Category Archives: DYCD
Spotlight: Summer Programs in NYC
After a busy and fruitful school year, Arts Horizons plunged straight into our summer arts education programs in Brooklyn, Bronx, and Staten Island. 10 AH teaching artists conducted five to six week-long residencies at various sites administered by the following community-based organizations: Moshulu Montefiore Community Center (MMCC), Children of Promise, NYC (CPNYC), and United Activities Unlimited (UAU). We are pleased to recognize our longstanding partnerships with MMCC and UAU, and we are eager to continue deepening our new partnership with CPNYC. All three organizations have been doing exceptional work to provide spaces that foster educational, recreational, counseling, and/or social programs for children and young adults in New York City’s outer boroughs. After school and summer programming offered by these organizations are part of the Beacon and SONYC (School’s Out NYC) initiatives by the Department of Youth & Community Development (DYCD) in collaboration with the Administration for Child Services (ACS) and the Department of Homeless Services.
At 7 MMCC Cornerstone sites, our teaching artists provided an eclectic offering of engaging programming to elementary and middle school children ranging from Afro-Caribbean Dance with Silvana Marquina to Percussion with Larry Washington, Jewelry-Making with Ken Fury, Jazz Vocal with Pamela Hamilton, and Visual Arts with Natalie Alleyne, Yako Prodis, and Mansa Mussa. AH teaching artist Ibrahima Camara had a very busy summer as he conducted African dance and drumming residencies for all three organizations!
AH Program Coordinator Kiran Rajagopalan had the opportunity to visit two music residencies this summer – Grace Galu’s songwriting program for MMCC at Fort Independence Community Center in Bronx and D. Cross’s beatboxing program for CPNYC in Brooklyn. Let’s take a quick peek into their classes!
Student songwriters riffing on their favorite food & activities with Grace Galu
Noted soul vocalist and vocal coach Grace Galu is a new teaching artist for Arts Horizons. Students in her songwriting classes learned all about using figurative language, counting syllables, and crafting narratives. She opened up her classes with a fun icebreaker, “Jump In, Jump Out,” in which students introduce and identify themselves to the class as a “singer/dancer/gamer/etc. for the rest of their lives!” Once they were energized, Grace asked them to name their favorite food or activity – the first class eventually chose ice cream and the second class chose dance. Together, students created short, poetic phrases with adjectives to describe how ice cream and dance made them feel, and these lines were compiled into a short stanza and chorus. Grace then brought out her guitar and sung her students’ songs acapella!
Kiran’s second stop was at CPNYC in Brooklyn to attend a beatboxing class by longtime AH teaching artist and multidisciplinary artist D. Cross. CPNYC specializes in enrichment programing for children of incarcerated parents to “empower them to break the cycle of intergenerational involvement in the criminal justice system.” The focus of D. Cross’s residency was to introduce students to the basic elements of vocal percussion and music production through the creation of beats for songs. D. Cross assembled the students in a Hip-Hop cypher to facilitate improvisation and conversation through music. Students took turns beatboxing, improvising lyrics, or adding other sounds, and D. Cross layered their vocals into a cohesive beat with the help of a splicer machine!
Students freestyling in a cypher with D. Cross over their own beats
Arts Horizons was thrilled to see such active participation in the arts at MMCC, UAU, and CPNYC, and we are grateful to hear that our teaching artists’ efforts were well appreciated by students, faculty, and administrators. We would also like to thank Ms. Kim Viade, Ms. Monique Newton, and Ms. Gizzelle Lopez along with all of the site directors and staff for welcoming us into their programs. We are excited to continue our collaborative work with these amazing organizations for the next academic year.
