City Hearts delivers free Arts Education to nearly 1,000 students annually in under-resourced Los Angeles County schools and communities. Our Teaching Artists lead hands-on classes in Acting, Guitar, Drawing, Photography, and Dance, encouraging creativity, improved school attendance, and emotional well-being while addressing inequities in Arts access. By inspiring artistic growth and exposing students to careers in the Arts, we empower young people to dream big despite socio-economic barriers.
Systemic inequities in Los Angeles County have led to severe disparities in Arts access, particularly in Title 1 schools serving low-income students of color. 90% of California schools fail to meet state-mandated Arts Ed standards, and schools with higher populations of English Language Learners, students of color, and low-income families are provided even less. With chronic absenteeism reaching 30% in some schools and a growing youth mental health crisis, holistic Arts access becomes essential.
By providing free access to safe spaces that open doors to creative possibilities K-12 students may not have initially imagined, our H.E.A.R.T. in the Arts Project, the Wilson 'n William High School Theatre Program, and field trips to cultural institutions provide high-quality experiences and mentorship from passionate Teaching Artists who model excellence, encourage artistic discipline, improve school attendance, and help students envision futures where they thrive personally and academically.
Students with Arts access are 5 times less likely to drop out of school and 4 times more likely to receive a bachelor's degree. Our pre-apprenticeships give low-income students and students of color paid training, mentorship, and career exposure while motivating academic success. Our Performing and Visual Arts programs boost social-emotional learning, self-expression, collaboration, and confidence while teaching valuable life skills and providing tools to envision and pursue creative futures.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
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