Youth, Junior 6-8

MY OWN STORY is an autobiographical writing/storytelling/performing workshop for youth to creatively explore, write, and perform their own unique autobiographical life stories in the context of monologues, spoken word, and performance/theater. THREE LIVES is a one-man performance/theater show that tells the autobiographical tale of Alex Luu's escape from war-torn Saigon. The show is kinetic/comic/poignant, and addresses themes such as identity, assimilation, racism, and the multi-layers of the American Dream.

Aman Dance Educators present the Creative World Dance Curriculum, a unique program that teaches students dances from around the world and leads them through creative activities that expand their understanding of their bodies in action as tools for communication. Students will expand their knowledge in geography, history and culture, and gain skills in cooperation, coordination, creativity and rhythm. The curriculum includes dances from Europe, Asia, Africa and North America.

The Armory Center for the Arts builds on the power of art to transform lives and communities through creating, teaching, and presenting the arts. At the core of the Armory’s work is a deep commitment to social justice through arts education. A key goal of the Armory’s mission is to provide engaging, high-quality art classes and art experiences in the region’s lowest income neighborhoods in order to advance cultural equity. Over 80% of programming serves socioeconomically disadvantaged youth and families.

The award-winning CalArts Community Arts Partnership (CAP), a co-curricular program of the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), offers free, after-school and school-based arts programs for youth ages 6-18 in every discipline taught at CalArts. Programs are offered at public schools, community centers and social service agencies across Los Angeles County. With classes led by a teaching corps of accomplished CalArts faculty, alumni and student instructors, CAP participants learn to create original works of art and to experiment with prevailing conventions of artistic expression.

Create Now is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization that gives youth opportunities to find their voices through arts mentoring and education. We especially serve children ages 2-21 who have been abused, neglected, homeless, domestic violence victims, incarcerated, etc. by matching them with artists, writers, musicians, actors, dancers and others, including mentors who teach life skills. Create Now provides training and materials to implement therapeutic programs in music, writing, visual arts, performing arts, fashion and digital media at 100+ partner agencies, like shelters and group homes.

Dramatic Results is an award-winning nonprofit that makes learning real by engaging educators and learners through collaborative hands-on projects that impact the practice of education. Since 1992, the agency has delivered educational programming to historically excluded students using art, design, and culture as an entryway into STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) subjects. Over 32 years, the agency has served 35,000 students and empowered more than 450 classroom teachers.

Since 1999, the mission of FFM has been to train and educate today’s youth through musical theater as a means of inspiring creativity and the elevation of the human spirit, as well as an understanding of teamwork and collaboration. Incorporating cultural and historical context into each project, we seek to create a lifelong appreciation for the performing arts. These goals are made possible through tuition, ticket sales, donations and grants from LA County Arts Education Partnership Program and the California Arts Council.

Grand Vision Foundation (GVF) is a dynamic nonprofit arts organization dedicated to enriching San Pedro, the Los Angeles Harbor Area, and surrounding communities through live music, music education, and historic preservation. GVF drives community connections through two signature programs:

Inner-City Arts' mission is to engage young people in the creative process in order to shape a society of creative, confident and collaborative individuals. We provide arts classes and workshops for school-aged children, classroom teachers and school administrators. When budget cuts eliminated arts instruction from Los Angeles public schools in the late 1970s, it was up to local communities to fill the gap.

Los Angeles Arts Group (L.A. Arts Group) is committed to excellence in arts education and believes the arts are powerful tools for expression and communication and vital to the development of every child. Our goal is to provide high quality, standards-based arts education for grades K-12 in creative environment that promotes collaboration and respect. Our programs aim to engage students, teachers and the community to provide learning in and through the arts. L.A. Arts Group consists of trained and experienced professional artists in dance, music, theatre and visual arts.