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University has developed the Youth Document Durham, a nationally recognized program engaging young people from diverse local communities in documentary training and projects that examine their viewpoints and amplify their voices. Students in both the after-school and summer programs share the results of their work through publications, exhibitions, Web sites, radio and media projects, public art and community-service projects, and public forums. The Neighborhoods Project works with teachers and students in two Durham elementary schools, using an innovative experiential learning model to engage young students in the communities surrounding their schools and to document individual lives and stories through photographs, narrative writing, and oral history. (Description adapted from the Web site.)
Global Action Project’s Documentary Project for Refugee Youth was a three-year program, where participants attended workshops and produced documentaries, narratives, and PSAs about the experiences and issues young refugees face in their new communities. The project has its own Web site with a collective scrapbook, photo essays, interviews and a curriculum available for free download. The youth made three documentaries: “Moving On”, “One Family”, and “Picture a Story”.
The Leonardo is a hands-on art, culture, and science center for young people and adults being developed in the heart of Utah’s capital city. The Leonardo on Wheels—Documentary Arts is operated by the Center for Documentary Arts (CDA). The program designs special exhibits for display in schools, libraries, rural museums, and community centers. One of these exhibits is Faces and Voices of Refugee Youth, an award-winning display of 30 portraits and interviews with refugee youth. Originally developed for 2002 Cultural Olympiad, Faces and Voices of Refugee Youth focuses on refugee youth who attended the Salt Lake City schools between 2000 and 2002. The exhibit is organized into three sections—“Flight,” “Haven,” and “Heartache and Hope”—to reflect the fact that refugee youth have experienced three interrelated phases in their journey from their countries of origin to the United States. The Web site includes curricula for elementary and secondary school teachers to use to education students about refugee youth. (Description summarized from the Web site.)
Photography
PhotoVoice is an organization based out of London that encourages the use of documentary photography by enabling those that have traditionally been the subject of such work to become its creator – to have control over how they are perceived by the rest of the world, while simultaneously learning a new skill which can enhance their lives. (Description taken from the Web site.)
National Geographic Photo Camp is a series of photography workshops for youth from underserved communities both in and outside the United States. In partnership with local newspapers and community organizations, Photo Camp inspires young people to explore their communities through the camera’s lens, and to share their vision through public presentations and exhibitions across the United States and throughout the world. In 2007, National Geographic photographer Sam Abell gave a group of Erie, Pennsylvania teenagers, all recent immigrants to the United States from four continents, a unique opportunity to document their lives and surroundings. During a four-day workshop, students created photographs reflecting the current state of their lives.
Refugee and Immigrant Artists Web Sites
African Refugee Artists Club and Youth Development is an organization of young African refugee artists, founded by Atem Aleu, a Sudanese artist living in Salt Lake City, UT. ARACYD was founded to provide mutual support to the young artists, to further their skills as artists, and to enhance their abilities to tell their stories. In addition, ARAC hosts a 30-day workshop at Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya.
Awer Bul, is a young Sudanese artist currently completing a Bachelors Degree in Fine Arts and Communication at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA. His Web site displays his paintings, photographs, and a short documentary titled “Living in Exile,” which the artist states “deals with transformation, not only in mind and body, but also in location and spirit.”
Leave the Bones and Catch the Land is a Web-based exhibition that was developed for a course at Brandeis Universityby Professor Mark Auslander of Brandeis University, along with the Sudanese Education Fund, African Refugee Artists Club and Youth Development, and South Sudan Youth Association of Massachusetts. The artists featured in this exhibition, known as the “Lost Boys and Girls of Sudan”, are living in refugee camps in Kenya and Uganda. The artist and former refugee Atem Aleu, currently based in Utah, returned to the Kakuma refugee camp to give a series of art lessons to the young refugees allowing them to capture their memories of home and to express their hopes for the future.
Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars are musicians who fled Sierra Leone during the country’s decade-long civil war and formed the band while living in refugee camps in Guinea. American documentary filmmakers Banker White and Zach Niles, along with Canadian singer-songwriter Chris Velan, met Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars while they were living in refugee camps and filmed them over the course of three years as they moved from camp to camp and then returned home after the war to reunite with many of their family, friends and fellow musicians. The current members of the band came together during this trip and they realized their lifelong dream of recording in the studio. Now Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars have toured the world and become an inspiration and a symbol of the healing power of music.
The Somali Project is a traveling photography exhibition by Somali photographer, Abdi Roble. The mission of the project is “to use photography to produce an archival record of the members of the Somali Diaspora while they are still engaging in the cultural practices of their homeland.” The Web site has thirty-three of Abdi Roble’s photographs on display.
Television
Art:21–Art in the Twenty-First Century focuses on contemporary visual art and artists in the United States. The show captures how the creative process works following the transformation of the artist’s inner vision into a physical work of art. Currently in its fourth season, a number of the featured artists originally came to the United States as refugees and immigrants. The Web site includes the artists’ biographies, interviews, clips, images of art, and links to resources on the Web. There is also a discussion board and and free downloadable educators’ guides. Educators can also contribute their art projects ideas, inspired by the artists featured in the series.
