This Community Vessel was created from Alabama clay by the youth and children of Space One Eleven's City Center Art program. The "community vessel" concept allows young artists to work independently and collaboratively by having each individual's artwork applied to a "blank" ceramic vessel, creating a beautifully encrusted piece of community art.

Creative Communities Students from New Orleans Ballet Association Gain New Learning Experiences
April 8, 2004

The New Orleans Ballet Association (NOBA) proudly announces that three of their Creative Communities dance students, ages 9 to 11, were nominated and subsequently selected to be members of the Junior Corps of the Step Up Ensemble. Step Up is a program of the NORD/NOBA Center For Dance, a cultural, community partnership of the New Orleans Recreation Department and the New Orleans Ballet Association that makes dance accessible to the inner city families and youth of Orleans Parish. The selected dancers are the first of their Creative Communities peers to now train and perform with the award-winning Step Up Ensemble, a youth dance company. They will continue their regular, twice-a-week after-school classes at their Creative Communities sites, in addition to being transported each Saturday to Tulane University to participate in the rigors of the Step Up program. Each Saturday the Ensemble comes together for technique classes and repertory rehearsals. Here, young artists who think they may want to explore a career in dance, study everything from classical and modern dance, to choreography and theatre craft. Through a professional faculty, master classes by NOBA Main Stage companies, extended artist residencies, a university mentor program and field trips, the Step Up Ensemble works with each child to cultivate dreams and strengthen futures. Click here for additional information on the NORD/NOBA Center For Dance.



Creative Communities Executive Summary NOW AVAILABLE!
November 12, 2003

The National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts is proud to announce the release of an Executive Summary of the Creative Communities Interim Evaluation Report. This comprehensive report lies at the heart of the National Guild’s ability to effectively implement Creative Communities and influence the national community arts education field to view this strategy as a sound investment for replication.

The National Guild commissioned the Institute of Cultural Policy and Practice at Virginia Tech University and Emc.Arts of New York City to implement the evaluation of Creative Communities through a logic model methodology that examines the Initiative's impact in the following areas: youth, organizational and community outcomes; intermediary organization outcomes; and sustainability and feasibility of replication.

Drawing on data collected from site visits and extensive document review and analyses, the Executive Summary reveals the key ingredients for success with partnerships between arts organization and public housing communities and provides critical benchmarks for quality arts programming.

Click here to download a copy of the Creative Communities Executive Summary

For questions on the Executive Summary and/or to request a copy of the full Interim Evaluation Report (100 pages), Click here to contact Jonathan Herman, Executive Director, National Guild


Creative Communities site in R.I. win HUGE Drug Free Communities Grant
October 1, 2003

Creative Communities site, The Music School of the Rhode Island Philharmonic, was awarded an OJJDP Drug Free Community Grant - $100,000 each year for 5 years for their Creative Communities Program. They will be partnering with the Pawtucket Substance Abuse Prevention Task Force.

CONGRATULATIONS RHODE ISLAND!!!


Huayucaltia performs at Estrada Courts!
September 19, 2003

On Friday September 19th, the Creative Communities site – Los Angeles Music and Art School (LAMAS) - presented a concert at Estrada Courts Public Housing Development by the professional musicians Huayucaltia. The concert was an educational experience with a spotlight on Latin American and World Music. This performance group performs workshops and assemblys for local public schools in Los Angeles County and introduces their audiences to world music and the instruments used to create different rhythmic patterns. The staff at LAMAS were excited that the children participating in their Creative Communities program got the opportunity to see professional musicians perform! For more information on LAMAS, please visit their website at www.lamusart.org


Creative Communities on the ROAD!!
September 17, 2003

National Guild staff members and Creative Communities site partners have actively participated in national and regional conferences to promote the Creative Communities model. Presentations for the Fall/Winter season include: Arts Education Partnership Meeting (September in New York City); Arts in Education Roundtable (October in New York City); National Guild Annual Conference (November in Chicago); and the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies Annual Meeting (December in Charleston, SC).


