Armory Center for the Arts

Armory Center for the Arts will expand its Community Pathways initiative, which provides year-round free afterschool arts programming to underserved youth, teens, young adults, and families in nearby low-income neighborhoods. The proposed program expansion will deepen the museum's work with in-crisis youth by adding four additional partner sites, building capacity through targeted professional development training, and refining evaluation tools to assess program effectiveness. The project will serve at least 6,000 youth, teens, and families each year with at least 70 sequential courses and 30 one-day workshops totaling more than 1,000 hours of programming. The project aims to build participants' core competency in 21st-century learning skills; help students experience positive engagement with their community through the arts; inspire youth who face significant challenges through arts opportunities and experiences; and help students discover their artistic voice and develop their creativity.