Art As Mentorship

Art as mentorship empowers young people, through music to write their own success stories Art as Mentorship is a Kansas City-based non-profit organization that takes an innovative approach to fully grasp young students' full potential through music programs. We envision an inclusive community where under-represented artists are emboldened to raise their voices through music. We believe the future will be made brighter by enabling the healing qualities of music to unite us and serve as a vehicle for social change. Our team is made up of musicians, creatives and industry professionals who strive to lift the voices of our students. We provide our students with consistent support to propel themselves through self-discovery, emotional intelligence and the freedom of creativity. In our programs, we give students the chance to learn and grow from music industry mentors, many of whom are world-class, GRAMMY Award-winning professionals. We work to transform young artists through access to world-class mentorship, real-world skill development and mental health support. We give students access to resources and equipment they wouldn't have otherwise to lift their voices and write their own stories. Programs include; Rebel Song Academy - The Rebel Song Academy is at the heart of our programming. Our flagship 12-week music camp takes an innovative approach to exploring young artists' full potential through creativity, mentorship opportunities, and fostering their inherent sense of exploration and achievement. Students work directly with industry-professional mentors to write, record, publish, and perform an original song. RSA Live! In 2020, we launched RSA Live!, the supplemental sister program of our Rebel Song Academy. Operating in tandem with RSA, we give students/alumni real world opportunities to perform their music and events including Crossroads Music Fest, Plaza Art Fair, and many more! We also connect students virtually with nationally-renown mentors to work directly with young artists of all backgrounds, empowering them, through music, to write their own success stories. Our industry-professional mentors work directly with students and answer questions in our virtual chat room. Camp - The Rebel Song Academy's Ignition Camp is our week-long songwriting bootcamp to find and ignite the creative spark within students! This camp appeals to a wide range of young artists - from seasoned musicians looking to enhance their songwriting skills, to those that have never picked up an instrument but love music. Students band together to create original songs and perform them at our Youth Summer Concert AMERI'KANA - AMERI'KANA is a collaborative project between Art as Mentorship and Making Movies that explores America's music- both past and present. This event highlights the contributions of Black, Indigenous, and people of color and how interwoven these individuals are in all of America's stories through this musical festival in Kansas City. AMERI'KANA gives our students resources to learn about the origins of American music as well as performance opportunities at Celebrate AMERI'KANA Music and Arts Festival. 2023 Highlights included over 500 students served. Celebrated AMERI'KANA Music & Arts Festival, a multi-cultural festival, that transitioned to a free festival. In 2023, 2,660 hours of mentorship were provided to young people thought the Kanas City Metro. 7 Rebel Song Academy Programs serving 105 young artists, 40 songs recorded at THE LAB, 7 live performances by RSA Alumni powered by Art as Mentorship Produced first annual Spread Hope event, attended by 400. We also produced first annual Spread Hope event, attended by 400. Celebrate AMERI'KANA 2023 charts include 1,500 attendees. In the spring our students were 31% hispanic/latino, 32% white, 26% black, 6% asian and 5% other.