ARTS-Us
Background and Purpose
ARTS-Us has delivered professional African Diaspora-based and multicultural, educational and entertainment presentations, exhibits and training in Twin Cities K-12 schools, community organizations, university, business, and government settings since its beginnings in 1992.
The mission of ARTS-Us is to develop young leaders, in and through the arts, by means of the following goals: 1) provide high quality African Diaspora arts programs for youth to help them develop knowledge and skills in the arts; 2) work with artists and educators to infuse arts and culture into classroom curricula and to encourage increased student of color participation and achievement in learning; and 3) engage the broad community to promote and celebrate the growth, achievement and leadership in youth of color - in and through the arts.
Over the agency’s sixteen-year history, approximately 7,000 young people and 700 adults (including over 300 teachers) have participated in ARTS-Us programs. Its target audiences are youth ages 7 through 25 - primarily African American - and the adults who parent, educate, advise, mentor and counsel them.
Located in St. Paul, ARTS-Us mainly serves youth from the Summit-University, Thomas-Dale and Frogtown neighborhoods. Currently, there is an interim executive director. The agency plans to hire a permanent director by February 2009.
Current Request
Up until June of 2008, ARTS-Us worked out of an office and held their programs in various sites including Concordia University and the Family Community Resource Center on Selby Avenue. This past summer the organization signed a five-year contract with the Saint Paul Parks and Recreation Department to use the Dunning Recreation Center building as their headquarters. They agreed to provide programming for youth in exchange for a rent-free contract.
The organization is also responsible for building expenses like maintenance. The space offers a large community room, a dance studio, and several smaller classroom/meeting spaces. Their goal is to increase the number of youth they serve from around 70 annually to more than 200 and to increase their audience from approximately 1,000 per year to 3,000 community members. They are requesting support from The Saint Paul Foundation to help them transition into this new building to meet the community needs for more youth programming.