Arts@Urban Academy '23 (We did it! But pls go on!)

The Arts at Urban Academy are crucial to our school. The arts are such an important way for students to engage in school, to reflect on their worlds and to pursue their passions. For many students our arts classes are their motivation to get up and travel to school every day.

We want students to create art, critique each other's art, and visit art all around the city. Our students paint, sketch, design stage sets, write plays that professional actors perform, put on a musical, take photographs, work in the dark room, and manipulate images digitally.

They also write, shoot and edit their own films, write poetry, sing together and solo, and train as actors. To challenge their ideas, we take them to galleries, museums, installations, plays and musicals.

For many of our students transferring from other high schools, the strength of our arts program is a thrilling surprise. Often they have had little chance to explore their creative talents. The art courses at Urban Academy have re-engaged many students not only as artists, but as students as well.

We need to keep buying paint, canvas, film, photo paper, cameras, sketch books and charcoal. We need to keep paying admission fees for the museums that are not free and we need to keep buying tickets to plays.

$25 will buy brush sets for 2 painting students.

$55 will send a student to a play on Broadway.

$100 will buy paints for one course for the semester.

$200 will buy sketchbooks for a class of students.

$400 will cover black and white film for one photography class.

$750 will buy canvas for all the kids in a painting class.

$1000 will provide photography paper for a semester for all classes.

$3000 will pay for our program with Manhattan Theater Club, which includes a director who teaches and directs student plays, actors who workshop and perform student plays, and tickets to Broadway and Off-Broadway shows.

Please help out as you can and share this link widely!