About the Arts & Culture Initiative
Arts & culture after-school programming provides children with the chance for expression and inquiry. Participation in the arts provides children opportunities that:
- Stir imaginations and the creative spirit
- Offer a way to release feelings in a a positive way
- Celebrate individuality while building self-esteem
- Reinforce academic principles through the arts
- Heighten problem-solving skills and techniques
- Introduce a variety of community professionals to the school population, and most importantly
- Encourage a sense of pleasure, which leads to engagement in learning
Boston Beyond’s Arts & Culture Initiative seeks to increase, enhance and sustain the network of experiential arts and culture our-of-school time programs by:
- Building a knowledge base of members of the arts and the OST arts and culture community, documenting promising practices and innovations to inform the work of OST arts and culture providers
- Building a partnership with schools to counter the decline in school-based arts, and using arts and culture programming as an engagement tool for disaffected youth
- Deepening public understanding about the contribution of arts and culture to learning and the quality of life
Why Arts & Culture Are Important
A strong body of evidence links arts and cultural education to academic achievement and positive development, especially for economically disadvantaged students. Boston is fortunate to have a wealth of resources for arts and culture education, and it is clear that expansion of and improved coordination with after-school providers offers the potential to increase the reach and learning impact of arts and culture programs.
