The President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities and its cultural partners – the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services – are proud to recognize 50 outstanding programs in the field of Creative Youth Development across the country for their work in providing excellent arts and humanities learning opportunities to young people. From big cities to small towns, the 2017 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award Finalists reflect the diversity of disciplines and settings of these exceptional creative youth development programs that are taking place from coast to coast.
ADAPT (A Dream and A Plan for Tomorrow), Each One Reach One, Inc., South San Francisco, CA
Afterschool Arts Outreach, Norton Museum of Art, Inc., West Palm Beach, FL
Art Expression, Inc., Pittsburgh, PA
Art Literacy Program, Monterey County Free Libraries, Castroville, CA
Arts, Character & Education (ACE) Program, Quality Life Center of Southwest Florida, Inc., Fort Myers, FL
ARTSpace, Lawrence Arts Center, Inc., Lawrence, KS
Atlanta Music Project, Atlanta, GA
Brick City Theatre, Cleveland Public Theatre, Inc., Cleveland, OH
Brick x Brick, Jorge M. Pérez Art Museum of Miami-Dade County, Inc., Miami, FL
Carpe Diem Academy – Mercyhurst University, Mercyhurst University, Erie, PA
Central Music Academy, Inc., Lexington, KY
Codman Academy Summer Shakespeare Institute, Huntington Theatre Company, Inc., Boston, MA
College Preparatory Program, Phoenix Conservatory of Music, Phoenix, AZ
Confident Voices, SAY: The Stuttering Association for the Young, New York, NY
Cool Classics!, Cool Classics, Inc., Chicago, IL
Creative Readers, Port Washington Public Library, Port Washington, NY
Design Your (Neighbor)hood, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA
Destiny Arts Youth Performance Company (DAYPC), Destiny Arts Center, Oakland, CA
Flynn Arts, Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, Burlington, VT
Inclusive Weekend Program, Children’s Museum of the Arts, New York, NY
INTAKE Native Instrument Academy, INTAKE Organization, Stamford, CT
Iroquois Library English Conversation Club & Cultural Programs, The Louisville Free Public Library Foundation, Inc., Louisville, KY
Kalamazoo Kids In Tune, Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, Kalamazoo, MI
Kent Bellows Mentoring Program, Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, NE
Kidznotes, Inc., Durham, NC
MAPS Media Institute, The Irwin and Florence Rosten Foundation, Inc., Hamilton, MT
Mas Camp: Carnival Costumes From Hartford’s West Indian Community, Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, CT
Minnesota Children’s Museum, Saint Paul, MN
Music Haven, New Haven, CT
New Bedford Whaling Museum High School Apprenticeship Program, Old Dartmouth Historical Society, New Bedford, MA
Newark Museum Explorers Program, Newark Museum Association, Newark, NJ
Phoenix Rising Creative Youth Empowerment Program, Art from Ashes, Inc., Denver, CO
Pistarckle Theater Performing Arts Youth Program, Pistarckle Theater, Inc., St. Thomas, VI
Preserving Our Southern Appalachian Musicians, Preserving Our Southern Appalachian Music, Inc., Pickens, SC
RAISE (Responding to Art Involves Self Expression), Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA
Rejoice School of Ballet, Nashville, TN
Sankofa African Drummers and Dancers, Inner City Cultural League, Inc., Dover, DE
Shakespeare Inside and Out, Actors’ Shakespeare Project, Somerville, MA
Soul of the City, Humanities Council of Washington, DC
Summer Performing Arts Company, Grand Forks Public Schools, Grand Forks, ND
Talent Development Program of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Robert W. Woodruff Arts Center, Inc., Atlanta, GA
Teen Creative Agency, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL
Teen Innovators at BLDG 92, Brooklyn Historical Society, Brooklyn, NY
The Baltimore Speaks Out Program, Wide Angle Youth Media, Baltimore, MD
The Fellows Program – The Frick Collection Project, Ghetto Film School, Inc., Bronx, NY
The KID Show, Creede Repertory Theatre, Inc., Creede, CO
The Penguin Project Foundation, Inc., Peoria, IL
The Possibility Project Foster Care Program, Cities at Peace, Inc., New York, NY
The Red Kite Project, Chicago Children’s Theatre, Chicago, IL
Zula B. Wylie Public Library Youthtellers, Zula B. Wylie Public Library, Cedar Hill, TX
IMAGE: 2016 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Awardees. Left: St. Louis ArtWorks, St. Louis, MO. Photo: Vicki Kahn. Right: Screen It!, Mexic-Arte Museum, Austin, TX, Photo: Olivia Tamzarian.