Tags archives: non-profit
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4 years ago
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Event performance celebrating the end of the summer program (2019).
Now in its third year, Art for
Progress’ summer program gives students the opportunity to learn about life as
a professional artist, while also learning new advanced skills to help them
achieve their goals.
Funded by the Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation with additional support from the Sansom Foundation, the program is taught by professional teaching artists with a long history of working with Art for Progress (AFP) in NYC’s Public Schools and other important projects. Thanks to the generous support of our sponsors, the program will be funded through 2021, which gives AFP the opportunity to expand and grow the program even more.
Over the years, the program has invited Grammy nominated musicians, prominent visual artists and high-level fashion designers as its guest speakers. It has been a valuable and exciting part of the program for students and highly rewarding for the artists. There’s no cost for students to attend.
Though the program for this summer will be hosted online, it will be one of the best yet, due in large part to Art for Progress’ newly developed online learning platform: https://learn.artforprogress.org, which was created to optimize the experience for both our teachers and students. The new website includes many valuable features which will enhance learning and promote better communication. This summer’s program is planned over four weekends beginning July 25th and ending [...]
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5 years ago
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Federico Guzmán (AKA Fiko) has become an iconic figure in Western Sahara, utilizing the platform art offers as a vehicle to promote peace and social change to the Saharawi people. Guzmán treads between a soldier of solidarity and curator of cultures emphasizing on gatherings, art, and experiences that will induce an exchange of ideas and collaborations between artists and wherever his projects realize, and the local community.
For twelve years Guzmán has co-organized ARTifariti The Arts and Human Rights Encounters of Western Sahara in the African desert "as a way to explain the circumstances of the Saharawi people " creating a "weapon of visibility" to a story not globally known by many nor should be hidden from the public eye: and with projects such as ARTifariti one sees the opportunity to include foreign narratives and artists distanced by unfavorable political circumstances into the art world”.
The selected artists demonstrate couth in human rights and its relevance within the arts, but more importantly "are confronted a reality" that is life-changing from personal to professional, receiving a surreal cultural exchange with fresh perspectives and resilient power from the Sahawari people (especially from the matriarch figure whose role is to lead the community).
During 2018's visitation in the Sahara, the artists delve into intense creative processes of art-making, finally exhibiting and documenting the work(s). Collaborations are accessible on the list of act[...]
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8 years ago
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At The James Baldwin School in Chelsea, AFP's program is in its 3rd year, offering after school digital audio production, musical instrument instruction and performance coaching. Students range from 9th to 12th grade and come to the program with a variety of individual goals in mind. The sessions vary, and participants usually work individually or in small groups.
The class combines a combination of elements which are often going on simultaneously. One group may be learning how to sequence beats to a metronome track on one computer, while another student is involved in the more advanced stages of a fully fleshed out track on the next. At the same time a vocal duo may be working out harmonies to a rock ballad, while others are learning how to build scales and chords on the piano. In all cases, the fundamentals of music making are uncovered and explored. The focus is always on building a working musical vocabulary and developing the ability to use music for self-expression.
This year at Baldwin I have seen remarkable progress on every front. Beat-makers have progressed from struggling at playing simple kick and snare patterns, to building complete tracks and having their friends rap over them. Drummers who had never played a drum-set maintain a groove behind a full band. I’m especially impressed with Reshwan and Katana who had never met before. Within a few short months they have become a powerful cohesive duet act eagerly learning the theory to support their development[...]
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