ARTS IGNITE NEWCOMER YOUTH SUMMER ACADEMY

In how many languages can you say “fun?!”

For five weeks this summer, Arts Ignite, an international arts education organization based in NYC, will be doing just that at the Newcomer Youth Summer Academy with over 100 newcomer youth from around the world.

Since 2010, Arts Ignite (formerly ASTEP) has partnered with the International Rescue Committee’s Newcomer Youth Summer Academy (NYSA) to provide creative arts programming, including visual arts, storytelling, music, and dance classes for recently resettled youth across all five boroughs. Meeting the city’s growing need to provide services for young people impacted by immigration status, including refugees, asylum seekers and asylees, unaccompanied minors, and other youth who have arrived to the city within the past two years or less, NYSA provides a comprehensive summer experience for students that is culturally responsive, trauma-informed, and linguistically supportive as students prepare to enter the NYC public school system. The Summer 2022 session, the 13th iteration of this beloved program with Arts Ignite, was a jampacked, five-week exploration of the arts that served 105 recently resettled students aged 4-21 from 24 countries, speaking 23 languages and the Arts Ignite and IRC planning teams are currently gearing up for an even bigger 2023.

As a global organization committed to serving all young people and ensuring access to arts-rich education, Arts Ignite employs skilled Teaching Artists to provide arts educational experiences for youth who would otherwise not have access. Founded in 2006 by Broadway music director, Mary-Mitchell Campbell, Arts Ignite has served over 25,000 youth both domestically and around the world on four different continents with the aim to not necessarily train young people to be artists, but to think like one. With the mission to “develop agency in young people through the arts,” this past year, a team of twelve Arts Ignite teachers and staff members collaborated to cultivate a NYSA program focused on personal growth, cultural adjustment, and education.

Arts Ignite programming at the Newcomer Youth Summer Academy provides students with a full itinerary of new experiences formulated to build community and support transition through classes, field trips, talent shows, concerts, and a culminating graduation show. 2022 marked the return to in-person programming after a long hiatus due to the COVID shutdown and, as such, the Arts Ignite team was able to organize and facilitate special community events and field trips. From taking in the magic of a first Broadway show at The Music Man to sharing their special skills and qualities in the “I Am Unique” Talent Show, students were able to experience new things and cultivate a sense of community, self, and pride. With multiple musical concerts, an experiential arts games fair on Governors Island, and collaborative art-making projects, Arts Ignite provided a diverse array of programming with aims to engage and strengthen students’ artistic and social emotional learning. Throughout the summer, Arts Ignite’s classes celebrated the young people’s strengths and built up their unique areas for growth. As a studentnominated class speaker, Jorge said at the graduation ceremony, “Look and see how much we’ve grown.”

As the world changes, the NYSA program constantly adapts to meet evolving student needs. Artistic self-expression can empower all young people to connect with others, strive for academic excellence, and imagine new possibilities and the Arts Ignite team has seen first hand just how powerful participation in the arts can be across realms, from English language learning to emotion regulation, and from relationship building to self-esteem. “NYSA continues to be one of my favorite programs at Arts Ignite,” shared Arts Ignite Deputy Executive Director for Programs and Operations, Lindsay Roberts Greene. “Last year was particularly fascinating as we saw world events directly mirror the increase of students enrolled from both Ukraine and Russia, nationalities that usually don’t have such a high presence at NYSA. Our teaching artists had the unique opportunity to explore community building through creativity with students whose home countries were literally at war. We constantly asked ourselves how dance or visual art, how creating together and building together, could bring these young people closer, form lasting connections, and hopefully impact our next generation towards peace, kindness, and empathy and you know what? Watching the students unite through dance and play as the summer unfolded- I think we achieved some positive impact moving forward.” This feeling was echoed at the culmination of NYSA this past year, a parent shared, “After leaving Ukraine, [my child] was very stressed. I can see a 100% positive change in her attitude and behavior. Thanks to this program, she has been able to meet new friends and be open to other people again.”

Arts Ignite seeks to develop agency in young people through the arts by using evidence-based programming to foster three core educational values: creative capacity, community, and courage. At NYSA this past year, these values were integrated into a central theme: C.A.R.E. (Creativity, Accountability, Respect, and Empathy). By offering artistic activities and creative exercises that flexed students’ C.A.R.E. muscles, Arts Ignite equipped students with the skills they need to be their best versions of themselves as they build new lives in the United States.

At NYSA and beyond, Arts Ignite prides itself on cultivating brave spaces where young people can develop agency, build critical life skills, and experience the joy of creative expression. In their work with NYSA, the team prioritizes arts programming that mindfully addresses any gaps in academic or social development that recently resettled young people may experience (e.g., being away from a classroom setting for a period of time).

In striving to bring the life-changing capabilities of the arts to young people everywhere, Arts Ignite offers a range of community-oriented programming with proven impact. In addition to NYSA, this year Arts Ignite will launch a pilot program in Uganda with Columbia University to support creative strategies in refugee education, serve youth and mothers impacted by HIV/AIDS and gender-based violence through a theater camp in Johannesburg, South Africa, uplift arts integration for emerging multilingual learners in Waterloo, Iowa, and Homestead, Florida, and continue to work with youth across New York City schools and public programs to ensure that regardless of a young person’s circumstance (underfunded arts programs, periods of homelessness, juvenile incarceration, or any other systemic issue and its effects), young people will have access to arts education and creative tools that that they need to thrive.

To support the work of Arts Ignite and to learn more about their programming, please visit artsignite.org *