Working with the most diverse network of community-based artists and facilitators, Community Works annually serves more than 100,000 public school students and community groups in New York City through four major programs:
THEATER CONNECTIONS brings the broadest array of affordable, multicultural performing arts events to 65,000 students a year (pre-K to 12th grade) by partnering with major art and cultural venues in neighborhoods around the City. Every year the most established artists and the best of emerging companies treat students and community residents to a dazzling spectrum of music, dance and theater performances that bring alive the beauty and richness of the arts.
COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS workshops bring CW mentors directly into schools and neighborhood centers to train young people in theater, dance, music and the literary and visual arts. Programs also focus on leadership development, peer mentoring and conflict resolution. Most programs have a strong literacy focus and culminate in a presentation to the local community. Our Making A Difference program celebrates diversity and promotes a strong understanding of community in youth through projects that honor local heroes, commemorate the multicultural history and traditions of our neighborhoods, and tell the stories of young people involved in making change.
THEATER-TO-GO is our touring program that brings performances to schools, museums and after-school programs. Theater-to-Go offers many of the events in the Theater Connections program for in-school and community performances, often on a smaller and more intimate scale. Community Works staff works individually with teachers, districts and community groups to determine their needs, to match these needs with artists/events offered, and to plan follow up and ancillary activities such as discussions with the artists, special study guides, and corresponding classroom activities.
PUBLIC ART are professionally-mounted multi-media exhibits from Making a Difference programs and other youth initiatives based on student writing and workshops, telling their story to the larger community. Exhibits tour City-wide to well-known venues as well as local schools and smaller sites. The Long Walk to Freedom, which honors local unsung heroes of the civil rights movement, is our model public art exhibition that grew out of a multilayer Making a Difference program.