Arts Mentor seeks NYC Youth

May 20, 2007 9:52 AM

Know any performing arts-related youth mentorship programs, where artists can teach kids & teens, in the NYC area?

I'm looking for info about programs where professional artists can mentor or teach kids/teens in the NYC area. Preferably programs that pay at least an honorarium.
Bonus points for the following types of programs:

ARTS-RELATED - stuff where the youth are encouraged to create art (performance, writing, visual, music, whatever) in collaboration with adult artists.

PERFORMANCE-RELATED - programs where adults work together to make educational or empowering shows that they perform for kids / youth, in or out of the school system.

SCHOOL OR COMMUNITY CENTRE-BASED- existing youth programs that already have, or would benefit from, an arts-eduation for empowerment type of program.

The thing you might read between the lines is that I'm a professional artist with experience teaching & mentoring youth (and a BA degree, and a lot of professional cred, and expereince teaching drama, writing, and music), and I'm looking for work in the NYC area. I love working with youth, so being an artist-mentor would be an ideal job, I think, and I have the energy and experience to design my own program if need be.

Specific names & contact info for anyone I can contact for tips or send resumes to would be awesome,
and much appreciated at [e-mail].
Thanks, hive!

posted by twistofrhyme to education (5 comments total)

826NYC?
posted by shakespeherian at 11:05 AM on May 20, 2007

There's a group called Young Playwrights that teaches NYC schoolkids to write plays--link to hiring information here:

Jobs/internships
posted by clair-de-lune at 11:17 AM on May 20, 2007

check out The Point, located in Hunts Point in the Bronx - just a couple stops outside of manhattan on the 6 train:

THE POINT COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION is a nonprofit organization 501 (c) (3) dedicated to youth development and the cultural and economic revitalization of the Hunts Point section of the South Bronx.
We work with our neighbors to celebrate the life and art of our community, an area traditionally defined solely in terms of its poverty, crime rate, poor schools, and substandard housing. We believe the area's residents, their talents and aspirations, are The Point's greatest assets.
Our mission is to encourage the arts, local enterprise, responsible ecology, and self-investment in the Hunts Point community.
posted by entropone at 1:16 PM on May 20, 2007

Also, an organization called DreamYard, which does in-school arts programs with hired artists.
posted by entropone at 1:17 PM on May 20, 2007

thanks, hive!
i'll check back periodically so if anyone stumbles across this thread late and has an answer, please do post!

merci buckets!
posted by twistofrhyme at 9:53 PM on May 24, 2007