Demonstration Programs

Mental Health

Learning & Literacy

Financial Literacy

Summer Learning

Compassion Consortium

Afterschool Learning Labs

Previous Projects

Cultural Partnerships

Youth-led Community Service

Cultural Partnership for Youth

PASE’s innovative Cultural Partnerships for Youth (CPY) program utilizes an inquiry-based learning framework to link at-risk middle school youth with exemplary arts organizations and afterschool arts education experiences. Each CPY program involves coordination with a partner cultural institution, community exploration to gather source materials for arts projects, and a culminating event open to families, teachers, peers, and other community members.

Goals of the program include:

  • Foster enjoyment of learning through project-based arts education activities, re-connecting at-risk students with their schools and encouraging them to engage in their communities.
  • Promote verbal problem solving and communication skills among youth as a conflict resolution and school readiness strategy.
  • Foster parent involvement in the schools through art performances by and for their children.

Participating Cultural Institutions and Schools:Current CPY programs are running at IS 192 in St. Alban’s, Queens, and the John Jay complex (Secondary Schools for Law, Journalism, and Research) in Brooklyn. Cultural partners for these programs include the Queens Museum of Art, Queens Public Library, Black Spectrum Theater, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn Library, and BedStuy Restoration Project.

Funder: U.S. Department of Education.

Youth Arts Career Guide: PASE has developed The New York City Arts Career Guide for Youth, a fun, visually dynamic, user-friendly guide publication with two sections outlining:

  • A diverse selection of creative careers (both fine and commercial arts - Music, Visual, Theater, Dance, TV, Film, Media, Design); what activities you do; how you prepare to get there; how you can advance and move laterally; how you collaborate with others; and what artistic, academic and personal skills are needed.

  • A list of arts institutions/programs in New York City that help youth explore and prepare for careers, including cultural institutions, pre-college programs, schools, professional associations, scholarship programs, arts organizations and diversity organizations such as the Organization of Black Designers (OBD) and the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA), to name a few.

Funders: Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation.

Previous Cultural Partnerships for Youth

The Sidewalk Arts Initiative demonstrates the tremendous impact of an arts related youth development program in afterschool hours with young people, ages 10-14. Master artists engage youth in hands-on arts activities, while experts in adolescent youth development lead “personal development” sessions. Sidewalk promotes creativity and self-expression while providing assistance to young teens in handling the pressures, challenges and successes of life. These life skills are essential in making positive, healthy choices and avoiding early involvement in risky behaviors.

The program has, indeed, become a successful, replicable model for a dynamic youth development-focused arts program, and has been expanded beyond its original sites.

Funders: Philip Morris USA - Youth Smoking Prevention, SI Bank and Trust Foundation, and Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.

Arts Career Expo
For New York City young people ages 10-18, the Arts Career Expo raises awareness about creative professions and connects them to citywide programs and resources, in an effort to prepare them for careers in the arts. At the Arts Career Expo, young people hear from a panel of creative professionals, attend hands-on arts workshops, and receive materials about free programs. The 2003 Expo generated incredible excitement from all stakeholders, including youth, parents, CBO staff, arts institution staff, and arts professionals. In order to respond to this demand and maximize on the enthusiasm, planning is underway to offer more borough-based Expos in 2004.

Funders: Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts.