Council Member Eric Dinowitz led a March 30 celebration of the arts at P.S. 16 in Wakefield, where new funding will help secure music, dance and other creative opportunities for students.
Through an initiative called Support for Arts Instruction, 210 schools citywide were each awarded $18,809 to bring music, theater, visual art, materials, field trips and arts-related staff development into public schools within every council district.
Students at P.S. 16 now join more than 40,000 others citywide who benefit from the funding, according to Kimberly Olsen, executive director of the New York City Arts in Education Roundtable.
At the event, which kicked off with a student performance on African drums, Olsen said the arts are “a lifeline” for young people and are linked to increased attendance and graduation rates, stronger academic performance and improved mental health.
Support for Arts Instruction has already brought more than 150 cultural groups and artists into schools, and Olsen said the program should expand even more.
“Building pathways in the arts is a way of building pathways for student success,” she said.
First and second graders showed off their drum and dance skills, led by instructor Euphraise Yobo, and Dinowitz, who chairs the council’s education committee, was awarded a jaket in P.S. 16 school colors, blue and white.
Dinowitz spoke to the “inherent value” of the arts and his own love of performance, which helped him overcome extreme shyness.
Though he had to be “kicked and pushed onstage” as a child, he said were it not for arts education, he might never have found his voice and become an elected official.
“The arts help us discover who we are. They help us as a society, as a community, tell other people who we are,” Dinowitz said.
He told the students that the council allocated $4.05 million last year to keep arts in the schools and vowed that those in power would “do everything we can as grown-ups to make sure that you continue to love school.”
Judith Insell, executive director of the Bronx Arts Ensemble, also pledged that the organization, which has worked at P.S. 16 for the past 15 years, will remain “forever implanted” in the school community.
But beyond school hours, Insell said she also hopes the young students will take advantage of the ensemble’s free and low-cost live performances throughout every council district. Bronx residents can see music, theater, dance and more at venues such as the University of Mount Saint Vincent and Fordham University, Van Cortlandt Park, even the Bay Plaza Mall, she said.
Instilling a love of the creative arts — and ensuring they are accessible to all — is the ensemble’s mission, Insell said. “We are dedicated to the next generation of artists, audiences and creative thinkers.”
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!
