The 2023 summer program was full of highlights. The change of focus to a more mentor-based program was successful and meaningful, where ambitious projects led to outstanding results. Collaborative projects brought exceptional experiences for our budding artists, while our special guest artists played an important role for others.  At the Lorge School, Art for Progress purchased musical instruments that will bring a renewed music program this fall.  There’s one thing that remains clear and present in the work that we do.

Access to the arts, music, and creative outlets for young people could not be more important than it is right now.  Everyone at Art for progress is very proud of what’s been achieved over the last 6 years, and its bittersweet knowing that next year will be our last year.

We set out in May with an ambitious goal of finding students across NYC who could benefit the most from our summer program. We brought posters and flyers to art, music, and fashion schools in the boroughs, hoping to connect with students who were willing to spend some of their precious time off in the summer with us. With the help of many people at the schools, we got a nice response, and ultimately an amazing group of students.

The visual arts and music instruction program took place in midtown Manhattan, while the fashion design program was held at designer Gabriel Bullion’s studio in Brooklyn. AFP’s music production program was hosted by Ze Luis Oliveira at his studio in Queens.

One of the main objectives for the 6-week program was to work closely with the students to develop projects that would help them move forward in achieving their goals. Our mentors spent time with each student to learn how we could help support them in their artistic journey.  From the feedback we received from our students, we believe this approach was a success.

Some highlights include: a collaboration- students from the music program recorded guitar and bass in the studio (session musicians) on the music production student’s songs, students in the fashion program created their own brands and designed clothing using innovative printing and technology to complete their projects, the visual art students had the opportunity to work with artist Michael Alan on a special project, and we purchased musical instruments to help revive the music program at The Lorge School.

Overall, we had the opportunity to work with some students from the previous summer, and a new group of wonderful students who were excited and eager to learn. It was sad that our program ended for the summer, but we have a feeling we will see many of our students again next year.