Dear Friends,
I am excited to share Variety the Children’s Charity of New York’s second volume of Making the Case: Transforming the Lives of Children Through the Arts. This year’s compendium of essays includes three unique and powerful case studies about how effective arts programming can fundamentally change the lives of some of our communities’ most vulnerable children.
At Variety New York we believe in supporting the most innovative and thoughtful transformative arts programs. As demonstrated by this year’s authors, Variety New York and our grantee partners understand that the arts are not an “add on” or merely a nice pastime in which youth should engage. Rather, the arts are an integral part of a young person’s development without which they lack the opportunities, experiences and exposure that can shape them as successful and personally fulfilled individuals.
We hope that the essays included in this publication offer insight not only into the importance of the arts, but into how their successful application can support unique and diverse populations of young people reach their fullest potential in life. This year, the three outstanding pieces include:
- Opening the Door: Identifying Challenges in Afterschool Programming for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, by Sarah E. Melone, Co-Founder & Executive Director of MarbleJam Kids with Nancy Dhulipala and Anna Villa-Bager
- Playing History: The Combination of Music, Social Justice, Aesthetic Reflection and Social Entrepreneurship, by Luis Mojica, Ed.D., Founder and Executive Director of Multicultural Music Group
- Beyond the Stage: An Integrative Arts-Based Model for Youth Development, by Bailey Huguley, Member Service Supervisor and Jadrien Ellison, Arts Supervisor at The Door
The three organizations represented here have identified game changing ways to do this work better. They have identified and addressed inequities in services for young people facing sever challenges , identified methods to use the arts and music to build cultural competencies, academic achievement and community awareness, and developed strategies to embed and leverage the arts as a tool to provide young people a set of holistic services to ensure their safety and success.
The work executed and documented by organizations like MarbleJam Kids, Multicultural Music Group and the Door as well as all of Variety New York’s grantees are fundamentally changing young people’s lives. We hope these pieces have inspired you to examine and grow your own practice supporting youth through the arts. Only by sharing and celebrating this kind of work can we make a stronger case for the arts to transform the lives of youth!
Best regards,
Jessica Bynoe
Executive Director
Click to download Making the Case: Transforming the Lives of Children Through the Arts, Vol. II.