Lights on Afterschool! National Event
September 8, 2003

The National Guild of Community School of the Arts has signed on as a National Supporting Organization for Lights On Afterschool! the only nationwide event celebrating afterschool programs and their important role in the lives of children, families and communities. Afterschool programs keep kids safe, help working families and improve academic achievement. On October 9, more than 5,000 communities will rally for afterschool by participating in the fourth annual Lights On Afterschool!. The event will call attention to afterschool programs and the resources required to keep the lights on and the doors open. To find an event in your neighborhood and connect with other community organizations, visit Afterschool Alliance for a detailed listing!



LOOK OUT ICE CREAM TRUCK! Vermont Arts Exchange snags an ARTS BUS!
September 8, 2003

With less than 50,000 miles, Creative Communities site – Vermont Arts Exchange – has acquired a traveling studio – an ARTS BUS! The Arts Bus will be outfitted with work benches, storage shelves and a roof rack and the exterior will be painted by student-artists. The Arts Bus will travel to River Clean-up Festivals with Art making throughout New England and to the Applegate and Willowbrook public housing communities! Congratulations VAE!



NATIONAL GUILD to provide Technical Assistance for the NEA/DEPT. of LABOR’S Youth Opportunity (YO!) Arts Partnership
August 18, 2003

The National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts is pleased to announce a cooperative agreement with the National Endowment for the Arts to support the Youth Opportunity (YO!) Arts Partnership. This program is designed to introduce and enhance the quality of arts activities taking place within selected Youth Opportunity Community Centers funded by the U.S. Department of Labor. These community centers serve young people between the ages of 14 and 21 by providing them with a wide range of employment, training, educational, and supportive services intended to prepare them for long-term private-sector jobs. The eight YO! Partnership pilot sites that will receive strategic support from the National Guild are located in the following locations: Crossett, AR; Los Angeles, CA; San Diego, CA: Albany, GA; Kansas City, MO; Pine Ridge, SD; Memphis, TN; and Milwaukee, WI.

Specifically, the National Guild will:

  • Facilitate bi-monthly teleconferences that will provide leaders of the Arts Partnership site with an opportunity to share best practices, review lessons learned, and discuss how to handle challenges posed by the program.
  • Provide each site with a Community Arts Mentor from the National Guild’s leadership in the field.
  • Create a listserv for sites to share best practices and lessons learned and for the National Guild to notify sites about fund development and capacity building opportunities.
  • Enhance the visibility of the Arts Partnership through press releases, a web site presence, the National Guild’s newsletter, and presentations at national and regional conferences.
  • Facilitate a two day training institute in October 2003.
Click here for detailed information on the eight NEA/YO! Arts Partnership sites.


National Guild Annual Conference - Purse the Passion: Creativity, Connections, Change!


NOVEMBER 20-23,2003 - Chicago, IL

Join hundreds of individuals from community arts education organizations from across the country to explore critical issues, share best practices and gain insights from leading experts. School directors, program staff, trustees, faculty and community leaders will celebrate the artistic passions that drive them to ensure access to the arts. Chicago's exciting cultural community will be the living backdrop for inspiring keynote speakers, highly relevant workshops, socially rewarding networking events, and opportunities to explore how the creative process can rejuvenate community arts educators and their organizations!

CREATIVE COMMUNITIES will be represented with a half-day workshop at the ABLA public housing community which will include a tour, a performance and workshops led by the Chicago conference team of Merit School of Music, Chicago Housing Authority and the Duncan YMCA. There will also be a session focusing on Improving your Partnership: Best Practices from Creative Communities & Beyond. Click her for more information on the National Guild’s annual conference in Chicago!


National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts Plants Seeds of Sustainability for Innovative Creative Communities Partnerships at Santa Fe Institute!
June 15, 2003

The Creative Communities Training Institute, Sharing the Work, the Wisdom and the Spirit brought together more than 50 partners for workshops and trainings in Santa Fe, NM, from June 12-15. Michele Johnston from the Center for Civic Partnerships conducted an all-day Sustainability Toolkit workshop for the Creative Communities partners. In addition, this Institute marked the first time that practioners from the community arts education field were invited to participate in sessions on partnership building, advocacy, artist-teacher training, evaluation, and resident advisory councils.