AH’s Summer Arts Programs in Music & Visual Arts
For more information, please contact: Dena Malarek – Director, NYC Residencies & Special Populations (212-268-7219*108; dena@artshorizons.org) or Kiran Rajagopalan – Program Coordinator, NYC Residencies & Special Populations (212-268-7219*113; kiran@artshorizons.org)
Retrospective: Arts Horizons in FY 18
Arts Horizons is entering its 40th year of providing high-quality arts education programming to children of all ages, adults, and seniors in schools and community centers throughout New York and New Jersey. The 2017-2018 school year has officially ended, and we dedicate this blog post to sharing a review of our incredible year of arts education residencies in New York City. We sincerely thank all of our partners and their dedicated team of educators and support professionals for welcoming us into their sites. We also thank their students and participants for their willingness to share their creative voices and artistic talents. Of course, none of our arts education residencies would be possible without our immensely talented and committed teaching artists. We are extremely grateful to have such an amazing roster of artists who offer such diversity of expressive mediums including: mosaics, collage-making, playwriting, African drumming, musical theater, Hip Hop, graffiti, maskmaking, storytelling, Afro-Brazilian dance, songwriting, photography, music technology, and much more!
Summer 2017 kicked off in high gear with residencies through Moshulu Montefiore Community Center (MMCC) at 8 of their cornerstone sites in the Bronx and Manhattan. After a brief break in August, the fall semester promptly began with after school programs through: MMCC, Girls for Gender Equity (GGE), and Union Settlement.
Additionally, we started our in-school programs at several NYCDOE schools funded by the Arts for English Language Learners and Students with Disabilities” (Arts for ELL+SWD) grant. Through this grant, participating schools “receive funding to create new or expand existing partnerships with arts and cultural organizations with experience serving English Language Learners (ELLs) and/or Students with Disabilities (SWD).” Our visual and performing arts programs for Literacy Development and Socio-emotional Growth effectively engaged these student populations through hands-on workshops that stimulated creativity, vocabulary development, speaking, and other communication skills. We highlighted our Arts For ELL+SWD programs in a series of five posts: CIS 303X, PS 28M, Brooklyn School for Music & Theatre, Robert F. Kennedy Community High School/JHS 226Q, and PS 184M/PS 79M.
We also renewed our VSA Children’s Visual Arts Discovery (VSA-VAD) programs under contract with John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts at the same sites we served last year: Hospital Schools @ Kings County Hospital, PS 226M @ PS 76M, PS 188X @ PS 34X, and Queens Transition Center @ High School for Law Enforcement & Public Safety.
Sadly, our fall semester ended with the closing of the Arts Horizons LeRoy Neiman Art Center (LNAC) in December 2017. But we remain committed to keeping the concept of the center and famed artist Mr. Neiman alive through our work via LNAC Without Walls (LNACWoW). Located at a new central Harlem office space at The Pillars on 124th Street, LNACWoW continues our mission of offering quality arts education programs celebrating the rich history of the Harlem community. We have achieved this through expanded programming with Union Settlement and Hospital Schools alongside new partnerships with Boys and Girls Club of Harlem and the New York Public Library.
Therefore, our spring semester was even busier for us as we launched these new programs through LNACWoW and extended our in-school and after school programs through GGE, VSA-VAD, and our Arts for ELL+SWD partners. New and fruitful partnerships were also formed with South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation and Children of Promise. We were also thrilled to relaunch programs with several of our longstanding partners including: Hospital Schools, PS 46X, PS 130X, Unique People Services, and Department of Youth & Community Development (DYCD).
Please stay tuned for further announcements about our 40th anniversary celebrations and our ongoing summer programs. Have a great summer, enjoy the sun, and stay cool!
We are currently seeking experienced, professional teaching artists for the 2018-2019 academic year. Please click here for more information on how to apply.