In the Mix is a national award-winning TV series for teens and by teens on PBS. In the Mix has covered a wide range of topics, including three episodes on the arts and self expression and three episodes on teen immigrants. In the Mix Discussion Guides are available for most episodes and can be downloaded for free. Of special note is the discussion guide on Teen Immigrants: Five American Stories Program.
Arts Service Organizations
After School Resources provides a one-stop site for federal resources that support children and youth during the out-of-school hours. It includes information about how to run a program (collaborating, using volunteers, and evaluating programs); activity ideas (including after school art programs); access to government guides and research; information about state regulations; and a database of more than 100 grant and loan programs and links to private non-profit organizations and publications.
Americans for the Arts was created in 1996 as a result of the merger between the National Assembly of Local Arts Agencies and the American Council for the Arts. Their Web site provides information on funding programs, research, and publications. It also includes a National Arts Policy Database, a job bank, and an arts education section. The YouthARTS section of the Web site is designed to give arts agencies, juvenile justice agencies, social service organizations, and other community-based organizations information about how to plan, run, provide training, and evaluate arts programs for at-risk youth.
Arts Education Partnership (AEP) is a national coalition of arts, education, business, philanthropic and government organizations that demonstrate and promote the essential role of the arts in the learning and development of every child and in the improvement of America’s schools. AEP was founded and is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and U.S. Department of Education in cooperation with the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies. The Partnership includes over 140 organizations that are national in scope and impact as well as state and local partnerships focused on influencing educational policies and practices to promote quality arts education. (Description adapted from the Web site.)
Arts Edge supports the arts as a core subject area in the K-12 curriculum. This site was established by the Kennedy Center and the National Endowment for the Arts and provides teachers with hundreds of lesson plans, interesting Web links, and teaching “how-to” ideas.
The Center for Arts and Culture was founded in 1994 and though it ended as a stand alone center in 2005, a plan was put in place to maintain its listserv and database. The National Arts Policy Database (NAPD) contains over 8,700 records in seven core areas: access and equity, culture in communities, education and the creative work force, globalization, investment in culture and creativity, creativity and the law, and heritage and preservation. A weekly listserv provides a listing of articles on arts and culture from newspapers and magazines around the country.
The National Art Education Association is a non-profit, membership organization, founded in 1947, which “promotes art education through professional development, service, advancement of knowledge, and leadership.” NAEA publishes books and other resources useful to art teachers in curriculum planning, classroom applications, research, and assessment. In addition, NAEA publishes periodicals such as: Art Education, Studies in Art Education and NAEA News. Services include the National Art Honor Society, an annual convention, professional development institutes, and an awards program for outstanding art educators and exemplary art programs in states, regions, and the nation.
The National Association for Music Education (MENC) is a non-profit membership organization with a mission to “advance music education by encouraging the study and making of music by all.” MENC develops National Standards for Music Education, publishes magazines and journals on music education, funds music education programs, and raises public awareness through press releases, interviews, and radio public service announcements.
NYFA Interactive, supported by the New York Foundation for the Arts, is a national information resource clearinghouse for artists and arts organizations. The Web site has extensive listings for funding, jobs, and other resources, such as state arts agencies, museums, presenters, arts centers. Weekly features and news listings are also updated regularly.
Teacher Art Exchange is an online discussion group for art education teachers and learners, who can share lesson plans, teacher resources, and network with colleagues in the US and internationally. An archive of past discussion can also be accessed.
Arts and Health
American Art Therapy Association (AATA) is a national, non-profit association, with a mission to serve its members and the general public by providing standards of professional competence, and developing and promoting knowledge in, and of, the field of art therapy. The AATA Web site has a wide selection of resources and links both for art therapists and art therapy students. These include ethical standards for art therapists, links to other art therapy associations, information on careers in the art therapy field and a number of discussion and e-groups. AATA’s Multicultural Committee has also developed a comprehensive bibliography and resource listing which is can be downloaded for free on the Web site.
International Expressive Arts Therapy Association serves as a non-profit professional organization to inspire stimulate and support the creative and artistic spirit of its community and provides an on-going local and global information exchange within the Expressive Arts field for Artists, Educators, Therapists and Other Creative-Minded Individuals. (Description taken from the Web site.)
The Healing Power of Arts was developed by the Colorado Council on the Arts as a response to the Columbine High School tragedy. This Web portal includes resources on the impact of the arts on communities, individuals, and economies. Recommended Web links are annotated, organized and cross-linked by topic such as promoting tolerance and strengthening communities and also by arts discipline.
Folk, Ethnic, and Traditional Arts Organizations
American Folklife Center, created by Congress in 1976, sponsors concerts, conferences, publications and other activities. This Web site provides online access to several of the Archives’ collections as well as links to other Library collections and provides many links to scholarly programs, societies, archives and organizations within the United States and also internationally.