The weekend also featured a dance performance by children and youth of the Creative Communities program at Pojoaque Pueblo Boys & Girls Club. Alfonso Wyatt, Vice President of the Fund for the City of New York closed out the Institute with an inspirational personal development training on Sustaining the Spirit that Serves.

Click here for a look at the Institute’s Final AGENDA!


Creative Communities: Best Practices to Date!
July 1, 2003

Among its other goals, evaluation of the Creative Communities Initiative, aims to identify best practices in the design, delivery and sustainability of arts learning programs and partnerships in public housing communities. Several best practices have been identified to date. Below is a summary of those initial findings, as presented at the Creative Communities Summer Training Institute: Sharing the Work, the Wisdom and the Spirit, held June 12-15, 2003 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. These "Best Practices" are based, in large part, on five site visits scheduled and completed in Spring 2003. More site visits and additional "Best Practices" will follow in the next phase of the Creative Communities evaluation.

Click here for the Creative Communities Best Practices report!


Kennedy Center Honors COCA with Induction into Prestigious Institute
February 28, 2003

St. Louis Creative Communities partner, Center Of Contemporary Arts (COCA) was one of only 12 arts organizations in the nation recently selected for induction into the John F. Kennedy Center For The Performing Arts Partners in Education Institute. COCA was honored in partnership with the School District of University City. The Institute promotes partnerships in communities across the nation between arts organizations and local schools, focusing on the development of education programs for teachers. Visit the Cummunity Sites page for more information on COCA's community arts education work!


The Artists Collective Finally Launches its Website - Hallelujah!
February 28, 2003

Creative Communities partner, The Artists Collective, Inc., one of Greater Hartford's premier cultural arts institutions, has launched its new website! The site features detailed information about The Artists Collective, including its history, current workshops and special events. Check it out at www.artistscollective.org!


New Orleans Ballet Association Receives 2002 Coming Up Taller Award
February 4, 2003

Congratulations to Creative Communities partner New Orleans Recreation Department/New Orleans Ballet Association which was one of 13 arts organizations to recently receive a 2002 Coming Up Taller Award for excellence in youth education from the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. Celebrating its 10th anniversary season, the NORD/NOBA Center for Dance will also receive $10,000 for the award that annually recognizes excellence in community-base, after school arts and humanities programs that demonstrate the power of these disciplines to encougrage young people's creativity. Click here to nominate an organization for a 2003 Coming Up Taller Award


Three Creative Communities Sites Receive MetLife Youth Music Project Grant
November 16, 2002

New York, NY – The National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts announced that MetLife Foundation has awarded a total of $100,000 to ten community schools for the arts to inaugurate the first year of the Guild’s three-year MetLife Youth Music Project.

The new, three-year MetLife Youth Music Project was developed in collaboration with MetLife Foundation. The program will make available free, private and group music instruction to middle school children from underserved areas in 10 cities. Instruction will be provided by artist/faculty on a weekly basis during non-school hours throughout the year. Each participating site is receiving a $10,000 to fund its activities. Grants will be renewable for an additional two years.

"Music is a common language shared by all cultures. Music education provides young people with opportunities to experience the arts that can benefit their emotional and overall development," said Sibyl Jacobson, President and CEO of MetLife Foundation. "We’re pleased to partner with the National Guild to launch this three-year program that will help develop a love of music for hundreds of young people."

The following Creative Communities sites were awarded the MetLife grant:

  • The Music School of the Rhode Island Philharmonic, Providence, RI
  • Los Angeles Music and Art School, Los Angeles, CA
  • Multicultural Education & Counseling through the Arts (MECA), Houston, TX


Creative Communities at National Guild Conference in Atlanta, GA
November 16, 2002

Several Creative Communities partners were in Atlanta to share their experiences and expertise with conference delegates. Dacia Alexander and Larry Free (Oklahoma City, OK), Emily Phillips and Ilene Harvey (Charleston, SC), and Ronald Walton and Jackie Stephens (Birmingham, AL) shared their best practices and lessons learned in the Critical Path to Empowering Partnerships session. Calvin Herst (Concord, NH), joined Ronald and Emily in the Developing Artist-Teachers for Community-based Arts Afterschool Programs session.