Spotlight: Summer Programs at MMCC Cornerstones
Arts Horizons is pleased to recognize our ongoing partnership with Mosholu Montefiore Community Center (MMCC) and to highlight our summer arts education programs at 8 of their Cornerstone sites. MMCC is a longstanding community organization that serves more than 35,000 preschoolers, school age children, teens, adults and senior citizens in Bronx and Manhattan through free and affordable support, enrichment, education, and recreation programs. MMCC offers a wide selection of after school programming for all age groups at more than twenty sites in the two boroughs. MMCC’s after school and summer programming is part of the Beacon and SONYC (School’s Out NYC) initiatives by the Department of Youth & Community Development (DYCD) in collaboration with the Administration for Child Services (ACS) and the Department of Homeless Services.
We are thrilled that 10 AH Teaching Artists provided such an eclectic offering of engaging summer programming to elementary and middle school children at various community centers in Manhattan and the Bronx. Larry Washington, Ibrahima Camara, and Yako Prodis conducted lively percussion and music residencies at Grant and Boston Secor Cornerstones. Aaron Lazansky, Natalie Alleyne, and D. Cross taught visual arts at Pelham Parkway, Edenwald, and Parkside Cornerstones. Dawn Crandell, Dean Maitland, Ken Fury, and Silvana Marquina conducted dance and movement residencies at Fort Independence, Marble Hill, and Gun Hill Cornerstones.
AH Program Coordinator Kiran Rajagopalan had the opportunity to visit the community centers in Fort Independence, Marble Hill, Edenwald, and Boston Secor to see Dean, Ken, Ibrahima, and Natalie in action. Let’s take a quick peek into their classes!
Dean Maitland is a versatile dancer and choreographer from Grenada, and he is the founder of Arts-in-Motion (A.I.M.) in Brooklyn. His highly informative dance residency at Fort Independence introduced students to various styles of dance including: West African, Afro-Caribbean, Hip Hop, Ballet, and Jazz. Dean then combined various basic movements from each dance style into a scintillating routine that students enthusiastically practiced for nearly 90 minutes!
Dean Maitland leading his class through a warm-up at Fort Independence Cornerstone
Noted break dancer, visual artist, and jewelry designer Ken Fury (founder of the Breaking Institute of the Arts) conducted a dance residency at Marble Hill which focused on the BBoying aspect of Hip Hop dance. Students learned some of the basic break dance freezes and footwork, and they choreographed a small sequence of movements to be incorporated into a final dance. Ken even asked Kiran to demonstrate and teach the students a few basic steps from Indian classical dance!
Ken coaching a student on a pose for a photograph at Marble Hill Cornerstone
An experienced teaching artist and a prolific painter, Natalie Alleyne had students create their own customized t-shirts for her visual arts residency at Edenwald Cornerstone. Students first handpainted their own designs onto blank, white T-shirts using fabric paint. On the last day of the residency, students learned how to tie-dye their painted t-shirts. Natalie shared useful tips such as adding salt in order to help the fabric take the dye along with different ways to fold up the t-shirts to create different patterns.
Natalie Alleyne assisting a student with the tie-dying process at Edenwald Cornerstone
Ibrahima Camara, a master West African drummer, singer, and dancer from Guinea, taught percussion to students at Boston Secor Cornerstone. Ibrahima had his students sit in a large drum circle, and he used a traditional call-and-response method to teach students how to tap four basic sounds on bright blue Loew’s buckets using wooden drumsticks. Enrollment in Ibrahima’s class had unexpectedly increased so much from the first class that there were not enough drumsticks to go around. However, students graciously shared the drumsticks with each other so that everyone had a chance to play along!
Ibrahima demonstrating a rhythm pattern to students at Boston Secor Cornerstone
Arts Horizons is thrilled to see such active participation in the arts at these MMCC Cornerstone sites, and we are grateful to hear that our teaching artists’ efforts were well appreciated by students, faculty, and administrators. We would also like to thank Ms. Kim Viade and all of the Cornerstone site directors and staff for welcoming us into their programs. We are excited to continue our collaborative work with this amazing organization for the next academic year.