American Folklore Society is a national scholarly society devoted to folklore. The Web site includes information on events and conferences, a membership directory, a listing of University-based graduate programs in Folklore, and links to other relevant sites. Their Opportunities in Folklore page is a comprehensive listing of employment opportunities, conference listings and fellowship announcements.
Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage is part of the Smithsonian Institution. The Web site provides information on the Center’s activities, including the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings with a searchable database of the entire Folkways catalog, educational materials developed for teachers, symposia, films and recent issues of their newsletter, Talk Story. In their archives and other resources section, there are many links to other folklife archives, databases, organizations and music-related online resources.
Cultural Arts Resources for Teachers and Students, sponsored by City Lore’s Center for Folk Arts in Education at Bank Street College of Education & The National Task Force on Folk Arts and Education, provides online information on national and local folklife and education resources, national listings for teacher workshops, and on-line discussion boards for National Task Force members.
National Council for the Traditional Arts is the oldest private non-profit that deals with folk, ethnic and tribal arts. Their site provides information on festivals, tours, concerts, recordings and other media programs. Their links list includes several independent record labels that specialize in various forms of traditional music.
Society for Ethnomusicology contains information on the scholarly Society’s conferences, events, and publications as well as links to University-based graduate programs in Ethnomusicology and other related organizations.
Traditional Arts Programs Network (TAPNET) is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and is an online one-stop information site for links to folk arts-related activity at NEA, state and local programs, media-related programs, museums, archives, etc. Their page, American Folklorist Public Directory, contains an address listing for folklorists engaged in folk life public programming nationwide.
Funding at Federal Level
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) was established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. The NEA is the nation’s largest annual funder of the arts, bringing art to all 50 states, including rural areas, inner cities, and military bases. Their Web site includes a list of State and Regional partners.
National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency created in 1965. It is the largest funder of humanities programs in the United States. According to the 1965 National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act, one of the areas of particular interest to the NEH is: “the study and application of the humanities to the human environment with particular attention to reflecting our diverse heritage, traditions, and history and to the relevance of the humanities to the current conditions of national life.”
The President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) was established in 1982 and plays a key role in identifying issues and developing initiatives in the arts and the humanities of critical importance to the nation. The President’s Committee plays a role in four key areas: exercising leadership in international cultural cooperation; addressing the needs of youth; recognizing the nation’s creative talent; and preserving the nation’s cultural and historic treasures. In partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the PCAH serves as a bridge between the public and the private sector in supporting arts and humanities by stimulating private investment in these and other efforts.
The Coming Up Taller Awards is a project of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities in partnership with Institute of Museum and Library Services, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. This Award program started in 1998 and each year 15 awards of $10,000 each are presented to the Coming Up Taller Award Finalists. These awards recognize and support outstanding community arts and humanities programs that celebrate the creativity of America’s young people, provide them learning opportunities and chances to contribute to their communities. They also focus national attention on exemplary programs currently fostering the creative and intellectual development of America’s children and youth through education and practical experience in the arts and the humanities.
Private Funding
The Foundation Center is an information clearinghouse for grant seekers and grant makers and provides background information on hundreds of foundations. The Foundation Center is headquartered in New York City and has four field offices in Atlanta, Cleveland, San Francisco, and Washington, DC. In addition, grant seekers may visit a network of Cooperating Collections, free funding information centers in libraries, community foundations, and other nonprofit resource centers that provide a core collection of Foundation Center publications and a variety of supplementary materials and services. The Web site offers an on-line subscription directory and numerous fundraising and grant writing resources.
The Open Society Institute has a Youth Initiative that works to integrate low-income youth into the democratic process by supporting strategies that develop self-expression and critical-thinking skills. The program’s key strategies are youth-generated media and formal debate. The Web site features news, announcements, and articles about OSI Youth Initiative grantees as well as information about how to apply for program funding.
The Ford Foundation annually publishes specific areas they are interested in funding. Some years, they fund programs and projects related to media, arts, and culture. For example, in 2006, funds could be used to support the development of media, information and technology resources to advance human achievement and understanding. Funds could also be used to support infrastructural and access issues as well as independent production in print, film, radio and Web-based media. Visit their Guidelines for Grant Seekers for more information. (Description summarized from the Web site.)
The Pew Charitable Trusts supports a broad spectrum of institutions, artists, projects and cultural marketing initiatives. Their objectives in supporting arts and culture are twofold: to nurture artistic excellence and to expand public participation. Visit the section of the site on Arts and Culture for more information. (Description taken from the Web site.)
The Rockefeller Foundation nourishes artistic endeavor through support for a variety of groups and organizations committed to enriching the creative environment and furthering opportunities for creative artists. Visit the section of the site on Support for the Arts for more information.
The Wallace Foundation works with exemplary arts organizations to identify, develop, and share effective practices to reach more people and to help those providers sustain their work beyond initial funding support. They also help selected cities to expand arts-learning opportunities in ways that many communities can use to give young people a lifelong appreciation of the arts. Visit the section of the site on Building Appreciation and Demand for the Arts for more information. (Description summarized from the Web site.)