2023 Grantees

ACS believes in the power of music to heal trauma and neglect. Funding is used to provide music and movement classes for at-risk youth through in-school, after-school and summer programming. Additional instruments are needed so each child has access and opportunity. A Child’s Song has reached over 8000 children in 2022 at six locations.

The giveArts Program was developed to ensure children challenged by poverty, abuse, neglect or crisis situations could still participate in the arts. Skill camps offer a varied set of activities such as jazz, hip-hop, and contemporary dance skills. In 2021, one hundred sixty-seven low-income children were served with a variety of artistic opportunities including instruments, music and dance class registration and art supplies.

Allens Lane provides discount programs to help reach families of diverse economic circumstances, and scholarships for local homeless children with arts instruction, supplies, and field trips.

The Phoenix Rising Program is a creative arts program aligned with the three principles of expression, connection and transformation through poetry and spoken word. The curriculum is designed to empower struggling youth to express their creative genius through metaphor, symbolism and storytelling, and expose them to a language based on self-affirmation and belief in a successful future.

ASLD provides funding for afterschool arts enrichment at nine Denver Public Schools, all of which have high percentages of low income and at- risk populations, where at least 50% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. Teen Studio Night is a year-round drop-in program for young artists ages 14-17.

The Art on the Move program reaches over 4,500 youth in school grades K-12 and age 3-6 years in Clark, Floyd and Harrison counties.

The mission of Augustan is that the arts are for everyone. Music Encounters provides twice-weekly after school music lessons for children in Title 1 elementary schools in three counties. Year-round classes are also offered at two community centers. No child is ever turned away.

Backstory offers programs for 105 youth (5 -18 years) at schools with a high rate of students qualifying for free/reduced lunches at Emerald Elementary and Alicia Sanchez Elementary. The goal is to provide affordable access to art education, and performance for all youth regardless of ability to pay.

Barnstone addresses childhood trauma as a public health concern and developed art programs to reduce the risk of poor outcomes for children suffering adversity. The full-year curriculum encourages the development of healthy life skills, pairing a child with a compassionate one-to-one mentor to explore art in a safe, positive environment.

Blue Sage reached 070 students ages 5-18 through ArtReach in 2022. Programming consisted of 40 weeks of ballet, 30 weeks of Art Club, 30 weeks of Teen Arts Studio, 8 weeks of dance, a 2-day immersive theater experience, and 2 interactive musical performances.

B&G operate five club sites with over 500 youth each day. More than 70% are from single-parent and foster homes. Students are from low income, racially diverse neighborhoods where substance abuse, unemployment and violent crimes are the highest in the city. The sewing and design classes are the most popular at the five sites. Funding will be used to purchase more sewing machines, material and suppliers to expand the program.

Provides programs for youth in some of the poverty stricken and underserved neighborhoods using the transformative power of visual and performing art. BuildaBridge has transformed delivery of art-making to youth across Philadelphia via a digital platform.

Founded in 2000 with mission to reach at-risk and disadvantaged youth and to change the trajectory of their lives. CTB brings dance and movement classes to over 5,000 underserved students in Metro Denver annually.

CMDance offers programming during the school day and after school, removing barriers for participation, especially for low-income kids. Programming is concentrated in economically disadvantaged communities with 80% of the children participating qualifying for school lunch program. These dance classes are often the students’ first exposure to dance, igniting a new-found passion for dance through programming that no other organization is providing in the area.

CYC is a choral education program Transforming young lives through the power of making music together Funding would support the FYI (Find Your Instrument) Program for children from low-income families. All of the students in FYI! Schools qualify for free lunch program and are considered under-resourced.

Concrete Couch was founded by teachers, artists and environmentalists to engage youth to build community projects. The mission is to work with kids to create works of public arts and is 100% free to all participants.

Creede’s program, The Kids Show, provides professional quality theater to young students each year. In addition, several of the older KID Show participants received a stipends, this benefit makes it possible for students from lower-income families to participate in this enriching all-day arts program.

The Curious New Voices (CNV) Education Program serves a diverse group of young people, helping them find their voice and write their world. CNV programs include in-school residencies, touring shows, a Summer Playwriting Intensive and teen nights. CNV makes special efforts to engage students from diverse backgrounds and underserved populations including schools with high populations of at-risk youth.

Darlington Arts Center’s arts education outreach programs provide high quality arts experiences for children with limited or no access to the arts in historically underserved communities. The robustness of this program allows us to provide outreach programming to nearly 500 students annually. Programming is provided in the Chester Upland School District in Delaware County, PA and well as schools in downtown West Chester, PA.

Art Partners matches aspiring artists ages 12 – 17 with an accomplished professional artists and hobby artists in an art mentoring apprenticeship. All participants are referred to the program by youth serving professionals, primarily art teachers and guidance counselors. All have a desire to pursue art at a greater level and meet the requirements for being at-risk.