Black Artist as Activist - Youth Arts Workshops

Online, September 1, 2009 (Newswire.com) - New York, NY - The Center for Black Literature in association with Rush Philanthropic, the National Conference of Artists and Theatre for the Free People present the Black Artist as Activist, Youth Arts Program. As a component of this program, The Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College (CUNY) will offer FREE arts workshops to youth ages 16 - 25 which focus on issues of social justice and peace. The writing, performance, and visual art workshops will be presented at various locations throughout Brooklyn and Manhattan starting Fall 2009. Registration is available online at www.theatreforthefreepeople.com

Founded in 2003, the Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College was established to expand, broaden, and enrich the public's knowledge and aesthetic appreciation of the value of black literature. The Black Artist as Activist and Transformative Agent program will offer a series of public programs and artists' workshops that provide student, emerging and established writers, performers, and visual artists with venues and cultural spaces to compose, perform, depict and exhibit their art. The program also will examine the ways in which these artists use art to transform their lives and the larger global community.

The Youth Arts Program allows for an opportunity for students and emerging artists to study with established artists in an environment which offers creative support and encouragement. The project specifically targets urban Black and Latino artists and youth, groups who are underrepresented in cultural arts projects and institutions, in an effort to stimulate their creativity and imagination. The workshops will offer youth the avenues for building self-esteem, reflecting on societal problems and solutions, promoting civic engagement, building community and improving their overall personal and academic success.
By providing a comprehensive and integrated approach to supporting and exploring the role of the Black artist as activist, the components of this program are designed to build a sense of artistic community. Partners for the project are Danny Simmons' Corridor Gallery, a community-based gallery serving Brooklyn artists and residents and the National Conference of Artists NY, whose mission to preserve, promote and develop African American culture and artists. Support is also provided by Brotherhood-Sister Sol, a Harlem based organization which provides support and resources to Black and Latino youth, and Theatre for the Free People which is dedicated to using the arts as a vehicle for social change.