Living Arts

Out-of-school Arts (osa) offerings provide sequential, standards-based Arts education and instruction for pre-k to teenage youth alongside youth development strategies that increase leadership, self-efficacy, and other capacities that support success in school and beyond. Osa programs operate six days a week, 37 weeks a year at the ford resource & engagement center and include more than 60 summer andafter-school class options in the performing, visual, literary, and media Arts. Osa targets youth and families in southwest detroit and served nearly 200 youth (94% of whom were youth of color) and caregivers in 2021-22. More than 91% of participants received full or partial forbearance of enrollment fees and no osa student was turned away due to an inability to afford classes.

In-school Arts (isa) artist-in-residence programs bring teaching artists to k-12 detroit area schools to engage students in fine Arts and arts-infused instruction that boosts Arts skills and academic achievement in core curriculum subjects. Fine Arts residencies deliver Arts instruction that immerse students in painting, drawing, sculpture, dance, theater, creative writing and poetry, vocal and instrumental music, or digital media artsactivities that are not available in one-half of detroit schools. The balance of residencies integrate Arts lessons with english language Arts, social studies, or math and science to directly support academic performance. In 2021-22, isa residencies reached more than 600 students in 28 classrooms in detroit public and charter schools.

Detroit wolf trap (dwt) delivers pre-k performing Arts based residencies in head start classrooms that have been proven to boost kindergarten readiness and help teachers acquire arts-learning instructional strategies. In addition to the professional mentorship and coaching educators receive through their residencies;they (and other teachers in their centers) are supported with professional development workshops. Head start family members are connected to their childrens classroom experiences through family workshops that coach them in ways they can support their childrens development at home. In addition, dwt spanish/english bilingual family involvement programs at the ford resource and engagement center(frec) engage parents, caregivers, and young children together in fun performingarts-based activities that help infants and young children acquire thesocial-emotional and emergent literacy skills they will need to succeed in school--in ways that are fun, lively, and encourage bonding. In the most recently completed program year, dwt reached more than 360 young children, 50 caregivers/parents, and 125 early childhood educators in detroit and metro detroit.