During her conference keynote address, Eileen Mason, Senior Deputy Chairman of the NEA, highlighted the Creative Communities work of the partnership between the Music School of the Rhode Island Philharmonic and Pawtucket Housing Authority. Mason depicted the empowering mentoring relationship between Consuelo Sherba, a member of the Rhode Island Philharmonic and Creative Communities instructor, and one of her students, Amanda DoCouto. Mason also added, “the potential impact of Creative Communities extends far beyond the twenty sites selected for the project. Communities around the country are beginning to view schools of the arts as community resource, and projects like Creative Communities are on the leading edge of a movement toward engaging citizens of all ages – but especially our children – in positive, creative environments.” Click here for a copy of Ms. Mason's remarks.


Creative Communities: Navigating the Ebb and Flow - Winter Training Institute, Charleston, SC, February 13-16, 2003
December 27, 2002

This weekend program will provide a forum for CC practitioners to share best practices and lessons learned in areas such as program sustainability, artist-teacher training and support strategies, partnership building and program evaluation. An exciting new feature to the Winter Training Institute is the Adolescent Artist Track, which will convene student leaders from the Creative Communities partnership sites for leadership training, community organizing and collective art-making workshops. Grammy-nominated Jazz flutist, Sherry Winston will conduct an all-day Saturday leadership development workshop for the Adolescent Artists. The Creative Spark Center for the Arts, the Housing Authority of the City of Charleston and the Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs are the host partners for the Training Institute.

Click here for the Charleston Institute Agenda.

Click here for the official Charleston Institute press release!



Seven Creative Communities Sites Receive $10,000 YouthArts Resource Initiative Grants from Americans For The Arts
January 2002

Seven of the thirteen Americans for the Arts’ Metropolitan Life Foundation YouthARTS Resource Initiative grants were recently awarded to Creative Communities sites. Americans for the Arts, through the YouthARTS Resource Initiative, has sought to broaden the impact, share information, and encourage the planning, implementation, and evaluation of arts programs for at-risk youth by working with its national partners in the arts and youth services communities. In the second year of funding for youth arts programs, the following Creative Communities sites received $10,000 grants to support their youth arts programming.

  • Artists Collective, Inc Hartford CT.
  • Dance Institute of Washington DC, Washington DC
  • Merit School of Music, Chicago, IL
  • Center of Contemporary Arts, St. Louis, MO
  • Nevada Ballet Theatre, Las Vegas, NV
  • Cleveland Public Theatre, Cleveland, OH
  • The Music School of the Rhode Island Philharmonic, Providence, RI


The Artists Collective Youth Perform at Arts Advocacy Day
March 11-12, 2002

Selected youth of The Artists Collective's Eclipse Choreographers and Youth Jazz Orchestra performed at the Congressional Arts Breakfast on Tuesday, March 12th as part of the Arts Advocacy Day festivities, sponsored by Americans for the Arts. "This will be a memorable experience for our students," said Dollie McLean, Executive Director of the Hartford-based community school of the arts.


Summer Training Institute, New Orleans, LA
June 27 - 30, 2002

The National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts is committed to ensuring that the Creative Communities promise continues beyond the three-year start-up phase. The theme of the 2002 Summer Training Institute is Sustaining the Vision and will focus on project sustainability strategies. The Institute will offer hands-on training in the areas of Marketing, Advocacy and Fund Development, and will allow attendees to share best practices and lessons learned. The New Orleans Ballet Association, the Center for the Urban Community at Tulane & Xavier Universities and New Orleans Recreation Development are the host organizations for the Creative Communities 2002 Summer Training Institute.

Click here for the New Orleans Institute press release.

Click here for images from the February, 2002 Winter Retreat in Houston, TX, From Theory to Practice: A Foundation for Future Success.