Spotlight: DYCD’s “Beyond the Voice” with Arts Horizons
Arts Horizons is pleased to highlight and recognize our partnership with the NYC Department of Youth & Community Development (DYCD) for an amazing songwriting initiative for talented student musicians called “Beyond the Voice.” AH Teaching Artists Baba Israel, Pamela Hamilton, Yako Prodis, Dawn Crandell, and Teaching Artist Grace Galu conducted masterclasses and professional development workshops for students participating in DYCD’s “Beyond the Voice.” According to DYCD’s Facebook page, “Beyond the Voice” is a “competition [to] challenge youth to create a beat and sing a song dedicated to their community…and the program uses components of literacy and presentation skill building.”
A student improvising various genres of music with Baba and Yako
During the last week of March and the first week of April, Pamela, Baba, and Yako conducted 1.5-hour mentoring sessions with each of the 10 participating student musicians/groups at various Beacon, Cornerstone, and SONYC afterschool sites in Queens, Bronx, and Manhattan. These sessions were dedicated to providing students with constructive feedback, critique, and guidance as they continued to work on their original songs. The participating sites in this program were: Quest Youth Organization (Bedford-Stuyvesant), Moshulu Montefiore Community Center – Evander Campus (Gun Hill), The Child Center of New York (Flushing), Long Island University – Advantage Higher Education (Downtown Brooklyn), Southern Queens Park Association (Jamaica), Greater Ridgewood Youth Council at York Early College Academy (Jamaica), Harlem Children Zone (Central Harlem), Johnson Community Center (East Harlem) and Phipps Community Development Corporation – Beacon @ IS 192 (West Farms).
After these one-on-one artist mentoring sessions, students and faculty gathered at Countee Cullen Community Center, a program of the Harlem Children’s Zone, Inc. housed in PS 194M in Manhattan, on Monday, April 10, 2017 from 11:00AM to 4:00PM for a collective “mentoring day” with all of the teaching artists. “Beyond the Voice” will culminate with a student showcase scheduled for Saturday, May 20, 2017 at JCC Manhattan. AH Program Coordinator Kiran Rajagopalan had the opportunity to attend this “mentoring day” and he witnessed these students’ brilliant musicianship and their eagerness to learn more about taking their art to the next level.
Baba, a noted Hip-Hop MC, began the day with a lecture-demonstration on freestyle and improvisation with the assistance of Yako, a talented music producer and multi-instrumentalist, and several students on guitar. Performance artist and dancer Dawn Crandell then conducted a movement workshop in which students were taught exercises improve their stage presence. Students were first asked to state their name and to come up with a single movement which best expresses their “current state of being.” This was followed by exercises on nervous mannerisms and “what not to do on stage” that were particularly engaging and illuminating.
In the third session, students presented rough cuts of their songs for feedback and critique from the teaching artists. Baba also facilitated a discussion with each student about the creative process involved in crafting his or her song. Following lunch, soul vocalist and vocal coach Grace Galu led students through a series of vocal warm-ups that can be done quickly before rehearsal or performance. She also stressed the importance listening through exercises with harmony and a round-robin rendition of an African chant.
The reminder of the afternoon was dedicated to the teaching artists engaged in one-on-one sessions with the students in groups. Dawn worked with two students on incorporating movement into their duet performances while Pamela, a prolific jazz vocalist and violinist, worked with another student on crafting a hook for her song. Yako worked with instrumentalists on stage to tighten up several songs that had played for earlier, and Grace worked with soloists on vocal projection. Baba, as the primary organizer and facilitator, oversaw all of the groups and began setup for the final professional development session.
The mentoring day ended with Baba leading a workshop on lyric writing with figurative language, beatmaking, and music production with the assistance of Yako. This was followed by an essential, but brief professional development lecture on copywriting, royalties, promotion, and liabilities by Baba. Although scheduled to end at 4:00 PM, the session lasted until 4:20 PM with students fully engaged!
Baba & Yako freestyling for students in the opening session
Pamela working one-on-one with a student on crafting a hook
Arts Horizons 