Tags archives: public schools

  • Art for Progress (AFP) is set to launch its annual summer program for NYC public school students in July. Now in its sixth year, the program continues to evolve to address the needs of NYC’s young artists and musicians attending public schools across NYC. The program, funded by The Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation, offers students interested in careers in the arts and music, summer guidance and instruction. For 2023, the program will shift to a mentorship focused program that offers select students the opportunity to work closely with professional artists across multiple genres including visual art, fashion design, music, and music production. Teaching artist Paula Parker addressing students- Art for Progress Summer Arts Program The long running program endured the challenging COVID years by creating an impactful online program that continued through 2021. In 2022, Art for Progress was very pleased to receive a three-year renewal for the funding of the program from The Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation in 2022. With much joy, we returned to normal, in-person programming last year. A focused group of students and our energized teachers made the 2022 program a big success. Knowing the foundations approach and goals for the summer program, AFP’s Founder Frank Jackson set out to make the 2023 program the best one yet.  The message from the foundation has always been, what will you do to improve the program, and how will the program evolve over time to addres[...]
  • We are a little sad that next week will be our last week of the program and of course, summer is also winding down. We are fortunate and thankful that we can provide this program for NYC public school students. It was great getting to know many of our students. They were eager for the opportunity to learn from professional artists and find out more about careers in the arts. LOCATION: Bayard Rustin Education Complex, 351 West 18th Street, Room 341, New York, NY. CONTACT: Barry Komitor (347) 661- 2469 The program will offer some workshops that will be ongoing while others will be one-offs. Each week we'll post the schedule for the various workshops that will take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Mondays will be open arts day where students can work on music, visual arts and fashion design in an open, fun learning environment. Collaborations are encouraged! Special guest artists and speakers will also join us on Mondays. Our main teaching artists for 2022 are Barry Komitor (music) and Beláxis Buil (visual art, fashion). We are planning to have many guest artist teachers and speakers this year as well. Week 6: August 8th - August 12th Monday, August 8th - 12:00PM - 3:30PM - Open Arts  Open Arts happens each week and gives students the opportunity to choose what they want to work on. Our teachers and special guest teachers will offer guidance and assistance. *This weeks special guest artist speaker is fashion designer Gabe Pa[...]
  • https://vimeo.com/124416402 As we arrive at the conclusion of another school year, Art for Progress arts ed programs are developing and evolving in new ways. The music program at Humanities Prep has been flourishing, and we recently held a student and faculty talent show, showcasing the wealth of talent that has been incubating within the school. Performances spanned a wide range of instrumentation and repertoire, and even included some original pieces and songs written by the performers. AFP's Young Adult Enrichment Program has now spawned three bands, which are now gigging around NYC. Statik Vosion, the core project of the program, also recently played alongside my own band, Bad Faces at the AFP live music series “We Deliver” at The Bowery Electric on Manhattan's storied Lower East Side. Other projects are in the works for the summer, including a recording project to produce an EP release for Statik Vision and a music enrichment program in partnership with the Upper West Side JCC which will provide music instruction for under-served elementary school students. I taught the classes last year and if was a blast! At Humanities Prep, in Chelsea, I have been teaching music to high school students for the past three years. Some of the talent that has been emerging from the program is truly unbelievable. I have seen a number of students who had never played an instrument before become capable, and even inspired players, while others have come to me with some experience and s[...]
  • AFP Arts Education Program  had a great summer this year and we look forward to the start of the new school year! The summer music program wrapped up with a great session that included recording a new song, learning more about the recording and mixing process, and vocal instruction. As I mentioned in my last post, each participant was asked to choose a song to work on learning to sing. The selections were very interesting and varied, and we had a lot of fun working them out. AFP is also excited to explore the possibility of partnering with City Kids on some future projects and programs, which could open up some new possibilities. In this summer’s last session of the AFP music program, we recorded “The Cut”, a new song by the band newly formed by the kids, called Static Vision. We set up all of the instruments in the music classroom at Humanities Prep, using tables as gobos to separate the sound sources a little bit. We mic’ed all of the drums and amplifiers, and recorded live together, a technique that is employed less and less these days in the age of overdubbing and “in the box” production. It was a great opportunity for the band to seek to achieve excellence as a group, and to focus on listening to each other, while performing with energy and accuracy. It’s a tall order, but it brought out the best in everyone, and we got a few near perfect takes, which we will be editing and mixing in sessions that will be held during the coming school year. As intense as the recording[...]
  • Art For Progress’ Arts Education Community provides under-served youth with dynamic artistic programming that promotes reflection and self-expression. By connecting youth with working artists, their communities and each other, we hope to transform the way they see themselves and the world around them.