I had the great pleasure and fortune for the second year in a row to host and to teach at the Art for Progress Summer Music and Art Program. The program was made possible by a grant from the Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation, and was open to young people seeking to pursue careers in creative fields. Music and art were made, and a great and enlightening time was had by all this summer. The program consisted of workshops held on four consecutive Sundays in July and August. For each week’s session, we created a unique, interactive space where creativity seemed to be seeping from the walls. Curiosity was inspired and mysteries demystified. Each week featured a professional guest artist in a different creative discipline. Our guest artists shared with us the experiences they each encountered on their journey toward becoming a fully realized professional artist.

The focus of the of the program, in addition to developing specific skills, was once again centered on questions and situations that a professional artist might encounter. The kind, for instance, that might not be intuitive or often addressed in traditional academic settings. Basically, the stuff they don’t tell you in school. We discussed finding your audience, vetting creative ideas, being band-mates as well as friends, and checking your attitude. There were also break out music sessions on topics including electric guitar tone, taught by returning teacher’s aide Franklin Santiago; songwriting, taught by Jason McFarlane, also a returning teacher’s aide and a host of other topics relevant to gigging musicians. For two of the sessions, Jerrell Battle taught digital music production, which was a huge hit. His setup included several different playing surfaces which made it possible for four or five people to jam together on keyboards and beat pads. The music that was being spontaneously created, mostly by people who had never met before, was unreal! It was like we were the hottest club in town on a Sunday afternoon! Jerrell’s sessions were in the same room as Paula Walters Parker’s visual art portion of the program, which is always about incorporating the setting and sound and movement into the art-making process. This created a very cool symbiosis in the room. That symbiosis is inherent to Paula’s approach and was just as fluid and inspiring when the room was animated by guest dancers/models. On top of all this creative interchange, our very special group of guest artists were so gracious to visit us this summer and to give us a window into their lives.

For this year’s inaugural session, we were joined by drummer and philanthropist Billy Martin, who encouraged us to find our own paths to excellence and mastery. His opening “speech,” on pandeiro (a type of Brazilian tambourine), had the whole group engaged and inspired. The piece was a fantastic demonstration of how many different sounds and musical ideas can be articulated on even the smallest, most unassuming instrument. Billy talked to us about finding his way as an artist, and about how he was able to carve a unique path to success by staying true to his own sensibilities.

The following week’s guest artist was jazz bassist Dezron Douglas, who improvised a solo version of the “Game of Thrones” theme. He then invited students to jam with him. He even passed his beautiful upright bass to teaching aide Jason McFarlane. Dezron told us stories of his time coming up in the NYC jazz scene and emphasized the importance of playing as many styles of music as possible in order to always be ready to play what is appropriate for any gig.

For the third workshop of this summer’s program, we welcomed visual and performance artist Michael Alan who shared stories with the group about the unorthodox path he followed toward notoriety as an artist. He shared some beautiful work from his prolific career, and encouraged us to look for opportunities everywhere and most of all to word hard and create work no matter what.

This philosophy was mirrored by our fourth and final guest, photographer Kymbreli Francis, aka Handsome Cupcakes, who explained to us how her career grew organically from her noticing and chronicling the style and flavor of her group of friends through photography. She showed us how her work evolved as her setting changed and as her skills developed. From there, we learned about the nuts and bolts of her technical process.

Being exposed to the natural progression of work these artists shared with us, it is clear how each of their unique creative voices has always been the driving force behind their efforts, and has continued to become more refined and pronounced over time.

AFP wrapped up the summer with a fantastic rooftop party, “Labor Of Love,” at The Crown, Bowery 50 Hotel. The band 5!Alive performed which features a member of our summer staff, Franklin Santiago. Gatto, among others, rocked the proverbial decks with energetic DJ sets as we watched the summer end over the glimmering city around us.

As the new school year begins, we are proud to announce a new music program at Harvest Collegiate High School. AFP is providing three guitar classes each day. We have also reinstated a visual arts program at Landmark High School, which provides four visual art classes a day. Our Forsyth High School visual arts program is also going strong. Our music program at Humanities Preparatory Academy is entering it’s eighth year, and we are currently gathering funding to implement a campus wide after school music program at the Bayard Rustin Educational Complex. the complex houses six schools. We aim to provide three days per week of after school programs focusing one day each on vocal work, instrument lessons, and digital music production.

We look forward to the year ahead, and to meeting new opportunities to serve New York City’s public high school students with much needed music and arts programming.

-Barry Komitor – AFP Arts Education Program Manager