An Introduction to City Lore Education Programs

Education Programs

Education is core to City Lore’s mission of advancing cultural equity. We bring a uniquely cultural and decolonial lens to arts education by centering culturally-rooted arts, including folk and traditional art practitioners, in meaningful ways that connect to young people’s own heritages, identities, experiences, and communities. We aim to bridge the gap between students’ school and home lives by inviting young people to investigate their neighborhoods, families, cultural traditions, and histories and to utilize this firsthand research in their art-making. Our programs draw on the rich cultural traditions and resources of the city’s many neighborhoods, and ethnic, linguistic, and artistic communities to support learning in the arts. We collaborate with traditional and folk artists, as well as contemporary artists whose work explores the themes of personal and community history and identity. 

The Latest in City Lore Education News

A collaborative assembly performance to start the 2023-2024 school year

A very special combined assembly performance kicked-off our latest school year at P.S. 69 in Jackson Heights! Malini Srinivasan & Friends was joined by Kamate Traders on early October for an exciting and new collaboration featuring music and dance from India and drumming and dance from Africa. Take a look at some photos and videos of their exhilarating performance! 
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“Parampara: Lines of Transmission in the Traditional Arts” Exhibit Opening 

On May 25th, 2023 we came together for the opening reception of “Parampara: Lines of Transmission in the Traditional Arts,” with a special performance by Sidiki Conde featuring the Saide (Lamb Mask). This mask is featured in the exhibit, along with videos, objects, artwork, photographs and the incredible stories of ten artists who learned their art informally, in family and community settings, or in mentor and apprentice relationships: Amino Belyamani, Aurelia Fernández, Haifa Bint-Kadi, Hector Morales, Malini Srinivasan, N’Ketiah Brakohiapa, Potri Ranka Manis, Rokafella, Sidiki Conde, and Quraishi.
 
The exhibit was on view through September, 2023. Browse the digital exhibit Coming Soon!
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Summer Rising 2021

This summer, as part of our Summer Rising program, students from P.S./M.S. 200 explored Afro-Cuban Folkloric Traditions. The 6-week intensive program culminated with group singing, dance, and percussion performances led by teaching artists Melvis Santa, Hector Morales, and Rafael Monteagudo. 

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We design in-school and after school programs, field trips, assembly performances, family engagement programs, and professional development workshops for artists and educators. We offer arts education in Dance & Movement, Filmmaking & Editing, Music, Songwriting & Music Production, Poetry & Literary Arts, Theater, Visual Arts, and Interdisciplinary Arts.
City Lore is unique in drawing on the rich cultural traditions of the city’s many communities to support learning in the arts through themes of community, identity, and history. Core to our approach is using the arts to make connections between young people’s home, school, and community lives.
City Lore’s arts education community is comprised of dedicated staff from the fields of arts, education, and folklore; phenomenal teaching artists who are committed to both young people’s and their own artistic growth; educators and school staff who recognize that arts are vital to education; and our community of young people and their families eager to explore the arts, make meaningful connections, share their wisdom.