Engaged Communities

A Match Made in Heaven – An Interview with Mary-Vance Duggan

May 18, 2016 | marcus@ya.org

Young Audiences of Atlanta's 4th Birthday in 1987 with founder, Mary-Vance Duggan; board member, John Spiegel; and Executive Director, Ann Alperin.   Mary-…

Announcing the Recipients of the 2016 Affiliate Development Fund (ADF) Grant

May 17, 2016 | jarred@ya.org

Now in its seventh year, the Affiliate Development Fund (ADF) provides an opportunity to help build the capacity of affiliates and the entire YA organization in order to establish ideas that can serve as best practices for the YA Network and the field. Additionally, the fund encourages and supports innovative strategies in all areas of organizational development for the betterment of the network…

Spectacular Students Deserve “Spectacular Saturdays”

May 10, 2016 | marcus@ya.org

Newport News, VA- Area students learned how reading and writing are the keys to success through dance, theater and music composition. Young Audiences Arts for Learning Virginia (YAV) partnered with Newport News Public Schools’ extended learning program, WE LEAP, to bring interactive, arts-infused education opportunities to students through their Spectacular Saturdays programs.   This unique…

Stories to Songs: Bringing Communities Together

May 6, 2016 | jarred@ya.org

    What are the most important lessons you’ve learned in life? What are you most proud of? How would you like to be remembered? These are just a few examples of the questions Arts Partners Wichita teaching artist Aaron Fowler has his students ask when they meet the elders that they will be working with over the course of a five-day residency. These questions form the basis of the Stories to…

Kansas City Young Audiences Announces Purchase of Main Street Building

May 3, 2016 | asmith@ya.org

Rendering by Helix Architecture + Design  Kansas City Young Audiences (KCYA) has purchased the building at 3732 Main Street in Kansas City, Missouri. The 18,000 square foot property in the heart of Midtown Kansas City will be renovated to be KCYA’s first permanent home in its 55 years in operation. Main Street is perfectly suited for…

Arts for Learning receives $20,000 LRNG Innovators Challenge Grant

Mar 23, 2016 | marcus@ya.org

  Indianapolis, Indiana (March 23, 2016) — Arts for Learning, the Indiana affiliate of Young Audiences Arts for Learning, has received a $20,000 LRNG Innovators Challenge Grant from the National Writing Project (NWP). The award, which is given to innovative programs that connect in-school and out-of-school learning, will help support Arts for Learning’s “Creating with Confidence: Design Thinking…

Thank You to the Thomas Jefferson Elementary- Middle School Staff!

Mar 17, 2016 | marcus@ya.org

                                                                            An arts integrated literacy program for kindergarteners On Tuesday, March 15, Young Audiences Maryland and the national organization partnered with the Thomas Jefferson Elementary-Middle School in Baltimore, Maryland to film arts integrated programs in action. After a day-long film shoot, we captured footage of…

Arts Advocacy Day 2016 – Taking the Next Step

Mar 11, 2016 | marcus@ya.org

    On Tuesday, March 8, more than 500 grass roots advocates celebrated Arts Advocacy Day in Washington D.C. Arts Advocacy Day is instrumental in advancing key legislative initiatives and arts education policies. In a unified effort, arts advocates from 45 states met with congressional representatives and staffers on Capitol Hill and discussed how important the arts are to our communities, how…

The Living Library Program Brings James Baldwin's If Beale Street Could Talk to NYC High School Students

Feb 19, 2016 | marcus@ya.org

                                                            Teaching artist Lisa Strum discussing the novel with student audience This February Young Audiences New York (YANY) celebrated Black History Month with a performance of James Baldwin’s If Beale Street Could Talk. James Baldwin, a seminal African American author, was born in Harlem in 1924, and many of his works reflect…

Young Audiences of Oregon & SW Washington Brings The Art of Sound Engineering to Portland Area Students

Jan 29, 2016 | jarred@ya.org

  Think back to the last time you went to see your favorite band perform live. Chances are you remember how the lead guitarist hit the perfect solo in your favorite song and how cool the lights and pyrotechnics were, but there is an element you may not recall that was perhaps just as important to your perfect concert-going experience. What you may have missed was the expert placement of the…